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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 8, 1126-1139 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167206288669
© 2006 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Interpersonal and Noninterpersonal Interactions, Interpersonal Motives, and the Effect of Frustrated Motives

Nicole Shechtman

SRI International, Menlo Park, CA

Leonard M. Horowitz

Stanford University

A new circumplex model of interpersonal interaction emphasizes the motives that drive interpersonal behaviors and the negative affect (such as anger) that occurs when a strongly activated motive is frustrated. This study examined the model experimentally by varying conditions designed to activate and frustrate interpersonal motives. One hundred twenty-nine students engaged in text-based discussions using a computer. Three factors were varied: (a) activation of interpersonal motives— participants believed the interaction was interpersonal (with a human) or noninterpersonal (with a computer); (b) individual differences in motive activation—assertive and nonassertive participants were compared (strong vs. weak motive to influence others); and (c) level of frustration of activated motives—the "partner's" messages contained dominating or nondominating language. Participants who believed their interaction was interpersonal produced more interpersonal behaviors of various types. Assertive participants who interacted with a dominating and apparently human partner produced a disproportionate amount of hostility, indicating anger ascribed to frustrated motives.

Key Words: interpersonalmodels • interpersonal motives • interpersonal circumplex • principle of complementarity • assertiveness


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