Abstract

Background: Capitalization is an interpersonal emotion regulation strategy in which individuals share joy or enthusiasm in response to positive events. It plays a vital role in romantic relationships by fostering well-being, closeness, and security. However, no psychometric studies on capitalization scales exist in Latin America, creating a gap in understanding how positive regulatory intentions influence relationship satisfaction within this cultural context. This study presents the first validation of the PRCAS in Chile, contributing to the study of interpersonal emotion regulation in romantic relationships. Methods: Using two non-probabilistic samples–Sample 1 (N = 213, Mage = 43.7, SD = 9.95, 62% women) for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Sample 2 (N = 998, Mage = 45.3, SD = 12.51, 43% women) for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and gender invariance testing–this research examines PRCAS’s internal structure validity, convergent validity, reliability, and gender invariance. Results: The EFA identified four factors explaining 80% of the variance, and the CFA confirmed this structure with indices RMSEA =.07, CFI =.95, and TLI =.93. Gender invariance analysis supported the scale’s applicability across genders. Internal consistency was robust (Cronbach’s alpha: active-constructive ? =.84, passive-constructive ? =.81, active-destructive ? =.75, and passive-destructive ? =.96). Convergent validity was achieved by testing using the Marital Satisfaction Scale (MSS) and the Extrinsic Emotional Regulation Scale for Couples (CEER). Conclusions: These findings position PRCAS as a reliable tool for assessing capitalization in romantic relationships and pave the way for further research into cultural nuances in interpersonal emotional regulation. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.