Interpersonal complementarity and rigidity in close relationships : a test of predictions from interpersonal theory / by Lauren Mount.

Abstract

Participants were undergraduate psychology students at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Interpersonal theory states that in our interactions with others, we seek information that validates our self-concepts. Thus, we emit behaviors which elicit complementary responses from others. Individuals with psychopathology are believed to manifest greater interpersonal rigidity, which is characterized by an inflexible interpersonal style. As a result, they are hypothesized to exert a stronger pull for complementary responses from others. In the present study, participants and a significant other of their choosing each completed three versions of the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (lAS-R; Wiggins, Trapnell, & Phillips, 1988), for Self- in-General, for Self-with-Other, and Other-with-Self, They also completed the short form of the Personality Assessment Inventory and a measure of positive regard for self and other. The following hypotheses were examined: (1) psychological disturbance will be associated with interpersonal rigidity, (2) the partners of individuals with rigid interpersonal styles will experience a greater pull for complementary responding, and (3) greater rigidity will be related to lower positive regard for self and other. Some forms of psychological disturbance were related to rigidity in specific behavior types and there was partial support for the relation between rigidity and lower positive regard. However, the results for complementary responding were inconsistent.