Interpersonal personality measures show circumplex structure based on new psychometric criteria

G. Scott Acton*, William Revelle

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

The importance of the interpersonal circle in organizing the interpersonal domain is complemented by its empirical relations with broader personality taxonomies and with more specific personality variables. Yet circumplex structure in interpersonal measures has often been investigated using the "eyeball test" rather than using circumplex criteria of known effectiveness. Simulations (Acton, 1999) showed the effectiveness of 5 exploratory criteria (3 entirely new) that assess the properties of equal spacing, constant radius, and no preferred rotation. Along with Browne's (1992) criterion, these were applied to the Interpersonal Checklist (ICL; LaForge & Suczek, 1955; N = 763), Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS; Wiggins, 1979; Ns = 716 and 187), Revised IAS (IAS-R; Wiggins, Trapnell, & Phillips, 1988; N = 474), Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Circumplex Scales (IIP-C; Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 1990; Ns = 616 and 1,381), and Inventory of Interpersonal Goals (IIG; Horowitz, Dryer, & Krasnoperova, 1997; N = 318). In corroboration of interpersonal theory, all showed circumplex structure.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)446-471
Number of pages26
JournalJournal of Personality Assessment
Volume79
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2002

Funding

Work on this article was supported in part by a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to G. Scott Acton. This article is based on G. Scott Acton’s doctoral dissertation at Northwestern University. We are grateful to J. Michael Bailey, Kevin L. Delucchi, Michael B. Gurtman, and Richard E. Zinbarg for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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