Properties of the Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics Across Sex, Level of Familiarity, and Interpersonal Conflict

The Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics (CAID) is a method in which trained observers continuously code the dominance and warmth of individuals who interact with one another in dyads. This method has significant promise for assessing dynamic interpersonal processes. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of individual sex, dyadic familiarity, and situational conflict on patterns of interpersonal warmth, dominance, and complementarity as assessed via CAID. We used six samples with 603 dyads, including two samples of unacquainted mixed-sex undergraduates interacting in a collaborative task, two samples of couples interacting in both collaborative and conflict tasks, and two samples of mothers and children interacting in both collaborative and conflict tasks. Complementarity effects were robust across all samples, and individuals tended to be relatively warm and dominant. Results from multilevel models indicated that women were slightly warmer than men, whereas there were no sex differences in dominance. Unfamiliar dyads and dyads interacting in more collaborative tasks were relatively warmer, more submissive, and more complementary on warmth but less complementary on dominance. These findings speak to the utility of the CAID method for assessing interpersonal dynamics and provide norms for researchers who use the method for different types of samples and applications.

[1]  P. Sadler,et al.  Interpersonal Complementarity , 2020, Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences.

[2]  F. Gibbons,et al.  Agency and Communion in Social Comparison , 2019, Social Comparison, Judgment, and Behavior.

[3]  Frederick X. Gibbons,et al.  Communal Functions of Social Comparison , 2018 .

[4]  Jeffrey M Girard,et al.  DARMA: Software for dual axis rating and media annotation , 2017, Behavior Research Methods.

[5]  M. Brekelmans,et al.  Interpersonal adaptation in teacher-student interaction , 2017, Learning and Instruction.

[6]  T. Shackelford,et al.  The SAGE Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences: Volume III: Applications of Personality and IndividualDifferences , 2018 .

[7]  R. Bornstein.  Evidence-Based Psychological Assessment , 2017, Journal of personality assessment.

[8]  Lori N. Scott,et al.  Momentary Patterns of Covariation Between Specific Affects and Interpersonal Behavior: Linking Relationship Science and Personality Assessment , 2017, Psychological assessment.

[9]  H. Swartz,et al.  Depression impacts the physiological responsiveness of mother–daughter dyads during social interaction , 2017, Depression and anxiety.

[10]  P. Sadler,et al.  How do depressive symptoms in husbands and wives relate to the interpersonal dynamics of marital interactions? , 2016, Journal of counseling psychology.

[11]  Matthew D. Hammond,et al.  When power shapes interpersonal behavior: Low relationship power predicts men's aggressive responses to low situational power. , 2016, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[12]  J. Markowitz,et al.  Brief Psychotherapy for Maternal Depression: Impact on Mothers and Children. , 2016, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[13]  Gregory J. Park,et al.  Women are Warmer but No Less Assertive than Men: Gender and Language on Facebook , 2016, PloS one.

[14]  C. Hopwood,et al.  Sex differences in interpersonal sensitivities across acquaintances, friends, and romantic relationships , 2016 .

[15]  A. Wright,et al.  Daily Interpersonal and Affective Dynamics in Personality Disorder. , 2015, Journal of personality disorders.

[16]  Lisa A Williams,et al.  Warm thanks: gratitude expression facilitates social affiliation in new relationships via perceived warmth. , 2015, Emotion.

[17]  Timothy W. Smith,et al.  Affiliation and Control in Marital Interaction , 2015, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[18]  K. Thomas.  Understanding the interpersonal processes associated with marital satisfaction , 2015 .

[19]  Friederike Funk,et al.  Social attributions from faces bias human choices , 2014, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[20]  D. Richardson.  Everyday Aggression Takes Many Forms , 2014 .

[21]  P. Sadler,et al.  Momentary assessment of interpersonal process in psychotherapy. , 2014, Journal of counseling psychology.

[22]  K. Locke.  Communal Functions of Social Comparison: Agency and communion in social comparisons , 2014 .

[23]  M. Neale,et al.  Maternal warmth and directiveness jointly moderate the etiology of childhood conduct problems. , 2013, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[24]  Richard P. Larrick,et al.  When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance , 2013 .

[25]  J. Egger,et al.  Personality and Psychopathology , 2013, Assessment.

[26]  L. Benjamin,et al.  Cardiac Vagal Tone and Quality of Parenting Show Concurrent and Time-Ordered Associations That Diverge in Abusive, Neglectful, and Non-Maltreating Mothers. , 2013, Couple & family psychology.

[27]  M. grosse Holtforth,et al.  Interpersonal microprocesses predict cognitive-emotional processing and the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy for depression. , 2013, Journal of counseling psychology.

[28]  C. Hopwood,et al.  Evocative gene–environment correlation in the mother–child relationship: A twin study of interpersonal processes , 2013, Development and Psychopathology.

[29]  Duane Buhrmester,et al.  The mediating role of interpersonal competence between adolescents' empathy and friendship quality: a dyadic approach. , 2013, Journal of adolescence.

[30]  H. Reis,et al.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Men and Women Are From Earth : Examining the Latent Structure of Gender , 2012 .

[31]  Tom Foulsham,et al.  Two ways to the top: evidence that dominance and prestige are distinct yet viable avenues to social rank and influence. , 2013, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[32]  Ivana Lizdek,et al.  Capturing the Stream of Behavior , 2012 .

[33]  M. Lenzenweger,et al.  Interpersonal development, stability, and change in early adulthood. , 2012, Journal of personality.

[34]  T. Tracey,et al.  Are there parallel processes in psychotherapy supervision? An empirical examination. , 2012, Psychotherapy.

[35]  R. Sinha,et al.  Parent-adolescent conflict interactions and adolescent alcohol use. , 2012, Addictive behaviors.

[36]  M. Alegría,et al.  Interpersonal complementarity in the mental health intake: a mixed-methods study. , 2012, Journal of counseling psychology.

[37]  C. Frith,et al.  Mechanisms of social cognition. , 2012, Annual review of psychology.

[38]  Sylia Wilson,et al.  Spillover to triadic and dyadic systems in families with young children. , 2011, Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

[39]  Michael J. Roche,et al.  The circumplex structure of interpersonal sensitivities. , 2011, Journal of personality.

[40]  Gentiana Sadikaj,et al.  Attachment-related affective dynamics: differential reactivity to others' interpersonal behavior. , 2011, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[41]  A. Pincus,et al.  The pantheoretical nature of mental representations and their ability to predict interpersonal adjustment in a nonclinical sample. , 2011 .

[42]  P. Markey,et al.  A real-time assessment of interpersonal complementarity , 2010 .

[43]  K. Vohs,et al.  Psychology as the Science of Self-Reports and Finger Movements , 2010 .

[44]  Erik Woody,et al.  Are we on the same wavelength? Interpersonal complementarity as shared cyclical patterns during interactions. , 2009, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[45]  R. Hatcher,et al.  Development and validation of a measure of interpersonal strengths: The Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths. , 2009, Psychological assessment.

[46]  M. Gurtman,et al.  Sex differences in interpersonal problems: a circumplex analysis. , 2009, Psychological assessment.

[47]  A. Pincus,et al.  The interpersonal nexus of persons, situations, and psychopathology. , 2009 .

[48]  C. Hopwood.  Interpersonal process and borderline personality , 2008 .

[49]  K. Vohs,et al.  Psychology as the Science of Self-reports and Finger Movements Whatever Happened to Actual Behavior? , 2022 .

[50]  D. Moskowitz,et al.  Contextual Influences on Interpersonal Complementarity , 2007, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[51]  Amy J. C. Cuddy,et al.  Universal dimensions of social cognition: warmth and competence , 2007, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[52]  Lorna Smith Benjamin,et al.  The use of structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) as an assessment tool. , 2006, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[53]  Michael J. Constantino,et al.  How Interpersonal Motives Clarify the Meaning of Interpersonal Behavior: A Revised Circumplex Model , 2006, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[54]  D. Zuroff,et al.  Assessing interpersonal perceptions using the interpersonal grid. , 2005, Psychological assessment.

[55]  Aaron L. Pincus,et al.  A Contemporary Integrative Interpersonal Theory of Personality Disorders. , 2005 .

[56]  T. Tracey.  Levels of Interpersonal Complementarity: A Simplex Representation , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[57]  A. Pincus,et al.  Interpersonal Perceptions of the Five-Factor Model of Personality: An Examination Using the Structural Summary Method for Circumplex Data , 2004, Multivariate behavioral research.

[58]  D. Zuroff,et al.  Gender and relationships: Influences on agentic and communal behaviors , 2004 .

[59]  D. Funder,et al.  Complementarity of Interpersonal Behaviors in Dyadic Interactions , 2003, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[60]  A. Pincus,et al.  Interpersonal Theory of Personality , 2003 .

[61]  K. Locke.  Status and solidarity in social comparison: agentic and communal values and vertical and horizontal directions. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[62]  Erik Woody,et al.  Is who you are who you're talking to? Interpersonal style and complementarity in mixed-sex interactions. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[63]  R. Heyman,et al.  Observation of couple conflicts: clinical assessment applications, stubborn truths, and shaky foundations. , 2001, Psychological assessment.

[64]  J. Simpson,et al.  The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism , 2000, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[65]  Kathryn Dindia,et al.  Sex differences and similarities in communication : critical essays and empirical investigations of sex and gender in interaction , 1999 .

[66]  D. Zuroff,et al.  Dependency, self-criticism, interpersonal behaviour and affect: evolutionary perspectives. , 1999, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[67]  J. Gottman,et al.  Predicting divorce among newlyweds from the first three minutes of a marital conflict discussion. , 1999, Family process.

[68]  S. Nowicki,et al.  The Impact of Cooperative and Competitive Instructions on the Performance of Friendly and Hostile Complementary Mixed-Sex Dyads ☆ ☆☆ , 1997 .

[69]  D. Christopher Dryer,et al.  When Do Opposites Attract? Interpersonal Complementarity Versus Similarity , 1997 .

[70]  V. Sadock.  Gender Shock: Exploding the Myths of Male and Female , 1997 .

[71]  D. Kiesler,et al.  Contemporary Interpersonal Theory and Research: Personality, Psychopathology, and Psychotherapy , 1996 .

[72]  R. Koestner,et al.  A multifactorial approach to the study of gender characteristics. , 1995, Journal of personality.

[73]  A. Eagly.  The science and politics of comparing women and men , 1995 .

[74]  D. Buss,et al.  Psychological Sex Differences: Origins through Sexual Selection. , 1995 .

[75]  A. Feingold,et al.  Gender differences in personality: a meta-analysis. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[76]  D. Moskowitz,et al.  Situational influences on gender differences in agency and communion. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[77]  S. Shiffman,et al.  Ecological Momentary Assessment (Ema) in Behavioral Medicine , 1994 .

[78]  C. Delphy,et al.  RETHINKING SEX AND GENDER , 1993 .

[79]  K. Bartholomew,et al.  Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a four-category model. , 1991, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[80]  J. S. Wiggins,et al.  Agency and communion as conceptual coordinates for the understanding and measurement of interpersonal behavior. , 1991 .

[81]  T. Widiger,et al.  Interpersonal complementarity and individual differences. , 1990 .

[82]  F D Fincham,et al.  Attributions in marriage: review and critique. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[83]  A. Eagly,et al.  The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles , 1987 .

[84]  Jim Orford,et al.  The Rules of Interpersonal Complementarity: Does Hostility Beget Hostility and Dominance, Submission?. , 1986 .

[85]  E. E. Jones,et al.  Perceiver-Induced Constraint: Interpretations of Self-Generated Reality , 1986 .

[86]  J. Coie,et al.  A Behavioral Analysis of Emerging Social Status in Boys' Groups. , 1983 .

[87]  D. Kiesler.  The 1982 Interpersonal Circle: A taxonomy for complementarity in human transactions. , 1983 .

[88]  J. Gottman.  Marital Interaction: Experimental Investigations , 1980 .

[89]  L. Benjamin,et al.  Use of structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) and Markov chains to study dyadic interactions. , 1979, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[90]  J. S. Wiggins,et al.  A psychological taxonomy of trait-descriptive terms: The interpersonal domain. , 1979 .

[91]  W. R. Nay,et al.  Multimethod clinical assessment , 1979 .

[92]  Teresa M. Amabile,et al.  Social Roles, Social Control and Biases in Social Perception , 1977 .

[93]  F. Irvin,et al.  Interaction Concepts of Personality. , 1969 .

[94]  E. Thoma.  Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality , 1965 .

[95]  Timothy Leary,et al.  Interpersonal diagnosis of personality : a functional theory and methodology for personality evaluation , 1958 .

[96]  H. S. Sullivan.  The interpersonal theory of psychiatry , 1953 .