Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Capturing the complexity of interpersonal dynamics—emerging from approach and avoidance motives of two individuals in dyadic interplay—remains challenging. In line with calls for embracing complexity in psychological research using formal modeling, we employed evolutionary game theory to investigate the underlying mechanisms of affiliative interpersonality. We constructed a relational state space that represents the ways of relating available in the momentary state of an interpersonal relationship. Next, we modeled relationships as trajectories in that relational space. Qualitatively different interpersonal dynamics emerged: (a) global stability with only one relational attractor (e.g., pure reciprocal friendliness), (b) bistability with two mutually exclusive attractors (e.g., either pure friendliness or pure distance), and (c) cycles between friendliness and distance in the relational space. The bistable dynamics appear to resemble the phenomenon of interpersonal complementarity (e.g., friendliness invites friendliness). Furthermore, the model generates psychopathologically relevant dynamics (e.g., oscillating, unstable interpersonal relationships in borderline personality disorder).

Keywords

dyad motive approach avoidance evolutionary game theory generative explanation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Babl

Berger

Eubanks

C. F.

Gómez Penedo

J. M.

Caspar

Sachse

Kramer

(2022). Addressing interpersonal patterns in patients with personality disorders partially explains psychotherapy outcome via changes in interaction patterns: A mediation analysis. Psychotherapy Research, 32(8, Pt. 1), 984–994. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2022.2036383

Back

M. D.

Baumert

Denissen

J. J. A.

Hartung

Penke

Schmukle

S. C.

Schönbrodt

F. D.

Schröder-Abé

Vollmann

Wagner

Wrzus

(2011). PERSOC: A unified framework for understanding the dynamic interplay of personality and social relationships. European Journal of Personality, 25(2), 90–107. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.811

Baker

A. Z.

Peluso

P. R.

Freund

Diaz

Ghaness

(2022). Using dynamical systems mathematical modeling to examine the impact emotional expression on the therapeutic relationship: A demonstration across three psychotherapeutic theoretical approaches. Psychotherapy Research: Journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, 32(2), 223–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1921303

Ballard

Yeo

G. B.

Vancouver

Neal

(2017). The dynamics of avoidance goal regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 41(6), 698–707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-017-9640-8

Bandura

(1978). The self system in reciprocal determinism. American Psychologist, 33(4), 344–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.33.4.344

Banisch

(2016). Markov Chain aggregation for agent-based models. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24877-6

Banisch

Olbrich

(2019). Opinion polarization by learning from social feedback. The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 43(2), 76–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022250X.2018.1517761

Benjamin

L. S.

(1974). Structural analysis of social behavior. Psychological Review, 81(5), 392–425. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0037024

Boag

(2018). Personality dynamics, motivation, and the logic of explanation. Review of General Psychology, 22(4), 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000150

10.

Borgstede

Eggert

(2023). Squaring the circle: From latent variables to theory-based measurement. Theory & Psychology, 33(1), 118–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221127985

11.

Carver

C. S.

(2006). Approach, avoidance, and the self-regulation of affect and action. Motivation and Emotion, 30(2), 105–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9044-7

12.

Carver

C. S.

Scheier

M. F.

(1998). On the self-regulation of behavior. Cambridge University Press.

13.

Carver

C. S.

Scheier

M. F.

(2002). Control processes and self-organization as complementary principles underlying behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(4), 304–315. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0604_05

14.

Caspar

(1995). Plan analysis: Toward optimizing psychotherapy. Hogrefe.

15.

Castonguay

L. G.

Eubanks

C. F.

Goldfried

M. R.

Muran

J. C.

Lutz

(2015). Research on psychotherapy integration: Building on the past, looking to the future. Psychotherapy Research, 25(3), 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2015.1014010

16.

Cervone

(2004). The architecture of personality. Psychological Review, 111(1), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.111.1.183

17.

Connolly

(2019). The gravity of objects: How affectively organized generative models influence perception and social behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2599. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02599

18.

Constantino

M. J.

Manber

DeGeorge

McBride

Ravitz

Zuroff

D. C.

Klein

D. N.

Markowitz

J. C.

Rothbaum

B. O.

Thase

M. E.

Arnow

B. A.

(2008). Interpersonal styles of chronically depressed outpatients: Profiles and therapeutic change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45(4), 491–506. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014335

19.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

20.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2014). Autonomy and need satisfaction in close relationships: Relationships motivation theory. In Weinstein

(Ed.), Human motivation and interpersonal relationships (pp. 53–73). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8542-6_3

21.

Dweck

C. S.

(2017). From needs to goals and representations: Foundations for a unified theory of motivation, personality, and development. Psychological Review, 124(6), 689–719. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000082

22.

Elliot

A. J.

(2006). The hierarchical model of approach-avoidance motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 30(2), 111–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9028-7

23.

Epstein

J. M.

(2006). Remarks on the foundations of agent-based generative social science. In Tesfatsion

Judd

(Eds.), Handbook of computational economics (Vol. 2, pp. 1585–1604). North Holland. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0021(05)02034-4

24.

Epstein

J. M.

(2012). Generative social science: Studies in agent-based computational modeling. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400842872

25.

Epstein

(2003). Cognitive-experiential self-theory of personality. In Millon

Lerner

M. J.

(Eds.), Handbook of psychology (pp. 159–184). John Wiley & Sons.

26.

Favela

L. H.

(2020). Cognitive science as complexity science. WIREs Cognitive Science, 11(4), Article e1525. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1525

27.

Fitzsimons

G. M.

Finkel

E. J.

Vandellen

M. R.

(2015). Transactive goal dynamics. Psychological Review, 122(4), 648–673.

28.

Fonagy

Gergely

Jurist

E. L.

Target

(2018). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self ( Fonagy

Gergely

Jurist

E. L.

Eds.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429471643

29.

Fried

E. I.

(2020). Theories and models: What they are, what they are for, and what they are about. Psychological Inquiry, 31(4), 336–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2020.1854011

30.

Fried

E. I.

Robinaugh

D. J.

(2020). Systems all the way down: Embracing complexity in mental health research. BMC Medicine, 18(1), Article 205. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-01668-w

31.

Frith

C. D.

(2003). Development and neurophysiology of mentalizing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 358(1431), 459–473. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2002.1218

32.

Gable

S. L.

(2006). Approach and avoidance social motives and goals. Journal of Personality, 74(1), 175–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00373.x

33.

Gaunersdorfer

Hofbauer

Sigmund

(1991). On the dynamics of asymmetric games. Theoretical Population Biology, 39(3), 345–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-5809(91)90028-E

34.

Gelfand

L. A.

Engelhart

(2012). Dynamical systems theory in psychology: Assistance for the lay reader is required. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, Article 382. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00382

35.

Gelfand

L. A.

Ervin

M. C.

Germ

S. R.

(2018). Commentary: Pattern destabilization and emotional processing in cognitive therapy for personality disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1845. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01845

36.

Gernigon

Vallacher

R. R.

Nowak

Conroy

D. E.

(2015). Rethinking approach and avoidance in achievement contexts: The perspective of dynamical systems. Review of General Psychology, 19(4), 443–457. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000055

37.

Goldman

R. N.

Greenberg

L. S.

(2007). Integrating love and power in emotion-focused couple therapy. European Psychotherapy, 7(1), 117–135.

38.

Gottman

Swanson

(2002). A general systems theory of marriage: Nonlinear difference equation modeling of marital interaction. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(4), 326–340. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0604_07

39.

Grawe

(1998). Psychologische therapie [Psychological therapy]. Hogrefe.

40.

Greenberg

L. S.

(2017). Emotion-focused therapy of depression. Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, 16(2), 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2017.1330702

41.

Grosse Holtforth

. (2008). Avoidance motivation in psychological problems and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy Research, 18(2), 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503300701765849

42.

Guest

Martin

A. E.

(2021). How computational modeling can force theory building in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16, 789–802. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620970585

43.

Gurtman

M. B.

(2009). Exploring personality with the interpersonal circumplex. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3(4), 601–619. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00172.x

44.

Haslbeck

J. M. B.

Ryan

Robinaugh

Waldorp

Borsboom

(2022). Modeling psychopathology: From data models to formal theories. Psychological Methods, 27(6), 930–957. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000303

45.

Henry

T. R.

Robinaugh

D. J.

Fried

E. I.

(2022). On the control of psychological networks. Psychometrika, 87(1), 188–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11336-021-09796-9

46.

Hofman

J. M.

Watts

D. J.

Athey

Garip

Griffiths

T. L.

Kleinberg

Margetts

Mullainathan

Salganik

M. J.

Vazire

Vespignani

Yarkoni

(2021). Integrating explanation and prediction in computational social science. Nature, 595(7866), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03659-0

47.

Holland

J. N.

Deangelis

D. L.

(2010). A consumer-resource approach to the density-dependent population dynamics of mutualism. Ecology, 91(5), 1286–1295. https://doi.org/10.1890/09-1163.1

48.

Hopwood

C. J.

(2018). Interpersonal dynamics in personality and personality disorders. European Journal of Personality, 32(5), 499–524. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2155

49.

Hopwood

C. J.

Pincus

A. L.

Wright

A. G. C.

(2021). Six assumptions of contemporary integrative interpersonal theory of personality and psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 41, 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.03.007

50.

Hopwood

C. J.

Wright

A. G. C.

Ansell

E. B.

Pincus

A. L.

(2013). The interpersonal core of personality pathology. Journal of Personality Disorders, 27(3), 270–295. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2013.27.3.270

51.

Horowitz

L. M.

Wilson

K. R.

Turan

Zolotsev

Constantino

M. J.

Henderson

(2006). How interpersonal motives clarify the meaning of interpersonal behavior: A revised circumplex model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(1), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1001_4

52.

Kelley

H. H.

(1991). Lewin, situations, and interdependence. Journal of Social Issues, 47(2), 211–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb00297.x

53.

Kelley

H. H.

Thibaut

J. W.

(1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence. John Wiley & Sons.

54.

Kernberg

O. F.

(2019). Therapeutic implications of transference structures in various personality pathologies. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 67(6), 951–986. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065119898190

55.

Kiesler

D. J.

(1996). Contemporary interpersonal theory and research: Personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. John Wiley & Sons.

56.

Knobloch-Fedders

L. M.

Critchfield

K. L.

Boisson

Woods

Bitman

Durbin

C. E.

(2014). Depression, relationship quality, and couples’ demand/withdraw and demand/submit sequential interactions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 61(2), 264–279. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035241

57.

Lazarus

S. A.

Beeney

J. E.

Howard

K. P.

Strunk

D. R.

Pilkonis Paul

Cheavens

J. S.

(2020). Characterization of relationship instability in women with borderline personality disorder: A social network analysis. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 11(5), 312–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000380

58.

Lewin

(1943). Defining the “field at a given time.” Psychological Review, 50(3), 292–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0062738

59.

Luyten

Blatt

S. J.

(2013). Interpersonal relatedness and self-definition in normal and disrupted personality development: Retrospect and prospect. American Psychologist, 68(3), 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032243

60.

Mansell

(2005). Control theory and psychopathology: An integrative approach. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 78(Pt 2), 141–178. https://doi.org/10.1348/147608304X21400

61.

McClelland

D. C.

(1987). Human motivation. CUP Archive.

62.

McCullough

J. P.

(2003). Treatment for chronic depression using Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP). Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59(8), 833–846. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10176

63.

Mitchell

S. A.

(1988). Relational concepts in psychoanalysis: An integration. Harvard University Press.

64.

Nikitin

Freund

A. M.

(2019). Who cares? Effects of social approach and avoidance motivation on responsiveness to others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(2), 182–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218781335

65.

Nowak

(2004). Dynamical minimalism: Why less is more in psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(2), 183–192. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0802_12

66.

Orehek

Forest

A. L.

Wingrove

(2018). People as means to multiple goals: Implications for interpersonal relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46, 1487–1501. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218769869

67.

Oude Maatman

(2021). Psychology’s theory crisis, and why formal modelling cannot solve it. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/puqvs

68.

Pincus

A. L.

Ansell

E. B.

(2003). Interpersonal theory of personality. In Millon

Lerner

(Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 5. Personality and social psychology (pp. 209–229). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/0471264385.wei0509

69.

Pincus

A. L.

Hopwood

C. J.

Wright

A. G. C.

(2020). The interpersonal situation: An integrative framework for the study of personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. In Rauthmann

J. F.

Sherman

R. A.

Funder

D. C.

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of psychological situations (pp. 123–142). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190263348.013.4

70.

Powers

W. T.

(1973). Behavior: The control of perception. De Gruyter.

71.

Read

S. J.

Smith

B. J.

Droutman

Miller

L. C.

(2017). Virtual personalities: Using computational modeling to understand within-person variability. Journal of Research in Personality, 69, 237–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.10.005

72.

Robinaugh

Haslbeck

J. M. B.

Ryan

Fried

E. I.

Waldorp

(2021). Invisible hands and fine calipers: A call to use formal theory as a toolkit for theory construction. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4), 725–743. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620974697

73.

Robinaugh

Haslbeck

J. M. B.

Waldorp

Kossakowski

J. J.

Fried

E. I.

Millner

McNally

R. J.

van Nes

E. H.

Scheffer

Kendler

K. S.

Borsboom

(2023). Advancing the network theory of mental disorders: A computational model of panic disorder. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/km37w

74.

Roefs

Fried

E. I.

Kindt

Martijn

Elzinga

Evers

A. W. M.

Wiers

R. W.

Borsboom

Jansen

(2022). A new science of mental disorders: Using personalised, transdiagnostic, dynamical systems to understand, model, diagnose and treat psychopathology. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 153, Article 104096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104096

75.

Scalco

Ceschi

Sartori

(2018). Application of psychological theories in agent-based modeling: The case of the theory of planned behavior. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, 22(1), 15–33.

76.

Selten

(1988). A note on evolutionarily stable strategies in asymmetric animal conflicts. In Leinfellner

Eberlein

Tijs

S. H.

(Eds.), Models of strategic rationality (Vol. 2, pp. 67–75). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7774-8_3

77.

Skinner

B. F.

(1953). Science and human behavior. Macmillan.

78.

Smaldino

P. E.

(2017). Models are stupid, and we need more of them. In Vallacher

R. R.

Read

S. J.

Nowak

(Eds.), Computational social psychology (pp. 311–331). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315173726-14

79.

Smaldino

P. E.

(2020). How to translate a verbal theory into a formal model. Social Psychology, 51(4), 207–218. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000425

80.

Stanford

(2023). Underdetermination of scientific theory. In Zalta

E. N.

Nodelman

(Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2023/entries/scientific-underdetermination/

81.

Stern

D. B.

(2013). Relational freedom and therapeutic action. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 61(2), 227–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065113484060

82.

Sullivan

H. S.

(1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. Norton.

83.

Vallacher

R. R.

Van Geert

Nowak

(2015). The intrinsic dynamics of psychological process. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(1), 58–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414551571

84.

van Rooij

Baggio

. (2021). Theory before the test: How to build high-verisimilitude explanatory theories in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4), 682–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620970604

85.

van Rooij

Blokpoel

. (2020). Formalizing verbal theories. Social Psychology, 5(15), 285–298. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000428

86.

Waade

P. T.

Enevoldsen

K. C.

Vermillet

A.-Q.

Simonsen

Fusaroli

(2023). Introducing tomsup: Theory of mind simulations using Python. Behavior Research Methods, 55, 2197–2231. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01827-2

87.

Wachtel

P. L.

(1994). Cyclical processes in personality and psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103(1), 51–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.103.1.51

88.

Wachtel

P. L.

(2014). An integrative relational point of view. Psychotherapy, 51(3), 342–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037219

89.

Wagner

C. C.

Kiesler

D. J.

Schmidt

J. A.

(1995). Assessing the interpersonal transaction cycle: Convergence of action and reaction interpersonal circumplex measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 938–949. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.69.5.938

90.

Weibull

J. W.

(1997). Evolutionary game theory. MIT Press.

91.

Westermann

Banisch

(2024). Imperfect communication in interpersonal interactions: A formal modeling approach. Manuscript in preparation.

92.

Westermann

Grosse Holtforth

Michalak

(2019). Motivation in psychotherapy. In Ryan

R. M.

(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of human motivation (pp. 415–442). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190666453.013.23

93.

Westermann

Sibilis

(2022). Emergence and assessment of interpersonal experience and behavior in a nonverbal, generative, game-like paradigm. Acta Psychologica, 229, Article 103689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103689

94.

Wiggins

J. S.

Trobst

K. K.

(1999). The fields of interpersonal behavior. In Pervin

L. A.

John

O. P.

(Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 653–670). The Guilford Press.

95.

Wilensky

Rand

(2015). An introduction to agent-based modeling: Modeling natural, social, and engineered complex systems with NetLogo. MIT Press.

96.

Winnicott

D. W.

(1969). The use of an object. The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 50(4), 711–716.

97.

Wrzus

Hänel

Wagner

Neyer

F. J.

(2013). Social network changes and life events across the life span: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 53–80. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028601

98.

Yoshida

Dolan

R. J.

Friston

K. J.

(2008). Game theory of mind. PLOS Computational Biology, 4(12), Article e1000254. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000254

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.18 MB

A Formal Model of Affiliative Interpersonality

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material