Interpersonal Complementarity, Gender of Interactants, and Performance on Puzzle and Word Tasks

Abstract

Using a circumplex model of interpersonal acts, subjects were placed in complementary (reciprocal on control and similar in affect) or anticomplementary (similar on control and reciprocal in affect) dyads to test Sullivan's assumption that complementary transactions facilitate relationships. It was predicted that complementary dyads would perform better than anticomplementary ones on jigsaw puzzle and word generation tasks. Both hostile and friendly types of complementary dyads were composed of mixed- and same-under pairings. Analyses revealed, as predicted, that whether they were hostile or friendly, complementary dyads peformed better than anticomplementary ones on the jigsaw puzzle task and tended to perform better on the word generation task However in addition, it was found that hostile complementary dyads with a male dominant and a female submissive consistent{y put few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together than the other complementary pairings. Results are discussed within an interpersonal theory framework, and suggestions are made for future researchers to examine complementary transactions for varying lengths of time and conditions.