The circle as a model for the interpersonal domain of Swedish trait terms

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Abstract
Swedish interpersonal traits were assumed to have the structure demonstrated by Wiggins for the Interpersonal Adjective Scales in English. Positive and negative interpersonal trait terms were rated for accuracy when describing people. The ratings were used to construct 16 eight‐item scales which were ordered relative to two principal components and labelled A to P. The evaluative meaning of each scale item was rated by a second group. The ranks of the mean ratings for the scales followed expectations. The 16 scales were combined into eight scales PA, BC, DE, etc., to NO. From a new group of subjects (N = 159) self‐ratings were obtained. The correlations between the eight scales were used to obtain maximum‐likelihood estimates of population coefficients of a hypothetical circulant matrix. A circumplex model fitted the data well and the two equally large orthogonal components ordered the PA to NO variables within a circular semantic space. The model was interpreted as a structural representation of basic‐level categories for interpersonal attributes of personality in the natural language.
Funding Information
  • Swedish Council of Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences

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