The structure of retrospective accounts of family environments: related to the structure of personality attributes.

Environmental variables are often assumed to constitute a qualitatively different domain from personality variables, and unlike personality variables, their structure is relatively poorly understood. We studied retrospective descriptions of families-of-origin in 3 samples using the items of Moos's (1974) Family Environment Scale (FES). Using cluster-analytic procedures, we generated a new set of 22 homogeneous item clusters for the FES at a level more specific than the 10 conventional FES scales, thus enhancing potential fidelity in the measurement of family environments.

How interpersonal motives clarify the meaning of interpersonal behavior: a revised circumplex model.

Circumplex models have organized interpersonal behavior along 2 orthogonal dimensions--communion (which emphasizes connection between people) and agency (which emphasizes one person's influence over the other). However, many empirical studies have disconfirmed certain predictions from these models. We therefore revised the model in 4 ways that highlight interpersonal motives.