Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Sytems

The Circumplex Model focuses on the three central dimensions of marital and family systems: cohesion, flexibility and communication. The major hypothesis of the Circumplex Model is that balanced couple and family systems tend to be more functional compared to unbalanced systems. In over 250 studies using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES), a linear self-report measure, strong support has been found for this hypothesis. In several studies using the Clinical Rating Scale (CRS), a curvilinear observational measure, the hypothesis was also supported. These two assessment tools, the FACES and the CRS, are designed for research, clinical assessment and treatment planning with couples and families.     

Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems: I. Cohesion and Adaptability Dimensions,Family Types,and Clinical Applications

The conceptual clustering of numerous concepts from family therapy and other social science fields reveals two significant dimensions of family behavior, cohesion and adaptability. These two dimensions are placed into a circumplex model that is used to identify 16 types of marital and family systems. The model proposes that a balanced level of both cohesion and adaptability is the most functional to marital and family development. It postulates the need for a balance on the cohesion dimension between too much closeness (which leads to enmeshed systems) and too little closeness (which leads to disengaged systems). There also needs to be a balance on the adaptability dimension between too much change (which leads to chaotic systems) and too little change (which leads to rigid systems). The model was developed as a tool for clinical diagnosis and for specifying treatment goals with couples and families.     

Circumplex Model of Family Systems: A Treatment Tool in Family Counseling

The Circumplex Model and its diagnostic inventory, FACES III, are emerging as important tools for the family counselor. The authors describe the model and inventory and illustrate their use through a case study with a multiproblem family.     

Family Models: Comparing and Contrasting the Olson Circumplex Model with the Beavers Systems Model

There is an increasing interest in and need for family models. One such model is the Olson Circumplex Model, previously reported in this journal ( 18 ). This model is compared and contrasted with the Beavers Systems Model, which was also developed from empirical data and has had extensive use in family assessment. Though both are cross-sectional, process-oriented, and capable of providing structure for family research, we believe there are certain shortcomings in the Olson model that make it less clinically useful than the Beavers Systems Model. These include definitional problems and a total reliance on curvilinear dimensions with a grid approach to family typology that does not acknowledge a separation/individuation continuum. Our model avoids these deficiencies and includes a continuum of functional competence that reflects the development and differentiation of many living systems, including the family.     

Theories of Family Adaptability: Toward a Synthesis of Olson''s Circumplex and the Beavers Systems Models

Two typologies of family process, Olson's Circumplex Model and the Beavers Systems Model, are discussed, focusing particularly upon their definitions of family adaptability. It is argued that the two typologies are not simply "separate but equal" (11), but, rather, that there is an ambiguity in the Circumplex Model that disguises a fundamental theoretical overlap between the two. Olson's definition of adaptability is founded upon the concepts of morphogenesis and change; Beavers builds upon the concepts of negentropy and competence. It may be shown, however, that both understandings are necessitated by the theoretical writings of Olson and his colleagues. The nature of this ambiguity in the Circumplex Model is critically explored, and a higher-order model that attempts to synthesize these two theories is proposed.     

Stages of the Marital and Family Life Cycle: Marital Miracles

The stages of the marital and family life cycle describe the social, emotional, and developmental tasks required to create and maintain coupleness throughout the life of a marriage. This paper will explore the specifically Christian dimensions of these stage tasks. It will view these transitions as marital miracles on the journey of faith which invite couples to experience more of God's presence and healing in their relationship.     

Beyond the Circumplex Model: I. A Moratorium on Curvilinearity

The developmental history of Olson's Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems, and companion measure, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES), are reviewed with respect to structure, definition, and theory. Cohesion and adaptability are analyzed as multivariate constructs consisting of linear variables that interact in a confounding, systemic fashion. The theory of curvilinearity — the idea that the model's two key dimensions of cohesion and adaptability form a curvilinear rather than linear relationship with effective family functioning — is rejected.     

Testing the General Theory of Crime with the Circumplex Model: Curvilinear Relations between Family Functioning and Self-Control

ABSTRACT

The relation between family and low self-control is usually studied within linear hypotheses. In this study, we intended to test the familial origin of self-control under a curvilinear hypothesis. This is a cross-sectional study, with a sample of 448 adolescents and young adults. Data analysis was based on correlation and regression-based statistics. Results revealed linear associations between family functioning and juvenile deviant behavior, contrary to self-control which presented curvilinear relations with family cohesion and flexibility (i.e. both high and low extreme levels were associated with low self-control). This finding suggests a new approach to the familial origin of low self-control.     

Circumplex Model VII: Validation Studies and FACES III

This paper reviews some of the recent empirical studies validating the Circumplex Model and describes the newly developed self-report measure, FACES III. Studies testing hypotheses derived from the Circumplex Model regarding the three dimensions of cohesion, change, and communication are reviewed. Case illustrations using FACES III and the Clinical Rating Scale are presented. These two assessment tools can be used for making a diagnosis of family functioning and for assessing changes over the course of treatment. This paper reflects the continuing attempt to develop further the Circumplex Model and to bridge more adequately research, theory, and practice.     

Evaluating FACES III and the Circumplex Model: 2,440 families

Previous evaluations of the Circumplex Model's curvilinear hypothesis using FACES instruments have yielded conflicting results. A review of the different research procedures and samples used in those investigations revealed that none of the studies had samples large and/or heterogenous enough to test the curvilinear hypothesis adequately. The present study evaluates the curvilinear hypothesis of family functioning and the concurrent validity of FACES III with a sample of optimal size (N = 2,440 families) and diversity. The lack of support for the curvilinear hypothesis in this "greenhouse" sample is explained by different findings for the two FACES III subscales. There was no relationship between the study's measures of well-being and the adaptability subscale and a linear relationship between these measures and the cohesion subscale. Implications of these findings for the continuing use of the FACES III and for the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems are discussed.     

人际关系互动中人际特质的环形模型探索

人际环是以水平轴亲和维度和垂直轴控制维度为核心,按照规定序列排列在一个环形的空间。研究目的:研究融合人际互动与人格特质两个心理学研究领域,探讨中国文化下人际互动中人际环状结构。研究方法:本研究以人际环为理论基础,设计三种不同关系类型:夫妻关系、同性好友关系和恋人关系,采用多元变量分析和随机化测验方法检验本土文化下人际互动中个体的人际特质结构。研究结果:显示互动中个体人际特质以两个基本维度(亲和维和控制维)为核心,这两个维度体现出人际关系互动中的两个重要信息:地位和爱。人际特质包含六个因子,分别是人际冷漠性、人际亲和性、人际开放性、人际退缩性、社会支配性和社会服从性。此六因子以水平轴亲和维度和垂直轴控制维度为核心,形成一个不规则的六边环形,并以规定序列排列成环形空间。     

环形模型:整合人格研究的一种取向

环形模型是一种用于描述具有系统有序的相关模式的一组变量的取向,它可作为研究思路、形成待检验的理论假设、分析方法、检验其他结构的法则网络系统,具有强有力的理论基础和明确的数学属性,是人格和社会心理学中一个重要的工具。人际环形模型对于人际特质结构的探讨,对人际相关心理结构的检验,以及对于人际行为的描述和预测,都有其独特的效力,是以五因素人格特质模型为代表的因素模型的一个重要互补且兼容的模型。本文就人际环形模型的理论与实践背景加以介绍,并用人际形容词量表(IAS-R)的实证数据来演示环形模型的分析和检验过程,从而对环形模型的数学属性及其分析检验方式加以阐释。最后论述了该模型对于传统人际评价的理解以及本土人格与社会心理研究的意义。     

The Science and Typology of Family Systems II. Further Theoretical and Practical Considerations

Family systems are conceptualized as stable, but open, control systems characterized by: (a) formal organization, similar in principle to that of other complex, organic systems — physical, cognitive ( 11 ), or social; (b) freedom of action, reserved for human, "purposefu" systems ( 1 ). These characteristics are linked to auto-regulatory processes mediated by morphostasis ( 16 ), which insures systemic stability, and morphogenesis ( 16 ), which enables the system to change in accordance with the demands of intra- and extra-systemic reality. The latter two concepts, earlier used to construct a typology of family systems ( 19 ), are here further theoretically elaborated and operationally defined ( 1 ). Morphostasis is tied to the system's: (a) behavioral structure, embodied in a network of ground rules and meta-rules, as defined, and organized according to a principle of hiearchical linkage; (b) behavioral functioning, regulated by rule circuits in accordance with a principle of functional linkage. Morphogenesis is conceptualized as a serial, decision-making, change-producing process, dependent on specified, necessary, and sufficient conditions for its occurrence. The role of pragmatic, perceptual meanings ( 1 ) and of biological/experiential and conscious/unconscious factors in the system's auto-regulation are considered, as well as research approaches to some of these problems. The implications of the present theoretical rationale for the systematic testing and clinical use of the published family system typology ( 19 ) and for some more general issues concerning psychological theory, as well as the modern Western family and society, are discussed.