Exploring Personality with the Interpersonal Circumplex

TLDR

The interpersonal circumplex serves as a companion and guide for exploring the interpersonal domain of personality. The article provides a nontechnical overview of the interpersonal circumplex and its applications for exploring personality both idiographically and nomothetically. The author defines the interpersonal circumplex, explains its structure, evaluates circumplex measures such as the Interpersonal Adjective Scales, and outlines how the model is applied to idiographic and nomothetic personality research. The circumplex facilitates summarizing individuals’ interpersonal features and clarifies the interpersonal meaning of traits, problems, and motives in variable‑centered research.

Abstract

Abstract The interpersonal circumplex can serve as both companion and guide for those interested in exploring the interpersonal domain of personality. This article offers a relatively nontechnical overview of the model and its various applications in the study of personality. I begin by defining the interpersonal circumplex, its structure and in what sense it is ‘interpersonal’. As part of that, I will briefly consider how circumplex measures of personality, such as the Interpersonal Adjective Scales, are typically evaluated for fit to the model. I will next describe applications of the model for exploring both the idiographic (person‐centered) and nomothetic (variable‐centered) realms of personality. In person‐centered research, the circumplex leads to useful ways of summarizing the basic interpersonal features of a given individual. In variable‐centered research, the circumplex can help elucidate the essential interpersonal meaning of personality constructs such as traits, problems, and motives. To explain how the circumplex can help us explore personality – idiographically and nomothetically – I will draw on a variety of studies, including several recent studies that extend the model in new ways.