The Pleasure of Social Interactions: Turkish Adaptation and Validation of the Adult Social Reward Questionnaire

Social interactions play a fundamental role in shaping human behavior and directly affect both physical and mental health. Individuals may experience varying levels of pleasure from social interactions depending on their personality patterns; however, in depression and related psychopathologies, this pleasure may diminish. Therefore, examining the extent to which individuals perceive social interactions as rewarding is critically important in both general and clinical contexts. Yet the literature lacks a psychometrically validated Turkish instrument to assess this construct. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ) in a sample of 382 adults. Structural validity was assessed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and reliability was evaluated using internal consistency and test–retest methods. Construct validity was assessed via correlations among SRQ subscales, the Big Five Inventory, the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, and the Interpersonal Communication Style Scale. CFA confirmed that the Turkish SRQ preserved the original six-factor structure and demonstrated good model fit. Subscales showed internal consistency ranging from acceptable to excellent, and test–retest results indicated strong temporal stability over one month. Significant correlations between SRQ subscales, personality traits, dark triad characteristics, and interpersonal communication styles supported construct validity and reinforced the scale’s utility in assessing individual differences in social reward sensitivity. As the first Turkish instrument designed to evaluate the perceived value of social interactions, the SRQ provides valuable opportunities for future research, enabling comprehensive exploration of psychopathology, personality patterns, and cultural influences in social reward processing across diverse populations.