Within-person Covariation of Agentic and Communal Perceptions: Implications for Interpersonal Theory and Assessment.
Interpersonal theory identifies agency and communion as uncorrelated (orthogonal) dimensions, largely evidenced by research examining between-person analyses of single-occasion measures. However, longitudinal studies of interpersonal behavior demonstrated the within-person association of agency and communion is not orthogonal for many individuals, and between-person differences in these associations relate to adjustment. We applied a similar approach to investigate the association of interpersonal perceptions. 184 university students completed a 7-day event-contingent study of their interpersonal experiences. Using multilevel regression models, we demonstrated that agentic and communal perceptions were positively associated, and the strength of this within-person association was moderated by between-person scores of dependency and narcissism. We discuss the benefits of incorporating within-person interpersonal associations (termed interpersonal covariation) into interpersonal theory and assessment.
The Pennsylvania State University.
Michael J
MJ
Roche
Aaron L
AL
Pincus
Amanda L
AL
Hyde
David E
DE
Conroy
Nilam
N
Ram
ECR; EMA; Interpersonal Theory; Longitudinal; Personality traits; dependency; multilevel model; narcissism; personality disorder