The Social Relations Model: A New Approach to the Analysis of Family-Dyadic Interaction

Abstract

The Social Relations Model (Kenny and La Voie, 1984), which allows one to partition social interaction into component parts, is presented. The model consists of (a) actor effects (a person's behavioral consistency across partners), (b) partner effects (consistency in responses elicited by a given individual across different actors), (c) and interaction effects (the unique adjustment of a person to a particular partner). Actor and partner effects take the individual as the level of analysis; interaction effects take the dyad as the level of analysis. Family interaction data are reanalyzed using the model, and the subtle influence of partners on the behavior of actors is highlighted. The strengths and limitations of the model are discussed.