Assessing the interpersonal transaction cycle: Convergence of action and reaction interpersonal circumplex measures.

Contemporary interpersonal theory uses 2 models to represent the process and content of interpersonal transactions. The interpersonal transaction cycle is a dynamic model demonstrating the interaction between the overt behaviors and the covert intrapsychic experiences of 2 interacting individuals in action-reaction event chains. The interpersonal circle is a static model codifying individual differences across various interpersonal content domains (e.g., traits, acts, problems, impacts). The present study used 150 pairs of undergraduates to demonstrate cross-observer structural convergence of 2 separate interpersonal circumplex inventories measuring the "action" and "reaction" components of the transaction cycle, providing evidence that both components of the cycle can be captured by existing circumplex measures, and allowing researchers to proceed on to more comprehensive tests of interpersonal theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment, group attraction and self-other agreement in interpersonal circumplex problems and perceptions of group members.

Graduate students (N=76) fulfilling a class requirement for interpersonal group participation completed measures of interpersonal problems and adult attachment at pretest. At the midpoint and at termination they completed measures of interpersonal problems and group attraction and provided interpersonal circumplex ratings of each fellow group member. As predicted, selected attachment insecurities were significantly correlated with interpersonal problems and group attraction. Attachment anxiety and avoidance, also as hypothesized, were associated with discrepancies in self-other perceptions. Whereas members with attachment avoidance tended to overestimate hostile and hostile-submissive problems, members with attachment anxiety were likely to overestimate interpersonal problems in the "friendly" half of the circumplex. Implications for the conceptualization of attachment-based distortions and interpersonal learning in group therapy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of personality capabilities.

Wallace (1966) proposed that personality be construed as a set of abilities. Rather than assessing typical performance, as in trait ratings, he recommended assessing an individual's ability to perform social behaviors. We have elaborated this notion by distinguishing between personality abilities and capabilities. In this article we focus on the capability, that is, the ease with which an individual can display a certain category of social responses. A capability X is assessed with self-reports of (a) likelihood of performing X when perceived to be required, (b) perceived difficulty in performing X, (c) anxiety in performing X, and (d) tendency to avoid performing X. In Study 1 we examined the relations among six measures of 16 interpersonal behaviors in the context of the interpersonal circumplex. The four capability-related measures were shown to be measuring something distinct from the two trait measures. Unlike trait measures, which showed a circular structure in two dimensions, capability measures exhibited a positive manifold structure (i.e., no negative intercorrelations). The first two orthogonal factors were interpreted as Hostility and Nurturance, which are normally bipolar opposites on trait measures. The only dimension to remain bipolar was introversion–extraversion. In Study 2, the nomological network of the capability measures was shown to be consistent with the theoretical construct. For example, high self-esteem and interpersonal control were associated with almost all of the interpersonal capabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal complementarity: Integrating interpersonal measurement with interpersonal models.

Research on interpersonal complementarity has been beset by various methodological problems, including the lack of a consistent and theoretically coherent measurement approach for quantifying and statistically evaluating effects. The purpose of this article is to propose and demonstrate such a method, one that is integrative with interpersonal circumplex models of behavior and that also provides a means for establishing statistical significance levels in relation to an appropriate base-rate model. Two demonstrations of the method are reported. The first study involves an analysis of mother-self relationship data and is based on L. S. Benjamin's (1994) Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) system; the second study, which is based on the Interpersonal Circle Model (IPC), is a reanalysis of peer interaction data originally presented by S. R. Strong et al. (1988). The results were supportive of theoretical predictions for both the SASB and IPC models. The present method has advantages for testing and refining theory and, with its tie to the circumplex model, makes salient several problematic issues for complementarity research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-situational generality and the interpersonal circumplex.

Four traits of the interpersonal circumplex, dominance, submissiveness, agreeableness, and quarrelsomeness, were measured using experience sampling. Participants monitored their behavior for 20 days. For each social interaction, they recorded behaviors and information about the situation. Two sets of situations, agentic and communal, were defined on the basis of information about the relationship of the other person with the participant. Results suggested general guidelines for expectations about magnitudes of cross-situational generality. For these broad traits of the interpersonal circumplex, there was modest to low generality across agentic situations in which individuals varied in power and status (supervisor and co-worker). Cross-situational generality was moderately high across communal situations (acquaintances and friends). Behavior toward a romantic partner was distinct from behavior toward close friends and acquaintances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flux, Pulse, and Spin: Dynamic Additions to the Personality Lexicon.

Personality constructs were proposed to describe intraindividual variability in interpersonal behavior. Flux refers to variability about an individual's mean score on an interpersonal dimension and was examined for the 4 poles of the interpersonal circumplex. Pulse and spin refer to variability about an individual's mean extremity and mean angular coordinate on the interpersonal circumplex. These constructs were measured using event-contingent recording. Latent state-trait analyses indicated high stability of flux in submissive, agreeable, and quarrelsome behaviors and some stability in the flux of dominance. Further analyses indicated moderate to high stability in pulse and spin. Neuroticism predicted greater pulse, spin, and submissive behavior flux. Extraversion predicted greater flux in agreeable behavior. In contrast, Agreeableness predicted reduced spin and quarrelsome behavior flux. Social environmental variables predicted greater flux in dominant behavior. Flux, pulse, and spin provide reliable and distinctive additions to the vocabulary for describing individual differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust, distrust, and interpersonal problems: A circumplex analysis.

Examined the self-reported interpersonal problems of individuals characteristically high or low in interpersonal trust. The interpersonal circumplex served as a guiding framework for assessing and interpreting these problems. As expected, extreme distrust was generally related to a symmetrical pattern of distress, with a peak at the hostile–dominant octant. Extreme high trust, on the other hand, was not associated with gullibility or with related interpersonal difficulties, supporting arguments that trust is essentially distinct from gullibility and exploitability. The Interpersonal Trust Scale and the Mach IV scale, the study's principal measures of trust, tap varieties of trust differing in their blends of dominance and hostility, leading to different problem patterns for extreme scorers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The three faces of interpersonal dependency: Structural analyses of self-report dependency measures.

Using the interpersonal circumplex and the 5-factor model of personality as a structural framework, the authors identified 3 aspects of interpersonal dependency in structural analyses of the universe of content defined by the combined item pool of widely used self-report dependency measures: love dependency, exploitable dependency, and submissive dependency. Markers of these aspects of interpersonal dependency were reconstituted, and their relations with neuroticism (N), conscientiousness (C), and openness to experience (O) were examined. All forms of interpersonal dependency are related positively with N. Exploitable and submissive dependency are increasingly negatively correlated with C and O, whereas love dependency is positively correlated with C and O. Implications regarding the assessment of dependency and multifactor models of dependency are discussed, and hypotheses for future research linking dependency and depression are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rating scales for measuring the interpersonal circle in forensic psychiatric patients.

Two studies are reported on nurses' assessments of interpersonal style in hospitalized male forensic psychiatric patients. In Study 1, interpersonal behaviors were rated on a Chart of Interpersonal Reactions in Closed Living Environments (CIRCLE) in a derivation sample (n?=?210) and a replication sample (n?=?102). Rating items generated a circular arrangement within both samples consistent with recent conceptualizations of the Leary interpersonal circle (T. Leary, 1957), and scales constructed to measure the octants of the circle demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. Study 2 showed that the 8 scales met the geometric requirements of a circumplex in the same 2 samples. As measures of dysfunctional interpersonal style, CIRCLE scales may have some utility in treatment planning, risk assessment, and the evaluation of personality disorders in inpatient populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the circumplexity of interpersonal traits and the manifestation of interpersonal traits in interpersonal trust.

Two studies assessed the goodness of fit of ideal, quasi-, and noncircumplex models of interpersonal traits. Study 1 (N?=?132) represents a secondary data analysis using J.S. Wiggins's (1979) original Interpersonal Adjectives Scales (IAS) and reported by J.S. Wiggins, J.H. Steiger, and L. Gaelick (1981). Study 2 (N?=?401) represents a primary data analysis using Wiggins's revised IAS (J.S. Wiggins, P. Trapnell, & N. Phillips, 1988). Results of both studies indicated that a quasi-circumplex model provided a better fit to the correlational data than did either ideal or noncircumplex models. Also, in Study 2, results for a subsample (n?=?113) indicated that an ideal circumplex model yielded a significant positive path coefficient from Nurturance to interpersonal trust (J.K. Rempel, J.G. Holmes, & M.P. Zanna, 1985) but not from Dominance to interpersonal trust, whereas a quasi-circumplex model yielded significant positive paths from both Dominance and Nurturance to interpersonal trust. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a measure of interpersonal strengths: The Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths.

An Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths (IIS) was developed and validated in a series of large college student samples. Based on interpersonal theory and associated methods, the IIS was designed to assess positive characteristics representing the full range of interpersonal domains, including those generally thought to have negative qualities (e.g., introversion, coldness, submissiveness). The 8 subscales (octants) of the 64-item IIS demonstrated good circumplex features and reliability. Tests comparing Big 5 interpersonal factors, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), Battery of Interpersonal Capabilities (BIC), and other interpersonal measures demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity and shared interpersonal structure. The IIS accounted for significant additional variance in life satisfaction and quality of personal relationships beyond the IIP and the BIC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in interpersonal problems: A circumplex analysis.

The structure and magnitude of sex differences in interpersonal problems across several data sets were examined, guided by the interpersonal circumplex model and the structural summary method. Data were self-reported interpersonal difficulties, assessed with the 64-item version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP; L. M. Horowitz, S. E. Rosenberg, B. A. Baer, G. Ure?o, & V. S. Villase?or, 1988). In Study 1, the authors focused on sex differences at the level of specific interpersonal complaints (item level). In Study 2, the authors examined sex differences in octant scores of the IIP circumplex (scale level), in a reanalysis of archival data. The structural summary method was used to identify points of maximum difference between men and women in the interpersonal continuum and to estimate effect sizes. Results from the 2 studies converged in suggesting a dimension of difference involving problems in Hostile-Dominance vs. Friendly-Submission. The magnitude of effect size was consistent with previous reports in the personality literature. These sex differences appeared to be best explained by a one-dimensional model. Findings were generally consistent across 3 different types of samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patient pretreatment interpersonal problems and therapeutic alliance in short-term cognitive therapy.

The growing consensus regarding the importance of interpersonal process in psychotherapy, as well as of interpersonal factors in self-definition, has underscored the relevance of examining patient interpersonal functioning as it relates to the development of the therapeutic alliance. This study examined the relationship of patient pretreatment interpersonal functioning, as measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), to the therapeutic alliance, as measured early in treatment by a patient self-report version of the Working Alliance Inventory. On the basis of an interpersonal circumplex interpretation, the results generally indicated that friendly-submissive interpersonal problems were positively related to the development of aspects of the alliance and that hostile-dominant problems were negatively related to the development of aspects of the alliance early in short-term cognitive therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A circumplex model for interpersonal personality traits.

Two independent methods, employing 12 PhD psychologists and 4 doctoral candidates as judges, were used to test the hypothesis that a circular (circumplex) model would be valid to represent the structure of interpersonal personality traits. In Method 1, 223 trait terms were selected from a larger domain of interpersonal traits on the basis of explicit criteria. Similarity ratings obtained through the use of a modified paired-comparison method empirically located each of these terms on a circle. Method 2, utilizing factor analysis of semantic differential ratings of a sample of 40 of these terms, produced an essentially empirical circular ordering. Results support the hypothesis. Implications for the issue of situationism vs interactionism, for implicit personality theory, and for personality test construction are discussed. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mitigation of interpersonal behavior.

Theorists since D. Bakan (1966) have advocated the importance of mitigation for successful adaptation within the interpersonal domain. Although mitigation has previously been conceptualized as a balance between agency and communion (interdimensional mitigation), the circumplex framework suggests that mitigation may also be conceptualized as a balance within agency and a balance within communion (intradimensional mitigation). In the two present studies, participants collected records of their interpersonal behavior and affect subsequent to their social interactions for a period of 20 days. Random coefficient procedures were then used to examine these two contrasting models of mitigation in the prediction of affect. No empirical evidence of interdimensional mitigation was found. The findings suggest that agency and communion were each mitigated intradimensionally through moderate levels of behavioral expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of interpersonal traits: Wiggins's circumplex and the five-factor model.

Using a sample of 315 adult men and women, self-reports on Wiggins's revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales were jointly factored with self-reports, peer ratings, and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory to examine the relations between the two models. Results suggest that the interpersonal circumplex is defined by the two dimensions of Extraversion and Agreeableness, and that the circular ordering of variables is not an artifact of response biases or cognitive schemata. Circumplex and dimensional models appear to complement each other in describing the structure of personality, and both may be useful to social psychologists in understanding interpersonal behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)