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The present study examined the influence of trait Agreeableness and its interaction with social role status on interpersonal correspondence as reflected in the within-person relation between a person's communal (agreeable-quarrelsome) behavior and perceptions of the interaction partner's communal behavior. We used a sample of working adults (original data set: 113 participants and 12,303 interpersonal events; constrained data set in the work setting: 109 participants and 3,193 interpersonal events) and an event-contingent recording procedure to assess behavior in naturalistic interpersonal events. The results of multilevel modeling indicated that interpersonal correspondence was lower for high trait Agreeableness persons than for low trait Agreeableness persons, apparently due to less responsiveness to more disagreeable behavior by the other person in an interaction. High Agreeableness persons manifest greater interpersonal correspondence when in a high-status role than when in a low-status role, apparently by increasing responsiveness to disagreeable behavior from others. The results imply that high social role status may influence the effortful control process of high trait Agreeableness persons over their behavioral reactions to others' disagreeable behavior during interpersonal interactions.

Objectives. We examined the moderating role of depression recurrence on the relatio nb etween autonomous and controlled motivation and interpersonal therap y (IPT) treatment outcome. Design. The investigation was conducted in an out-patient mood disorders clinic of a large university-affiliated psychiatric hospital. The sample represents as ubset of al arger naturalistic database of patients seen in the clinic. Methods. We examined 74 depressed out-patients who received 16 sessions of IPT. The Beck Depression Inventory-II, administered at pre-treatment and post-treatment, serve da sam easure of depressiv es everity .M easure so fm otivation and therapeutic alliance were collected at the third session. Results. In the entire sample ,b oth the therapeutic alliance and autonomous motivation predicted higher probability of achieving remission; however ,t he relation differed for those with highly recurrent depression compared to those with less recurrent depression. For those with highly recurrent depression, the therapeutic alliance predicted remission whereas autonomous motivation had no effect on remission. Fo rt hose with less recurrent depression, both autonomous motivation and the therapeutic alliance predicted better achievin gr emission. Controlled motivation emerged as as ignificant negative predicto ro fr emission across both groups. Conclusion. Ta ke nt ogether ,t hese results highlight the possible use of motivation theor yt oi nform and enrich therapeutic conceptualizations and interventions in clinical practice ,b ut also point to the importance of modifying interventions based on the chronicity of ac lient’ sd epression.

The association between defensiveness and physiological responses to stress were evaluated in 81 healthy working men and 118 women, aged 20 to 64 years (M=41; SD=11.45). Participants underwent laboratory testing during which they were exposed to interpersonal stressors. Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP), and salivary cortisol were measured. Defensiveness was evaluated using the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. In women, higher defensiveness was associated with greater BP and HR reactivity to stress (p

It is common in studies of interpersonal characteristics to examine personality variables as static predictors. Yet in recent years it has also become possible to examine personality and related interpersonal processes as they unfold over time in association with event specific cues. The present article reviews research that (1) identifies behaviors that reflect the occurrence of hostile-irritable-quarrelsome traits in daily life, (2) demonstrates both the stability and within-person variability of these behaviors over time, (3) documents event-level interpersonal cues that are systematically associated with within-person variation in quarrelsome behavior, and (4) describes how dispositional level agreeableness and irritability moderate the associations of event-level cues with quarrelsome behavior. The influence of the neurotransmitter serotonin on quarrelsome behavior is also considered. The studies indicate that quarrelsome individuals have reduced affective reactivity to engaging in quarrelsome behavior, increased behavioral reactivity to perceptions of quarrelsomeness in others, and greater responsiveness to change in serotonin levels.

BACKGROUND: Data concerning the effects of alcohol on social interaction in everyday life are limited. METHODS: Healthy volunteers in 4 studies of social behaviors and mood were instructed to complete record forms immediately after a social interaction had occurred, a method known as event-contingent recording. Record forms asked questions about quarrelsome, agreeable, dominant, and submissive behaviors; about aspects of mood; and, in 3 studies, about perceptions of others. Each form also contained a question about alcohol consumption prior to a social interaction. For the present report, only social interactions taking place in the evening and outside the work setting were included. Only individuals who consumed alcohol at least once in these circumstances were included (n = 171). RESULTS: Social interactions involving alcohol were primarily characterized by higher levels of agreeable behaviors, by perceptions of greater agreeableness in others, and by more positive mood. Alcohol consumption was not associated with higher levels of quarrelsomeness. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol consumption in a social context may have predominantly positive effects, an observation which is at odds with most alcohol-induced aggression experiments performed in laboratory settings. Drinking in everyday life may be less likely to result in aggression because, unlike in most laboratory experiments, individuals can choose among a variety of behaviors in response to social cues and the alcohol dose consumed is usually lower. Event-contingent recording provides a new approach for the study of alcohol's effects in everyday life and the conditions in which alcohol might result in interpersonal aggression. Language: en

Models of interpersonal traits have traditionally contained two independent dimensions, one referring to dominance as the opposite of submissiveness and the other referring to agreeableness as the opposite of quarrelsomeness. These models are primarily based on psychometric analyses of the co-occurrence of interpersonal characteristics. The present article reviews literature based on event-contingent recording studies that examine whether the structure of interpersonal behavior as revealed in its everyday occurrence is consistent with this model of interpersonal traits. Evidence from studies of the effects of hierarchical social role situations, the relations between behaviors and affect, and the effects of alterations in serotonin are used to evaluate whether dominance, submissiveness, agreeableness, and quarrelsomeness are related, opposite, or independent behavioral systems. The pattern of findings suggests that agreeableness and quarrelsomeness may be part of the same behavioral system while dominance and submissiveness may have separate underlying behavioral systems.

The authors examined whether variations in day-to-day estimates of personality characteristics, which are often treated as error, are instead predictable and meaningful. Using event-sampling and spectral analysis, they found that variations in interpersonal behavior over weekly periods were cyclic and normative. Dominant, submissive, agreeable, and quarrelsome behaviors rose during the week and fell on the weekend. The more general dimensions of agency and communion exhibited opposite patterns of cyclicity, with agency rising and communion falling during the week. Interpersonal traits were not useful in predicting behavior cyclicity. Extraverts exhibited a daily cycle, partially mediated by more varied partners and social behaviors during evenings. Findings are discussed with reference to conceptions of personality expression as dynamic yet stable processes.

The present study examined the systematic effects of gender and situation on two personality characteristics: dominance and friendliness. Individuals were observed twice in each of three situations: with a familiar person of the same sex, with an unfamiliar person of the same sex, and with an unfamiliar person of the opposite sex. Observations by independent observers were collected using behavior counts and ratings. In addition, self-reports about dominance and friendliness in different situations were collected. Results based on the independent observers generally indicated that sex differences are reduced in mixed-sex groups and accentuated in same-sex groups. There was also evidence of systematic errors in the self-reports suggesting that men may overestimate their degree of friendliness and that women may overestimate their level of dominance.

The strengths and weaknesses for the assessment of personality characteristics of self-reports, reports by knowledgeable informants, and measures based on behavioral observation data are discussed and compared It is suggested that measurement methods should be evaluated with respect to Loevinger's concept of structural validity The concept of structural validity is expanded to include evidence that the scores have properties paralleling the theoretical definition of the characteristic with respect to reliability over occasions, range of referent attributes sampled, and generality across situations or the specification of situation parameters Each of the methods is evaluated for its potential to construct measures with structural validity for different models of constructs The methods are also discussed in relation to several other common threats to validity, specifically, threats stemming from the respondent, from the investigator, and from sampling errors It is likely that demonstrations of convergence between these methods will be possible for some but not all constructs It is also suggested that the examination of structural validity will contribute to the evolution and refinement of constructs appropriate for interactionist theories