The dyadic-interactional perspective of personality suggests that behavior is a function of both stable personality traits and the dynamic interpersonal environment. According to this theory, interpersonal behavior generally follows the principle of complementarity where behavior tends to be complementary on a dimension of dominance-submissiveness and supplementary on a dimension of warmth-coldness. Implicit trait policies are thought to influence judgments of behavioral effectiveness and be influenced by personality traits. The current study examines the dyadic-interactional perspective using a situational judgment test (SJT) method in order to more fully understand both the relationship between personality traits and behavior but also to better understand the basic assumptions of the dyadic-interactional perspective. A 24-situation SJT was developed by the author to measure appropriate and inappropriate situations along the dimensions of dominance and warmth. Ten advanced psychology graduate students served as expert raters. Personality scales and the SJT were completed by 317 undergraduates for course credit. Interpersonal skills rated by 117 of the participants’ friends served as a performance criterion for Hypothesis 5. Results support a congruence effect where the fit between response and trait warmth has a positive effect on judgments of behavioral effectiveness. Although a quadratic implicit trait policy effect was observed, results did not support a congruence effect for dominance. Interpersonal rigidity was shown to moderate the effect of both dominant and warm responses but was not shown to moderate the effect of traits. Complementarity hypotheses were not supported, likely due to range restriction of analyzed situations. Exploratory analyses revealed effects in support of interpersonal theory. Situations and responses influenced perceived behavioral effectiveness in accordance with the propositions of interpersonal theory. Situational appropriateness was identified as a moderator of the relationship between situations and responses. Situational judgment test scores were scored in accordance with interpersonal theory. Scores were not shown to observable interpersonal skills as hypothesized, correlating with only one 4-item subscale. Results extend both implicit trait policies and interpersonal theory. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

The Internet has been changed not only business modeling design in the enterprises but also the lives of average citizens as much as did the telephone in the early part of the 20th century. There are some users applied the Internet for the task such as data collection, information searching and social network building. One specific application is making friends in the Internet. However, few wallow in acquaintanceship while they are surfing in the virtual world, that effects their normal social life dramatically. Researchers and social critics are debating whether the Internet is improving or harming participation in community life and social relationships. After reviewing the previous literatures, we adopt TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior) and Interpersonal Theory to explore the reasons of making friends in the Internet. This study results suggest that, first, some users extend their social network in the physical world to the Internet. Second, virtual relationship substitutes for the physical relationship. Finally, others¡¦ anxiety is increased while they were not able to satisfy the virtual acquaintanceship.

In response to Kleiger's (this issue) unique invitation to interpret a Rorschach case study from multiple psychoanalytic perspectives, I was asked to present a Rorschach interpretation from Sullivan's interpersonal psychodynamic theory (IPT) perspective. In reviewing the literature, I found no theoretical papers specifically addressing IPT Rorschach interpretation. As such this article will be an initial attempt to integrate the Rorschach with IPT. I will present a brief overview of some of Sullivan's most relevant IPT concepts, suggest where to find them on the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS), and apply IPT Rorschach variables to the case of Ms. B. Special attention will be given to how the IPT model aids in the dynamic understanding of the Ms. B.'s internal experience and personality functioning; what formal features of the Rorschach lend themselves to key constructs in the model; and how the IPT model addresses the referral questions and adds to an understanding of treatment issues, including likely transference/countertransference themes.

Individuals who engage in excessive reassurance seeking (constantly seeking reassurance that one is needed and valued) have higher rates of internalizing disorders. However, little research has examined excessive reassurance seeking among adolescents, particularly in a non-clinical population. Furthermore, research has not examined how close relationships in adolescence, such as best friends and romantic partners, view an adolescent?s use of excessive reassurance seeking behavior. This is particularly interesting, as best friends and romantic partners may be the primary recipients of this behavior. The current study sought to (a) examine the association between excessive reassurance seeking and internalizing symptoms among adolescents, (b) examine the agreement between adolescents? and close peers? ratings of excessive reassurance seeking as well as potential moderators of concordance, and (c) examine the association between peer ratings of excessive reassurance seeking behavior and adolescents? internalizing symptoms, both concurrently and prospectively over time. Participants included 465 adolescents (61% girls), ages 15-20 years, 64.3% Hispanic, 19.1% White non-Hispanic, 6.3% Black and 10.3% other. Participants completed the Excessive Reassurance Seeking subscale of Depressive Interpersonal Relationships Inventory, the Youth Self Report (YSR) and the Network of Relationships Inventory ? Revised. Of this larger sample, a subsample of 44 adolescents (68% female), ages 15-18, 59.1% Hispanic, 31.8% White-non-Hispanic, 2.3% Black and 6.8% mixed ethnicity or other, was used to test hypotheses related to close peer?s assessment of excessive reassurance seeking behavior. Participants also completed the YSR two months later. Data were collected as part of a larger study of adolescent peer relationships during class periods at public high schools in an urban area of the Southeast US. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression techniques, controlling for demographic variables and testing the unique contributions of study variables. Regarding the first study aim that sought to examine associations between excessive reassurance seeking and adolescents? internalizing symptoms, results indicated that excessive reassurance seeking was related to internalizing symptoms concurrently, but not prospectively. Age, gender and ethnicity were found to also be significant predictors of adolescents? internalizing symptoms concurrently, but only ethnic differences emerged prospectively. Regarding the second study aim, examining the concordance between self and peer reports of excessive reassurance seeking, the agreement between self and peer reports was significant. However, further analysis revealed this association was moderated by friendship quality and informant type. Specifically, relationships with high positive quality showed concordance, as opposed to those low in positive relationship quality. Furthermore, romantic partners showed concordance in reports, but not best friends. Regarding the third study aim that sought to examine whether both self and peer reports of excessive reassurance seeking were related to adolescents? internalizing symptoms, results indicated that both self and peer reports were uniquely related to internalizing symptoms concurrently; however this was not the case prospectively. These findings suggest that certain peer informants (romantic partners, high quality relationships) may be reliable indicators of adolescents? excessive reassurance seeking behavior. This has potential implications in the assessment of adolescent internalizing symptoms and interpersonal behaviors associated with these symptoms. However, as results did not emerge in the current study over time, future research is needed to examine the developmental pathways between excessive reassurance seeking and internalizing symptoms.

When romantic partners interact together, they continually respond to each other in ways that yield distinctive across-time patterns of behaviour. To illuminate specific ways in which dysphoria may influence the dynamics of marital communication, the present study investigated how dysphoria in either spouse may affect such across-time patterns of interpersonal behaviour. Using a computer joystick device, observers rated moment-to-moment levels of dominance and affiliation for each partner in videotaped conflict interactions, one preceded by a sad mood induction for the wife, and the other with no mood induction, of 60 romantic couples. As a measure of dysphoria, all participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). The data for each couple were then submitted to time series analyses, including regression and cross-spectral analysis. Results revealed that husbands’ and wives’ dysphoria had strongly differentiated effects on the marital interaction dynamics. Specifically, wives’ dysphoria affected how dominance was handled between partners. Higher wife’s dysphoria was significantly related to wife’s change in dominance and inversely related to husband’s change in dominance. That is, the higher the wife’s dysphoria, the more dominant she became and the more submissive her husband became over the course of the interaction. In contrast, husbands’ dysphoria affected affiliation patterns during conflict interactions. Higher husband’s dysphoria was inversely related to both wife’s change in affiliation and the couple’s level of entrainment on affiliation. That is, the higher the husband’s dysphoria, the less affiliative the wife became over time and the less entrained the partners were on affiliation. The wife’s mood induction mostly had no effect on the interaction dynamics examined. In summary, wives’ dysphoria tended to affect the dynamics of dominance during conflict interactions, whereas husbands’ dysphoria tended to affect the dynamics of affiliation. The results shed new light on the role each spouse may play in managing marital disagreements and how dysphoria disrupts patterns of interpersonal behaviour in such interactions.

When romantic partners interact together, they continually respond to each other in ways that yield distinctive across-time patterns of behaviour. To illuminate specific ways in which dysphoria may influence the dynamics of marital communication, the present study investigated how dysphoria in either spouse may affect such across-time patterns of interpersonal behaviour. Using a computer joystick device, observers rated moment-to-moment levels of dominance and affiliation for each partner in videotaped conflict interactions, one preceded by a sad mood induction for the wife, and the other with no mood induction, of 60 romantic couples. As a measure of dysphoria, all participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). The data for each couple were then submitted to time series analyses, including regression and cross-spectral analysis. Results revealed that husbands’ and wives’ dysphoria had strongly differentiated effects on the marital interaction dynamics. Specifically, wives’ dysphoria affected how dominance was handled between partners. Higher wife’s dysphoria was significantly related to wife’s change in dominance and inversely related to husband’s change in dominance. That is, the higher the wife’s dysphoria, the more dominant she became and the more submissive her husband became over the course of the interaction. In contrast, husbands’ dysphoria affected affiliation patterns during conflict interactions. Higher husband’s dysphoria was inversely related to both wife’s change in affiliation and the couple’s level of entrainment on affiliation. That is, the higher the husband’s dysphoria, the less affiliative the wife became over time and the less entrained the partners were on affiliation. The wife’s mood induction mostly had no effect on the interaction dynamics examined. In summary, wives’ dysphoria tended to affect the dynamics of dominance during conflict interactions, whereas husbands’ dysphoria tended to affect the dynamics of affiliation. The results shed new light on the role each spouse may play in managing marital disagreements and how dysphoria disrupts patterns of interpersonal behaviour in such interactions.

Attachment Theory posits that the caregiver has primary responsibility in fostering attachment security; however, children play increasingly active roles in shaping the quality of interactions as they grow beyond infancy (Bowlby, 1969). There has been limited research on transactional relationships between caregivers and children and their associations with attachment. While Interpersonal Theory has historically been utilized to understand adult interpersonal interactions and their associations with relationship quality, it may provide an avenue to explore parent-child transactional processes. Within Interpersonal Theory, interactions can be categorized as complementary and non-complementary. Yet, these unidimensional constructs make it impossible to determine the relative effects of when complementarity and non-complementarity have positive or negative valences. As such, this study investigated 143 mother–preschooler dyads (64 Child Maltreatment [CM] dyads and 79 non-CM dyads) to examine the associations between variations in two novel types complementarity and non-complementarity and attachment security. Positive complementarity included interactions that were warm and affiliative that elicited the same responses in return. Negative complementarity included interactions that were hostile and aversive that elicited those same responses in return. Positive non-complementarity was characterized by warm and affiliative parent behaviors and child hostile and rejecting behaviors. Negative non-complementarity was characterized by disaffiliative and hostile parent behaviors and warm and affiliative child behaviors. Separate logistic regression analyses revealed that positive complementarity and positive non-complementarity were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of secure attachment. Negative complementarity and negative non-complementarity were not significantly associated with an increased likelihood of insecure attachment. Results suggest that the positive valences of complementarity and non-complementarity are associated with attachment security, such that children in dyads where mothers maintained warm and affiliative behaviors with their child, whether the child was connecting and trusting the mother or withdrawing and sulking, were more likely to be securely attached. Thus, a mother’s ability to display positive and sensitive behaviors during moment-to-moment interactions with their child regardless of child’s response is important to a child’s attachment security.

No description available.

Studiens syfte var att analysera effekten av psykodynamiskt inriktad psykoterapi på självbilden för patienter vid S:t Lukas tre mottagningar i Stockholm. De frågor som undersöktes var om självbilden förändrades, hur sådana förändringar samvarierade med bakgrundsfaktorer, om behandlingsländen påverkade utfallet, samt i vilken tsträckning eventuella förändringar hade samband med förändringar i patienternas symtom och med psykoterapeuternas bedömning av besvär. Metoden som användes var kvantitativ och det empiriska underlaget för analys/bearbetning av självbilden utgjordes av SASB självskattningsmaterial samt  CL-90 (GSI). Resultatet av självskattningssvaren visade att patienternas självbild i genomsnitt hade förbättrats i önskvärd riktning för att mer motsvara en normal självbild. De faktorer som kunde predicera förändring i självbild var ålder, civilstånd, boende och barn. Det var de yngre, ensamstående, med eget boende, utan barn som mest förändrade sin självbild i positiv riktning. De samband som konstaterades mellan självbild och symtom pekade på en minskning av symtom med en mer positiv självbild som resultat vid avslutad terapi. Inga signifikanta samband mellan behandlingslängd och självbild hittades När det gäller psykoterapeuternas bedömning av besvär och patienternas skattning av sin självbild var sambanden svaga.

It is widely accepted in our society that people’s paralinguistic (i.e., non-semantic characteristics of the voice) and nonverbal (i.e., posture, gestures, and facial expressions) behaviours play an important role in conveying information about their personality traits. Two particularly relevant traits include one’s preferred levels of dominance and affiliation, which are the two major axes of the interpersonal circumplex. The current study investigates how dominance and affiliation are conveyed through paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviour using a lens model framework. Two major issues addressed by this framework include: 1) How do observers make inferences about people’s dominance and affiliation using paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviours and 2) How do people’s trait dominance and affiliation relate to these behavioural cues? To examine these two questions, we collected data from 114 opposite-sex dyads who worked together to complete a relatively unstructured collaborative task. The videotaped interactions were coded for specific paralinguistic (e.g., pitch, volume, resonance) and nonverbal (e.g., hand gestures, trunk posture, facial expressions) behaviours, in addition to coding more global displays of dominance and affiliation. Participants also completed several measures of trait dominance and affiliation, which tapped both their relatively conscious (i.e., explicit) and their relatively unconscious (i.e., implicit) levels of these traits. Our findings suggest that observers used mainly paralinguistic behaviour to infer dominance and mainly nonverbal behaviour to infer affiliation. In comparison to observers’ perceptions, there were fewer significant relations between individuals’ self-reported trait dominance and affiliation and the nonverbal and paralinguistic behaviours they expressed during the interaction, suggesting that people may have limited conscious awareness of how these behaviours convey information about their trait dominance and affiliation. In line with this idea, several behaviours showed relations to implicit measures of trait dominance and affiliation. We also conducted factor analyses of the measured paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviours, to examine whether or not these behaviours might co-occur as subsets or factors. We found that paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviours can be captured by overarching factors which relate meaningfully to measures of dominance and affiliation. Finally, we demonstrated that dyad members’ paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviours become interdependent as they interact with one another.