Assessing Affect-Tone of Relationship Paradigms From TAT and Interview Data

The affect-tone of relationship paradigms-the extent to which a person expects people and relationships to be hostile and malevolent or safe and enriching-is an important dimension on which individuals and various psychopathological populations differ. From a psychoanalytic perspective, this can be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological assessment 1990-09, Vol.2 (3), p.329-332
Main Authors: Barends, Alex, Westen, Drew, Leigh, Janet, Silbert, Donna, Byers, Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attribution
Emotions
Human
Interpersonal Interaction
Interviews
Measurement
Test Validity
Thematic Apperception Test
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Summary:The affect-tone of relationship paradigms-the extent to which a person expects people and relationships to be hostile and malevolent or safe and enriching-is an important dimension on which individuals and various psychopathological populations differ. From a psychoanalytic perspective, this can be conceptualized as the affective coloring of the object world; from a social-cognitive perspective, this can be viewed as the affective quality of interpersonal expectancies. This study provides preliminary support for the validity of 2 measures of affect-tone of relationship paradigms: one for use with the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the other for use with interview data. Positive findings included significant correlations between the TAT and interview measures, between the TAT measure and similar dimensions assessed from free-response person descriptions and by questionnaire, and between the interview measure and self-reported social adjustment. The results point to both within-subject consistency and variability in the affect-tone of relationship paradigms across situations and relationships.
ISSN:1040-3590
1939-134X
DOI:10.1037/1040-3590.2.3.329