Evaluating the circumplexity of interpersonal traits and the manifestation of interpersonal traits in interpersonal trust

Two studies assessed the goodness of fit of ideal, quasi-, and noncircumplex models of interpersonal traits. Study 1 (N = 132) represents a secondary data analysis using J.S. Wiggins's (1979) original Interpersonal Adjectives Scales (IAS) and reported by J.S. Wiggins, J.H. Steiger, and L. Gaelick (1981). Study 2 (N = 401) represents a primary data analysis using Wiggins's revised IAS (J.S. Wiggins, P. Trapnell, & N. Phillips, 1988). Results of both studies indicated that a quasi-circumplex model provided a better fit to the correlational data than did either ideal or noncircumplex models. Also, in Study 2, results for a subsample (n = 113) indicated that an ideal circumplex model yielded a significant positive path coefficient from Nurturance to interpersonal trust (J.K. Rempel, J.G. Holmes, & M.P. Zanna, 1985) but not from Dominance to interpersonal trust, whereas a quasi-circumplex model yielded significant positive paths from both Dominance and Nurturance to interpersonal trust.