The dynamic relations among interpersonal behaviors: A test of complementarity and anticomplementarity

Pediatric anxiety associated with altered facial emotion recognition

Multiple psychiatric disorders are associated with difficulties in facial emotion recognition. However, generalized anxiety disorder may be associated with more accurate recognition of others' emotional expressions, particularly expressions of happiness and fear, which index safety and threat. Children aged 9-14 from a community sample (N = 601) completed a facial emotion labeling task. Children's symptoms of depressive and anxiety syndromes were assessed by self- and parent-report. Elevated symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder were associated with more accurate facial emotion recognition (β = 0.16, p = 0.007), specifically recognition of happiness (β = 0.17, p = 0.002) and fear (β = 0.15, p = 0.006). Elevated depressive symptoms were associated with less accurate facial emotion recognition (β = -0.12, p = 0.018), specifically happiness (β = -0.15, p = 0.002). Elevated symptoms of separation anxiety disorder were also associated with less accurate facial emotion recognition (β = -0.16, p = 0.003), specifically happiness (β = -0.15, p = 0.006) and fear (β = -0.15, p = 0.005), which highlights the importance of distinguishing between anxiety syndromes. Results held when adjusting for child age and sex. Evidence that symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder are associated with more accurate recognition of happiness and fear is consistent with theories of heightened social vigilance and support a transdiagnostic role of facial emotion recognition that may inform the psychosocial development of youth with anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Emotional and interpersonal mechanisms in community SSRI treatment of social anxiety disorder

BACKGROUND

Affective and interpersonal behavioural patterns characteristic of social anxiety disorder show improvement during treatment with serotonin agonists (e.g., selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), commonly used in the treatment of social anxiety disorder. The present study sought to establish whether, during community psychopharmacological treatment of social anxiety disorder, changes in positive or negative affect and agreeable or quarrelsome behaviour mediate improvement in social anxiety symptom severity or follow from it.

METHODS

Adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (n = 48) recorded their interpersonal behaviour and affect naturalistically in an event-contingent recording procedure for 1-week periods before and during the first 4 months of treatment with paroxetine. Participants and treating psychiatrists assessed the severity of social anxiety symptoms monthly. A multivariate latent change score framework examined temporally lagged associations of change in affect and interpersonal behaviour with change in social anxiety symptom severity.

RESULTS

Elevated agreeable behaviour and positive affect predicted greater subsequent reduction in social anxiety symptom severity over the following month of treatment. Elevated negative affect, but not quarrelsome behaviour, predicted less subsequent reduction in symptom severity.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations included limited assessment of extreme behaviour (e.g., violence) that may have precluded examining the efficacy of paroxetine because of the lack of a placebo control group.

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that interpersonal behaviour and affect may be putative mechanisms of action for serotonergic treatment of social anxiety disorder. Prosocial behaviour and positive affect increase during serotonergic treatment of social anxiety disorder. Specifically, modulating agreeable behaviour, positive affect and negative affect in individuals' daily lives may partially explain and refine clinical intervention.

A spherical conceptualization of personality traits

This research utilizes the geometric structure of the two‐dimensional Interpersonal Circumplex (IPC), and adds the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) dimension of conscientiousness to create a three‐dimensional spherical model of personality; the interpersonal sphere (IPS). A sample of 250 participants was initially used to select items that conformed to the geometric locations of 26 different characteristics on the IPS. A separate sample of 251 participants confirmed the geometric structure of these characteristic measures using randomization tests. To demonstrate an application of this three‐dimensional model, the IPS was employed as a geometric taxonomy to map various personality constructs. The combined sample of 501 participants was used to cartographically locate 164 scales from the NEO Personality Inventory, (NEO‐PI‐R), the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), and the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI‐R) onto the IPS. The spherical conception of traits provided by the three‐dimensional IPS is discussed as both an extension of the FFM and the two‐dimensional IPC. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Principles of Regulating Interaction in Teams Practicing Face-To-Face Communication Versus Teams Practicing Computer-Mediated Communication

This study investigates how the regulation of interaction on the performative level (types and functions of interactions) and the referential level (relations of concepts) varies depending on the modality of communication: face-to-face, synchronous, and asynchronous text-based computer-mediated communication. In the experimental setting, six groups consisting of four experts cooperated per one of the three modalities in planning a marketing campaign for solar energy systems. The communication transcripts were analyzed on the performative level by SYMLOG. On the referential level, a network analysis was established to examine how relevant concepts were introduced in the discussion. The group output was measured with regard to group work, satisfaction, and performance. The results show that all communication modalities differ on the performative and on the referential level. No differences between the modalities were found regarding group work and satisfaction of the members. Group performance was judged better in face-to-face than in computer-mediated groups.

Complementarity of Interpersonal Circumplex Traits

The existence of interpersonal complementarity at a stylistic level using the Interpersonal Adjectives Scales (IAS) and the optimal definition of complementarity were the foci of the study. The IAS ratings made by three samples of college students were used: 265 rated both of their parents, 346 rated themselves and their closest friend, and 136 rated how they expected themselves and the other participant to behave in one of three very different situations. The correlation matrices between the scores of the two interactants in each sample were examined using the randomization test of hypothesized order relations to determine if complementarity existed. Results indicated support for the complementarity of traits in each sample and showed that the optimal orientation of dimensions of the IAS with respect to complementarity is 22.5 degrees greater than the orientation proposed by Leary and adopted by Wiggins.

Levels of Interpersonal Complementarity: A Simplex Representation

The relations among different measures of interpersonal behavior and complementarity across level were examined in one session of a sample of therapy dyads (N = 26) and in an interaction between college students (N = 108). Four levels of complementarity, trait, aggregate situation, behavioral interchanges, and behavioral interchanges with base rates removed were examined as they covaried among themselves and with interaction evaluations. The four levels of complementarity were found to be fit by a simplex structure, and this structure was related to interaction evaluation in both samples. The complementarity-evaluation relation was mediated by base-rate-corrected complementarity. Implications relative to the operationalization of complementarity are discussed.

Increasing Acquaintanceship and Complementarity of Behavioral Styles and Personality Traits Among College Roommates

Robert Carson's principle of complementarity asserts that the behavioral styles of interaction partners tend to complement each other by encouraging individuals to act opposite in terms of dominance and similar in terms of warmth. The principles of complementarity further hypothesize that as relationships progress through multiple interactions, the behavioral styles of its members will be altered to increase complementarity. To examine this acquaintanceship hypothesis, the behavioral styles and personalities of 102 college roommate dyads were assessed after living together for 2 weeks and again after living together for 15 weeks. Consistent with the acquaintanceship hypothesis, after 2 weeks the behavioral styles of roommates did not complement each other; however, after 15 weeks, the behavioral styles of roommates strongly complemented each other. In contrast to the change in complementarity observed in roommates' behavioral styles, participants' perceptions of their own personalities were relatively unaffected by the personalities of their roommates.

Complementarity of Interpersonal Behaviors in Dyadic Interactions

An important assumption of interpersonal theory is that during social interactions the behavior of one person tends to invite com-plementary behavior from the other person. Past research examining complementarity has usually used either confederates or fictitious interaction partners in their designs and has produced inconsistent results. The current study used observational ratings of behaviors of 158 participants as they interacted with partners across three different dyadic social situations. Randomization tests of hypothesized order relations found that the behaviors exhibited during these interactions tended to occur in a circular pattern predicted by the interpersonal circumplex. These tests also indicated support for Leary's (1957) orientation of the control and affiliation dimensions of the interpersonal circumplex and Carson's (1969) notion that dominant behavior induces submissive responses and friendly behavior encourages friendly responses.

Self-Efficacy, Values, and Complementarity in Dyadic Interactions: Integrating Interpersonal and Social-Cognitive Theory

Dyadic interactions were analyzed using constructs from social-cognitive theory (self-efficacy and subjective values) and interpersonal theory (interpersonal circumplex [IPC] and complementarity). In Study 1, the authors developed a measure of efficacy for interpersonal actions associated with each IPC region—the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Efficacy (CSIE). In Study 2, the authors used the CSIE and the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values (which assesses the subjective value of interpersonal events associated with each IPC region) to predict the dominance expressed and satisfaction experienced by members of 101 same-sex dyads trying to solve a murder mystery. Structural equation modeling analyses supported both social-cognitive and interpersonal theory. A social-cognitive person-variable (dominance efficacy) and an interpersonal dyadic-variable (reciprocity) together predicted dominant behaviors. Likewise, both a social-cognitive variable (friendliness values) and an interpersonal variable (correspondence of friendliness efficacy) predicted satisfaction. Finally, both shared performance outcomes and dynamic interpersonal processes predicted convergence of collective efficacy beliefs within dyads.

Interactional Counseling

Despite the pervasive influence of interactiontal ideas in fields of counseling and psychotherapy, the integration of those ideas into a cohlerent framework of theory, practice, and research has been lacking. The goals of this article are to provide an integrative review of interactional concepts within counseling and to show that the interactional view is a unique and valuable per-spective for counseling psychology. The article is organized into four major sections. The first section provides an introduction to the interactional assiniptioils, concepts, and principles that underlie an interactional view of counseling. The second section presents an interactional view of psychological problems and client symptoms. The third section presents an interactional view of the counseling process, including the targets of change within counseling, change mechanisms, and specific change strategies. The fourth section reviews current interactional research in counseling and introduces several emerging research methods for the study of interactional concepts and processes.

Trait agreeableness and social status moderate behavioral responsiveness to communal behavior

The present study examined the influence of trait Agreeableness and its interaction with social role status on interpersonal correspondence as reflected in the within-person relation between a person's communal (agreeable-quarrelsome) behavior and perceptions of the interaction partner's communal behavior. We used a sample of working adults (original data set: 113 participants and 12,303 interpersonal events; constrained data set in the work setting: 109 participants and 3,193 interpersonal events) and an event-contingent recording procedure to assess behavior in naturalistic interpersonal events. The results of multilevel modeling indicated that interpersonal correspondence was lower for high trait Agreeableness persons than for low trait Agreeableness persons, apparently due to less responsiveness to more disagreeable behavior by the other person in an interaction. High Agreeableness persons manifest greater interpersonal correspondence when in a high-status role than when in a low-status role, apparently by increasing responsiveness to disagreeable behavior from others. The results imply that high social role status may influence the effortful control process of high trait Agreeableness persons over their behavioral reactions to others' disagreeable behavior during interpersonal interactions.

Using Behavioral Mapping to Examine the Validity of the IPIP-IPC

Behavioral mapping, a method designed to relate behaviors to circumplex models, was used to examine the predictive validity of the International Personality Item Pool–Interpersonal Circumplex (IPIP-IPC). In this study, 96 participants first completed the IPIP-IPC and then were videotaped in a social interaction with a confederate. At the conclusion of this interaction, the Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort was used to code 64 different behaviors expressed by the participants. Results indicated that participants’ Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort interpersonal behaviors occurred in a manner predicted by their IPIP-IPC scores. Such findings suggest that the IPIP-IPC can predict a multitude of interpersonal behaviors expressed during a dyadic interaction.

Variations in the understanding of interpersonal behavior: adherence to the interpersonal circle as a moderator of the rigidity-psychological well-being relation

The idiothetic structure of interpersonal trait perceptions was examined as it moderated the interpersonal rigidity-psychological well-being relation. The focus was on the extent to which individuals' perceptions of the similarity of interpersonal behavior fits (i.e., adhered to) the normative interpersonal circle. In two samples of college students, individual differences in adherence to the interpersonal circle moderated the relation of interpersonal rigidity with various indices of psychological well-being. We found that those individuals whose perceptions of interpersonal traits were better represented by the interpersonal circle had negative relations between interpersonal rigidity and satisfaction with life, self-confidence, self-liking, and complementarity and positive relations with interpersonal problems. The results suggest that adherence to the interpersonal circle may be a new means of viewing traitedness and that cognitive interpretation of traits may have an important moderating function.

Gender Differences in Interpersonal Complementarity Within Roommate Dyads

Complementarity theory proposes specific hypotheses regarding interpersonal styles that will result in successful relationships. The present study sought to extend previous research on gender differences in complementarity through the examination of same-sex peer dyads and the use of informant reports of interpersonal style. One hundred twenty participants (30 male and 30 female roommate dyads) completed interpersonal circumplex ratings of their roommates and a relationship cohesion measure. Examinations of complementarity indicate that women reported significantly more complementarity than men within their roommate dyads. However, for men and women, the closer the dyad was to perfect complementarity in terms of dominance, the more cohesive the relationship. Results are discussed in relation to gender differences in social development.

Interpersonal and emotional processes in generalized anxiety disorder analogues during social interaction tasks

Persons with chronic worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) report maladaptive social cognitions, interpersonal behaviors, and emotional regulation. Because research has neither investigated these processes in actual social situations nor explored whether they take heterogeneous forms, the present study provides the first attempt to do so in a laboratory investigation. GAD analogue participants and nonanxious controls interacted with confederates in an unstructured collaborative story construction task and an emotional disclosure task with standardized confederate behavior. In both tasks, relative to controls, some GAD analogues highly overestimated, whereas others markedly underestimated, their negative (Hostile-Submissive) interpersonal impact on confederates. Although GAD analogues, as a group, exhibited greater sad affect during disclosures than controls, their openness during disclosures and liking by confederates varied with their level of misestimation of negative interpersonal impact. Results underscore the need to further explore interpersonal processes in chronic worriers and how they may exacerbate or maintain dysfunction.

Interpersonal and noninterpersonal interactions, interpersonal motives, and the effect of frustrated motives

A new circumplex model of interpersonal interaction emphasizes the motives that drive interpersonal behaviors and the negative affect (such as anger) that occurs when a strongly activated motive is frustrated. This study examined the model experimentally by varying conditions designed to activate and frustrate interpersonal motives. One hundred twenty-nine students engaged in text-based discussions using a computer. Three factors were varied: (a) activation of interpersonal motives--participants believed the interaction was interpersonal (with a human) or noninterpersonal (with a computer); (b) individual differences in motive activation--assertive and nonassertive participants were compared (strong vs. weak motive to influence others); and (c) level of frustration of activated motives--the "partner's" messages contained dominating or nondominating language. Participants who believed their interaction was interpersonal produced more interpersonal behaviors of various types. Assertive participants who interacted with a dominating and apparently human partner produced a disproportionate amount of hostility, indicating anger ascribed to frustrated motives.

How interpersonal motives clarify the meaning of interpersonal behavior: a revised circumplex model

Circumplex models have organized interpersonal behavior along 2 orthogonal dimensions--communion (which emphasizes connection between people) and agency (which emphasizes one person's influence over the other). However, many empirical studies have disconfirmed certain predictions from these models. We therefore revised the model in 4 ways that highlight interpersonal motives. In our revision: (a) the negative pole of communion is indifference, not hostility; (b) a given behavior invites (not evokes) a desired reaction from the partner; (c) the complement of a behavior is a reaction that would satisfy the motive behind that behavior; (d) noncomplementary reactions induce negative affect. If the motive is unclear, the meaning of the behavior is ambiguous. This ambiguity helps explain failures in social support, miscommunications in everyday life, and features of most personality disorders. The model emphasizes measurable individual differences: Reactions that are complementary for one person need not be complementary for another.

Applying the interpersonal circumplex to children's behavior: parent-child interactions and risk behaviors

This article examined the applicability of the interpersonal circumplex (IC) to the observable social behaviors of children during parent-child interactions. In Study 1, the observational ratings of behaviors of 117 children (mean age = 9.88 years) were examined. Randomization tests of hypothesized order relations found that these behaviors tended to occur in the circular pattern predicted by the IC. To illustrate the applicability of the IC to children's behavior, Study 2 (n = 94) used the circular structure of children's behavior to longitudinally examine children's participation in two risk behaviors, smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol. Results indicated that children who behaved in an arrogant-calculating manner were at risk for smoking cigarettes and children who behaved in an assured-dominate manner were at risk for drinking alcohol 1 year later. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of their relevance for helping researchers better understand and categorize children's interpersonal behaviors.

Interpersonale Adjektivliste (IAL)

Zusammenfassung. Der interpersonale Circumplex (IPC) ist eines der am besten erforschten und ausgearbeiteten Modelle zur Beschreibung und Messung von Persönlichkeit. Die hier vorgestellte Interpersonale Adjektivliste (IAL) bildet eine empirische Umsetzung des theoretischen IPC-Konzeptes zur Messung individueller Unterschiede im interpersonalen Stil. In vier Studien (N1 = 216, N2 = 202, N3 = 353, N41 = 334 & N42 = 314) wurden acht Skalen mit jeweils acht Adjektivmarkern konstruiert, mit exploratorischen und konfirmatorischen Analysen auf ihre Circumplex-Struktur geprüft sowie an den revidierten deutschen und englischen Interpersonalen Adjektiv Skalen (IAS-R[dt.]; Ostendorf, 2001 ; IAS-R; Wiggins, Trapnell & Phillips, 1988 ) validiert. Ihre strukturelle und psychometrische Güte und bedeutsame konvergente und divergente Beziehungen weisen die IAL als verbessertes Parallelinstrument der IAS-R(dt.) aus.

Fundamental dimensions of social judgment: Understanding the relations between judgments of competence and warmth

In seems there are two dimensions that underlie most judgments of traits, people, groups, and cultures. Although the definitions vary, the first makes reference to attributes such as competence, agency, and individualism, and the second to warmth, communality, and collectivism. But the relationship between the two dimensions seems unclear. In trait and person judgment, they are often positively related; in group and cultural stereotypes, they are often negatively related. The authors report 4 studies that examine the dynamic relationship between these two dimensions, experimentally manipulating the location of a target of judgment on one and examining the consequences for the other. In general, the authors' data suggest a negative dynamic relationship between the two, moderated by factors the impact of which they explore.

Power moves: complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior

Two studies examine complementarity (vs. mimicry) of dominant and submissive nonverbal behaviors. In the first study, participants interacted with a confederate who displayed either dominance (through postural expansion) or submission (through postural constriction). On average, participants exposed to a dominant confederate decreased their postural stance, whereas participants exposed to a submissive confederate increased their stance. Further, participants with complementing responses (dominance in response to submission and submission in response to dominance) liked their partner more and were more comfortable than those who mimicked. In the second study, complementarity and mimicry were manipulated, and complementarity resulted in more liking and comfort than mimicry. The findings speak to the likelihood of hierarchical differentiation.

Assimilation for Affiliation and Contrast for Control: Complementary Self-Construals

People have knowledge about relationships (i.e., relational schemas) that is based on their experiences. Because most people have experience with complementary behavior (interaction partners behaving similarly in terms of affiliation but oppositely in terms of control), they expect complementary behavior in their relationships. Like other beliefs about relationships, expectations of complementarity affect self-construal. The authors provide evidence for complementary self-construal; people assimilate to relevant relationship partners on the affiliation dimension and contrast on the control dimension. Consistent with the proposed role of relationship knowledge in these effects, complementary self-construal was moderated by the familiarity of the target, whether people focused on their relationship with or the appearance of the target, and whether the context was relevant for the interpersonal dimension.

Friendships, femininity, and reaction to affective arousal

This study examined relations between college women's scores on femininity and their same-sex friendships and how these women's perceptions were influenced by induction of success or failure. 200 undergraduate women described themselves and their best friends on the dominance and submissiveness scales of the Interpersonal Adjective Scales and also completed the Behavioral Self-report of Femininity and a biographical information sheet. Mean ratings of dominance were above average both for self and best-friend ratings, but these two dominance ratings were not significantly correlated. However, women viewed themselves as similar to their best friends on submissiveness characteristics. Highly feminine women described themselves as more dominant than less feminine women. Highly feminine women also experienced less anxiety and fatigue as measured by the Profile of Mood States in response to failure induction than less feminine women. Both sets of results are contrary to expectations, but the behavioral definition of femininity was different from that used earlier.

Does recollection of exposure to poor maternal care in childhood affect later ability to relate?

The study tested Bowlby's hypothesis that experiencing the poor relating of parents in childhood predisposes the individual to poor relating in adult life. Data were drawn from two community samples: a younger sample of 25-34-year-old married women, and an older one of 40-49-year-old women. Data were also drawn from the husbands of the women in the younger sample. It focused on the single childhood variable of the recollection of poor maternal care. To avoid the effect of this on depression or other psychopathology, groups who were depressed and not depressed, or who were at different levels of psychopathology, were examined separately. Recollection of poor early care was associated with poor relating, lower age at marriage, poor-quality marriage and divorce from first marriage. There was a suggestion that the effects of the recollection of poor early care of marital partners summate.