FIRO–B: Factors and Facets

Abstract

10 FIRO-B intercorrelation matrices were factor analysed; one matrix was derived from new FIRO-B data, all the other matrices were found in the literature. The correlation matrices were also subjected to meta-analysis. The findings suggested that the four FIRO-B scales associated with Inclusion and Affection are facets of the ubiquitous interpersonal superfactor, Nurturance, but the two FIRO-B Control scales each express an orthogonal construct both of which relate to the super-factor, Dominance.

A Social Withdrawal Component in Schutz’s FIRO Model of Interpersonal Personality: Social Engagement, Control and Social Withdrawal

“…Examining ten FIRO-B inter-correlation matrices, Macrosson (2000) concurs with this conclusion, labelling the two factors he identifies as Control and Nurturance. More recently, Furnham (2008) similarly reports a two rather Interpersona | An International Journal on Personal Relationships interpersona.…”

“…Yet the structure of this (unclear) domain, as measured by one of the most widely used personality instruments, has been called into question. A number of recent studies show that Schutz's original six subscales, Control (Expressed and Wanted), Inclusion (Expressed and Wanted) and Openness/Affection (Expressed and Wanted) can be understood in terms of just two interpersonal tendencies relating to social affective and control issues, with some studies also drawing attention to a further distinction between Expressed and Wanted aspects of the Control dimension (Dancer & Woods, 2006;Furnham, 2008;Hurley, 1992;Macrosson, 2000;Mahoney & Stasson, 2005).…”

“…A distinction between Generated and Accepted Social Engagement is discernible on the plot, although this is less It may be then that Schutz's original Openness and Inclusion dimensions are better understood as part of the same substantive domain, as indicated by the factor analytic construct validity studies (Macrosson, 2000;Mahoney & Stasson, 2005) but capture different interaction modes (Accepted versus Generated) within this interpersonal tendency.…”

“…However, a number of recent studies have questioned the construct validity of the FIRO, especially with regard to the distinctness of Schutz's Affection (Openness) and Inclusion components (Dancer & Woods, 2006;Furnham, 2008;Hurley, 1992;Macrosson, 2000;Mahoney & Stasson, 2005). Mahoney and Stasson, for example, report correlations of r = .65 between Expressed Inclusion and Expressed Affection, leading them to conclude that two dimensions of Dominance (Control) and Socio-Emotional Affect (Inclusion and Affection) underpin the FIRO-B.…”

“…Yet given that some degree of overlap has been reported between these dimensions (e.g. Furnham, 2008;Hurley, 1992;Macrosson, 2000), the indications are that a more detailed consideration of the relationships between the individual items themselves may be instructive. Schutz provided a special coding framework in relation to the scoring of each item on each dimension allowing those administering the questionnaire to give clients a total score on each of the dimensions; however, there are no published accounts of the psychometric basis for the coding framework.…”