Distinguishing Interpersonal Problems, Sensitivities, Values, and Efficacies.

Abstract

Covariation among the octant scales of Interpersonal Circumplex (IPC) measures can be accounted for by a general elevation factor and two stylistic factors that can be rotated to reflect dominance and warmth. IPC measures are available to assess different interpersonal surfaces, or different kinds of interpersonal functioning. Administration of multiple IPC measures enables multisurface interpersonal assessment, in which both convergences and divergences across surfaces are considered clinically informative. This approach assumes that IPC measures are capturing qualitatively distinct variations in interpersonal functioning, but this assumption has not been formally tested. We fit CFA models with IPC measures of problems, sensitivities, values, and efficacies that had 12 dimensions (distinct general, dominance, and warmth factors for each surface) or which collapsed either general (9 factor) or stylistic (6 factor) dimensions across surfaces. The results favored the twelve-factor model, indicating that the four IPC measures provide distinct information regarding interpersonal functioning and supporting multisurface interpersonal assessment.