BEYOND CASTE BOUNDARIES: DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF THE NEGATIVE BELIEFS ABOUT INTER-CASTE MARRIAGES QUESTIONNAIRE (NBIM-Q) IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Caste-related expectations may shape marriage preferences in Pakistan, yet culturally grounded assessment of negative beliefs about inter-caste marriage remains limited. This study developed and initially evaluated the Negative Beliefs about Inter-Caste Marriages Questionnaire (NBIM-Q), examining its exploratory structure, internal consistency, gender differences, and preliminary score classifications. Item development combined a literature review with interviews involving 10 young adults and input from six key informants. Two reviewers identified themes that informed 45 initial items; expert review retained 22 items, followed by pilot testing and linguistic refinement. A cross-sectional assessment included 316 purposively recruited participants from educational settings, comprising 158 men and 158 women aged 16–78 years (M = 23.91, SD = 6.97). Exploratory structural analysis used principal component analysis with Varimax rotation. Sampling adequacy was high (Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin = .94), and Bartlett’s test was significant, χ²(231) = 3465.87, p < .001. Four components, Caste Prejudice, Social Disapproval, Perceived Incompatibility, and Anticipated Difficulties, explained 60.12% of variance, with primary loadings of .50–.79. Internal consistency was .93 overall and .73–.87 across subscales; inter-subscale correlations ranged from .54 to .69. Women scored higher overall, t(314) = −2.59, p = .010, Cohen’s d = −0.29. Sample quartiles provided provisional descriptive categories. Purposive recruitment, component-based extraction, and absent independent confirmation, temporal reliability, external validity, and measurement invariance limit interpretation. The NBIM-Q offers a promising framework for assessing caste-related marital concerns, pending further validation.