Intrapersonal variability in interpersonal perception in romantic relationships: Biases and accuracy

We examined whether intrapersonal variability in the perception of partner’s behavior, perception spin, was related to partner’s intrapersonal variability in behavior, behavioral spin, and was associated with biases in the perception of negative affect. Ninety-three cohabiting couples reported their perceptions of partner’s affect and partner’s communal and agentic behavior in interactions with each other for 20 days. Perception spin was calculated as the within-person standard deviation of perception scores across interactions. Spin in the perception of the partner was associated with the partner’s behavioral spin. Participants with higher perception spin overestimated their partner’s negative affect and more strongly assumed that their partner’s affect was similar to their own negative affect. Thus, perception spin is an individual difference variable that reflects in part the extent of variability in the partner’s behavior, but higher spin also indicates distortions in perceptions of others.     

特质认知和关系认知对人际信任的影响

特质认知和关系认知是影响人际信任的两个重要因素。在中西方不同的文化背景下,特质认知和关系认知对人际信任存在不同的影响。通过整合以往有关特质认知和关系认知影响人际信任的研究成果,发现关系认知影响人际信任的相关研究不应仅仅局限于简单的"亲疏关系"效应。尤其是在理解中国人人际信任的研究中,需要进一步深入探讨诸如能够体现中国社会关系核心构架的"阶层关系"等更为重要的社会关系的认知过程对于中国人人际信任的深刻作用。以"阶层关系"认知为核心的关系认知可能调节着特质认知对于中国人人际信任的影响。     

Relationship control and interpersonal perception in marriage

The correlation between married couples' interpersonal perception and relationship control in communication was investigated. A normated, standardized and shortened version of Laing et al. 's Interpersonal Perception method (IPM) was used to measure interpersonal perception. The test contain three levels of perception, namely (1) direct perception of the relationship, (2) misunderstandings, and (3) disagreements about the relationship. The couples' relationship control was observed in three different situations. Previous studies have found the amount of one-upmanship in married couples to be associated with problems of interpersonal perception. Although different methods were applied in the present study, this finding was replicated to some extent. Additionally, the results indicate that the more the couples communicated to each other that they both had the right to control the relationship, the less problems they had in interpersonal perception. The results also strongly suggest that couples communicating in egocentric and self-disqualifying ways perceive their marriage as less satisfying, and they also perceive each other's feelings and behaviours less accurately than those who have little or no such deviant communication.     

Temporal integration and perception duration

Abstract.— A mathematical model is proposed for the relationship between the intensity of a stimulus as function of time and the intensity of the corresponding respcnse in the form of a conscious experience. The model is based on the assumption that the psychophysical power law is valid for the energy contained in a sliding time-window. The width and shape of this time-window will determine both the region of temporal integration and the perception duration. The consequences of this model are compared with some measurements in hearing and vision, found in the literature.     

Social relationships and intraindividual variability in interpersonal behavior: correlates of interpersonal spin

Personality constructs are typically conceptualized as central tendencies of the individual. We explore whether dynamic personality constructs that quantify the within-individual variability of behavior across situations and over time predict the closeness of social relationships. We focused on interpersonal spin, defined as the degree of dispersion in a person's interpersonal behaviors around the interpersonal circumplex across situations and over time. We predicted that individuals with high spin would have social relationships that are less close than individuals with low spin. In 3 studies with different measures of relationship closeness, we found that (a) higher spinners reported that a larger proportion of their contacts in their workplace social networks were distant (Study 1); (b) co-workers were less satisfied and less often engaged in pleasant activities with higher spinners (Study 2); and (c) co-workers avoided higher spinners with whom they were well acquainted (Study 3). Moderated mediation analyses in Study 3 revealed that co-workers avoided well-acquainted higher spinners because they felt more negative affect when interacting with these individuals. The findings suggest the potential of dynamic personality constructs for improving our understanding of the characteristics of individuals' social relationships.     

Borderline Personality Organization predicts Machiavellian interpersonal tactics

Despite the phenomenological (e.g., manipulativeness) and dynamic (i.e., emotion dysregulation) analogies between Machiavellianism and Borderline Personality Organization (BPO), the relationship between these constructs has not yet been investigated. In our study, 225 non-clinical, non-student adults (130 females; 32.33 ± 5.42 years of age on average) completed measures of BPO and Machiavellianism. Results showed that Machiavellian personality traits were positively correlated with fear of fusion, diffuse identity, and use of primitive defenses. Machiavellianism, in general, and Machiavellian interpersonal tactics were predicted by fear of fusion and use of primitive defenses. Results are discussed from the perspective of Life History Theory.     

Similarity of trait construal and consensus in interpersonal perception

This study examined the roles of similarity of trait construal and length of acquaintanceship in interpersonal consensus. Pairs of roommates were asked to rate a mutual acquaintance on six ambiguous traits and to describe their behavioral definitions of those traits. They were then asked to rate the acquaintance again, once on the basis of their own definition of the trait and then on the basis of their roommate’s definition of the trait. Consensus was greater when roommates based their judgments on the same, shared trait definitions than when they based their judgments on their own unshared trait definitions. Furthermore, those roommates who reported similar trait construals exhibited significantly higher consensus in their initial unrestricted judgments of the mutual acquaintance than did those whose trait construals were dissimilar. Length of acquaintance appeared unrelated to similarity of trait construal and consensus. Discussion focuses on trait construal, interpersonal agreement, and social judgment.