Abstract
Background: The interpersonal circumplex is a prominent interpersonal model developed in Northern America and extended to parts of Western Europe, having been operationalised for countries and cultures within these contexts through the development and establishment of interpersonal circumplex instruments. An impressive body of research supports the validity of the interpersonal circumplex in the Western context, to conceptualise, organise and assess interpersonal behaviour, and serve as a valid predictor and descriptor of interpersonal constructs. The interpersonal circumplex has, however, remained relatively unexplored and untapped in Africa, Asia and South America, which brings its universality into question.
Research Purpose: This study aimed to validate and operationalise the interpersonal circumplex in South Africa. Fundamentally, this was to further extend the interpersonal circumplex in a global sense, beyond the borders of Northern America and Western Europe (Chapter 2). In a local sense, a valid South African operationalisation of the interpersonal circumplex would support its utility and application to conceptualise, organise and assess interpersonal behaviour in South Africa, and predict and describe interpersonal constructs in this context (chapters 3 and 4). A construct of particular interest in this Industrial and Organisational Psychology (IOP) study was counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). Chapter 5 sought to investigate the relationship between CWB and the interpersonal circumplex.
Research Design: A sample of 353 South African late-adolescent and young adult undergraduate students completed the Northern American-developed International Personality Item Pool-Interpersonal Circumplex (IPIP-IPC), to examine its reliability and circumplex structure for the cross-cultural transportability of the interpersonal circumplex to the South African context (Chapter 2). Multidimensional scaling (MDS), the randomisation test of hypothesised order relations (RHTOR) and circumplex covariance structure modelling (CCSM) were employed to evaluate circumplex structure. The IPIP-IPC was then revised for South Africa to support the operationalisation of the interpersonal circumplex in this context. A sample of 756 South African late adolescents, young adults and adults completed the South African revised IPIP-IPC, to evaluate its reliability and circumplex structure (Chapter 3) and its cross-cultural validity across the black African and white ethnic groups (Chapter 4). The interpersonal circumplex, as operationalised by the revised IPIP-IPC, was then applied to the...
Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology)