Features and types of interpersonal relationships
Features of interpersonal relationships:
- Interpersonal relationships are based on emotional and sensory assessments of partners.
- The personality of each participant in interpersonal relationships acts as a separate and unique unit.
- The formation of interpersonal relationships manifests itself gradually during the interaction of people.
- Interpersonal relationships are dynamic and change throughout their existence. The change in the nature of interpersonal relationships can be dramatic “from positive to negative.”
Interpersonal relationships are usually divided into two main groups: negative and positive (positive).
Definition 2
Positive (positive) interpersonal relationships are relationships that are based on mutual trust and respect.
This group of interpersonal relationships includes:
- sympathy;
- attractiveness;
- companionship;
- mutual interest;
- friendship;
- mutual affection;
- Love.
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The main feature of these interpersonal relationships is that at the beginning of their development they are not always based on common interests and goals; they are often completely opposite to mutual sympathy. That is, people begin to communicate with each other during work or educational activities. Gradually sympathy appears, people like to communicate with each other, common interests are revealed.
Definition 3
Negative (negative) interpersonal relationships are relationships that are based on rejection of certain personal qualities of a person, characteristics of his character or behavior.
Quite often, hostility can be unfounded, that is, a person is not able to explain why he has negative feelings towards another. The main reasons for these feelings are: various contradictions that arose during communication.
This group of interpersonal relationships includes:
- antipathy;
- hostility;
- mistrust;
- aggression;
- hatred;
- feeling of revenge.
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Currently, in practical psychology they have begun to distinguish a third group of interpersonal relationships - neutral. The identification of this group causes a lot of controversy among researchers in the field of psychology. This is due to the fact that if a person does not experience any feelings towards another person, then there can be no talk of a relationship.
The role and functions of interpersonal interaction
The desire to enter into contact with others is an immanent need of the individual, conditioned by a number of biological and social factors, among which the following can be distinguished:
- social interaction between parents and children increases vitality and guarantees the preservation of humanity as a biological species;
- In the process of interpersonal interaction, a person encounters new emotional experiences, which significantly enriches him and allows him to accumulate social experience.
Levels of interpersonal relationships
Definition 4
The level of interpersonal relationships is the depth of a person’s involvement in interaction with other people (person).
The following levels of interpersonal relationships are distinguished:
- The perceptual level of interpersonal relationships is the level of understanding and perception by partners of each other, awareness of individual personality, character traits, behavior and characteristics (gender, racial, external, national, etc.). At this level, interpersonal relationships between people are just emerging and developing. People recognize each other and begin to experience the first emotional reaction.
- Mutual attraction or rejection is the level at which partners experience first feelings for each other (liking, antipathy, hostility, etc.). That is, there is a deeper acquaintance with the person.
- The interactive level is a level characterized by the presence of emotional reactions that require constant feeding through interaction between people. So, if people feel sympathy for each other, then they strive to interact, collaborate, and communicate as much as possible. If, on the contrary, they experience negative feelings towards each other, then they try to avoid contact so as not to lead the situation to conflict.
Almost all types of interpersonal relationships go through all three levels of development. After reaching the third level, interpersonal relationships stop developing, as they have reached their maximum. In the future, the relationship may remain at the final stage, that is, people will experience established feelings for each other and their interpersonal relationships will be relatively “smooth.” It may also be that the relationship will change, based on a decline in emotionality and a decrease in the intensity of feelings for the partner. For example, once ardent love and passion can eventually turn into a habit or attachment, and strong hatred into ordinary hostility.
Often, people strive to maintain their relationships at a high level, for this purpose they resort to various tricks. This does not always bring the expected result; the situation can turn out completely opposite. For example, in order to revive the previous feeling of love, one of the partners may accuse the other of being “cold,” which as a result does not lead to a revival of love and passion, but, on the contrary, to the emergence of a conflict.
The concept of conflict and its types
Conflict (from Latin - clash) is a psychologically experienced clash of interests of people, opposing forces, parties, opinions, values.
According to the degree of severity, they are distinguished:
- open;
- hidden;
- and potential conflicts.
By number of participants:
- intrapersonal;
- interpersonal;
- and intergroup.
By methods of conflict resolution:
- antagonistic;
- and non-antagonistic (compromise).
Dictionary of competencies
The Helping and Serving Others cluster involves the intention to meet another person's needs, to accommodate another person's interests, concerns, and needs (Interpersonal Understanding), as well as working to meet those needs (Customer Service Orientation). This implies a stronger latent need for the Power and Affiliation clusters than for the other clusters. Although Interpersonal Understanding can function independently, it is also the basis for higher levels of Customer Service. Interpersonal understanding is also used to support competencies in the Impact and Management clusters.
INTERPERSONAL UNDERSTANDING (IM)
Interpersonal understanding involves the desire to understand other people. It is the ability to listen carefully to and understand the unspoken or partially expressed thoughts, feelings and concerns of others. “Others” refers to either individuals or groups of people whose members all share, say, the same feelings and concerns (“my first-class supervisors felt forgotten” or “The group responded enthusiastically, but there were some doubts about...” ). Cross-cultural sensitivity, which is increasingly important, is a special case of interpersonal understanding across cultural boundaries. It often involves searching for information on a significant scale.
Interpersonal understanding can also be called:
• Empathy • Listening • Sensitivity to others • Awareness of others' feelings • Diagnostic understanding
The Interpersonal Understanding scale (Table 5-1) has two dimensions. Complexity or Depth of Understanding of Others (A) ranges from understanding the meanings of explicit words or obvious emotions to understanding the complex, hidden reasons for current behavior. Listening and Responsiveness to Others (B) (the amount of effort expended in listening and responding to others) ranges from basic listening to explain people's past behavior to interrupting or refocusing one's work to help people with their personal or interpersonal problems. difficulties.
Interpersonal understanding is often expressed through:
• Perceiving the moods and feelings of others • Using understanding based on listening and observation to predict and prepare for others' reactions • Understanding other people's attitudes, interests, needs and perspectives • Understanding the reasons for others' hidden long-term attitudes, behavior patterns or problems:
The mournful line in his mouth and sad eyes meant that this guy was depressed. (MP A.1.B.1)
Each country has its own customs. When you get on a ship, you're trying to be a kind of diplomat because you're representing the US government and they're representing a foreign government. And when this guy took off his shoes, I wasn't going to come in with my fishing boots on. I took off my shoes and walked across the bridge in my socks. It didn't make me any worse, and I think it helped me get to know this person better. (MP A3, B.4)
(Continuing Education Teacher/Mentor) Mary found writing her degree plan very difficult and very overwhelming. When you think you're nothing, and then you start looking back on your experiences and realize that you actually are and can be something, that realization can be very painful. That's exactly what it was like for Mary. She took in everything she was learning and thought, “Oh my God, I missed this. Is it really too late? (MP A. 5, B. 1)
Connection with other competencies
Interpersonal understanding is supported by Information Seeking, including observation, direct questions, indirect information seeking (through third parties and indirect evidence), and various tactics for testing assumptions. Interpersonal understanding forms the necessary foundation for higher levels of Impact and Influence (IOC) and Customer Service Orientation. The effectiveness of Customer Service and Impact and Influence is limited by the depth of accurate understanding. In stories of top performers in the same activity or event, Interpersonal Understanding is intertwined with Impact and Influencing or Customer Service.
Interpersonal Understanding also supports Developing Others, Understanding the Company, Teamwork and Collaboration, and Building Relationships.
Table 5-1 Interpersonal Understanding (IP) Scale
| Level | Description of behavior |
| A | DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS |
| A. -1 | Lack of understanding. Does not understand or is surprised by the feelings or actions of others, or sees others through the prism of racial, cultural or gender stereotypes. |
| A. O | Does not appear in this work. Does not show obvious knowledge of others, however, there are no signs of serious misunderstanding. This level is often found in combination with Direct Persuasion (Influence, level A-2 and 3). |
| A. 1 | Understands either emotions or content. Understands either current emotions or their explicit content, but not both. |
| A. 2 | Understands both emotions and content. Understands both current emotions and content. |
| A. 3 | Understands meanings. Understands current unspoken thoughts, concerns, or feelings, or causes others to voluntarily do what the speaker wants. |
| A. 4 | Understands hidden problems. Understands hidden problems; the reason for someone's persistent or long-term worries, behavior or concerns; or presents a balanced view of someone's specific strengths and weaknesses. |
| A. 5 | Understands complex hidden issues. Understands the complex causes of others' long-term hidden attitudes, behaviors, or problems. |
| Level | Description of behavior |
| B | LISTENING AND RESPONDING TO OTHERS |
| B. -1 | Unsympathetic. Insults others, forcing them to “shut down” in front of him. |
| B. O | Does not show up on the job or make any attempt to listen. |
| B. 1 | Listens. Finds clues to other people's feelings or meanings or listens when others speak to him. May ask questions to confirm the speaker's "diagnosis". Uses understanding to explain past behavior of others. |
| B. 2 | Becomes available for hearing. “Keeps the door open,” makes every effort to encourage conversations, or actively tries to understand (often with the goal of influencing, developing, helping, or leading others). |
| B. 3 | Predicts the reactions of others. Uses understanding based on listening and observation to anticipate and prepare for the reactions of others. |
| B. 4 | Listens responsively. Recognizes people's concerns and is easy to talk to; or responds to people's concerns by sensitively and beneficially influencing his own behavior. |
| B. 5 | Acts to help. Helps people cope with observed problems. (Note on scoring: It is also worth considering Development of Others, Customer Service Orientation, or Skills and Expertise. If the intent is clearly developmental, use customer service; and if the problem is technical, award points for understanding on the MP (scale A), and for action—on another competency. If the intent and context do not clearly imply one of the other competencies, assign points for the action on this scale. The difference between responding and Influencing and Influencing is that in this case the speaker is not interfering with his agenda day, but responds (flexibly) to the needs or situation of another person.) |
Interpersonal understanding B.4 (actions to help others) implies a medium level of Initiative and approaches Influence and Influence; the difference is that in Influencing and Influencing the speaker has his own plan of action in a certain situation, whereas here the intention is simply to be helpful or responsive, and not to promote any other goals. Interpersonal understanding assumes the first level of Flexibility (GIBK AL) only if the speaker’s own interests or views conflict with the views and interests of the person he is listening to. However, MP level B.4 (response) suggests some Flexibility.
CUSTOMER SERVICE ORIENTATION (CSO)
Customer service orientation involves a desire to help or serve others and to meet their needs. This means focusing on identifying and satisfying the needs of the client or customer. The depth of understanding in OOC is about the same as in Interpersonal Understanding, and sometimes activities can run parallel to Influencing and Influencing, but the emphasis here is on the former - understanding the needs of other people (rather than a general understanding of their thoughts, feelings or behavior) - and then some kind of help or service is provided to them (rather than influence on them in order to support the performer’s own plan). A “customer” can actually be a buyer or an end user within the same company. In some cases there may be more than one group of clients. For example, teachers may demonstrate a Customer Service Orientation towards students or parents, religious leaders may demonstrate a Customer Service Orientation towards their parishioners or outside flocks (the sick, the poor, orphans, etc.). In such cases, it is sometimes useful to use two OOC scales, one for each client group. Customer service orientation is also called:
• Help and service orientation • Focus on customer needs • Customer partnership • End user focus • Focus on customer satisfaction
The Customer Service Orientation scale (Table 5-2) has two dimensions. The first dimension (A) is the intensity of motivation and completion of action, acting as a trusted advisor to the client or protecting the client in the form of completed action. The second dimension (B) is the amount of effort or initiative expended on behalf of the client, ranging from actions that require only a few extra minutes to persuade other people to volunteer their efforts for the benefit of the client, to significant efforts (for example, a consultant to a recruitment agency started and taught an after-work training program for candidates that took two to three hours, four evenings a week; a fertilizer/seed salesman walked into a seed store and worked there for a week because his customer, the store owner, suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized hospital).
Table 5-2 Customer Service Orientation (CSO) Scale
| Level | Description of behavior |
| A | FOCUS ON CUSTOMER NEEDS |
| A -3 | Expresses negative attitudes toward clients. Makes general negative comments about clients and blames them for negative results. Makes comments about customers based on race or gender. Note on scoring: This does not include instances of objectively true negative comments (i.e., “he’s a criminal” about a client who went to jail due to fraud). |
| A. -2 | Expresses a lack of clarity. Inaccurately knows the client's needs and the details of his own participation in them (“I wasn't sure what this meeting was for,” “I was never exactly sure what the client wanted”), but does not take any steps to clarify the situation. |
| A. -1 | Focuses on own abilities. Wants to show the client the facts or focuses on one's own or the company's abilities rather than the client's needs. |
| A. 0 | Provides the minimum service required. Provides immediate, impromptu responses to customer questions without exploring hidden needs or problems or attempting to understand the context of the customer's requests. |
| A. 1 | Accompanies. Follows up customer requests, demands and complaints. Keeps the client updated on the progress of the project (but does not explore the client's hidden problems or questions). |
| A. 2 | Maintains clear communication with the client regarding mutual expectations. Checks customer satisfaction. Distributes useful information to clients. Provides friendly, encouraging service. |
| A. 3 | Shows personal responsibility. Corrects customer service issues quickly and without excuses. |
| A. 4 | Fully accessible to the client. Especially useful for the client when he is going through a difficult period. Gives the client his home telephone number or other means of easy access or may spend additional time at the client's premises. (This level may not apply to some positions and is extremely important to others, depending on the structure of the situation.) |
| A. 5 | Acts to improve the situation. Makes concrete attempts to increase the client's value and somehow improve his affairs. Has positive expectations towards the client. |
| A. 6 | Addresses hidden needs. Looks for information about the client's real, hidden needs, in addition to those initially expressed, and tries to correlate them with available (or customized) products or services. |
| A. 7 | Applies a long-term perspective. Works with a long-term perspective, addressing the client's problems. May accept immediate costs for the sake of long-term relationships. Seeks long-term benefits for the client. Can initiate actions that create visible success for the client and then attribute that success to the client. |
| A. 8 | Acts as a Trusted Advisor. Builds an independent view of client needs, opportunities/challenges, and implementation opportunities. Acts in accordance with this opinion (for example, recommends appropriate approaches that are new and different from those requested by the client). Takes direct part in the client's decision-making process. (Effective functioning at this level depends on building successful relationships over a period of time.) May prompt the client to confront difficult issues. |
| A. 9 | Acts as a client advocate. Takes the client's side even against his own company, but with a long-term perspective of benefit for the company (for example, advising the client not to make too many purchases - thereby maintaining the viability of the client in the future); or pushes company management to solve problems related to customers. Takes the customer's side in well-founded complaints about the company's treatment of the customer. |
| Level | Description of behavior |
| B | OWN INITIATIVE: TO HELP OR SERVICE OTHERS |
| B. -1 | Blocks the actions of others. May make negative remarks about customers or become resentful of difficult customers. |
| B. O | Takes no action. May make excuses like: “I couldn’t take care of it because...”. |
| B. 1 | Performs routine or required activities.Strives to satisfy customer needs. |
| B. 2 | Makes every effort to be helpful. Performs more than everyday activities himself (for which he spends twice as much effort and time). |
| B. 3 | Takes a lot of extra effort to satisfy the client's needs. Spends 2 to 6 times more effort and time. |
| B. 4 | Recruits others to take additional action to meet customer needs. |
| B. 5 | Makes extraordinary efforts. Uses personal time or works for weeks to help others; undertakes tasks or endeavors significantly beyond the scope of the normal job description. |
More typical designations of Customer Service Orientation include:
• Finding information about the real hidden needs of customers, in addition to those initially expressed, and correlating them with available (or customized) products or services
• Personal responsibility for correcting customer service issues. Problems are fixed quickly and without excuses
• Act as a trusted advisor with an independent opinion regarding the client's needs, challenges/opportunities and capabilities for implementation
• Working with a long-term perspective in addressing customer problems.
The client was having some trouble receiving her refund check. She came to me because she said our operations manager had treated her rudely. I am sure that they did not understand each other, because such behavior is not at all typical for him. Regardless, I still apologized, helped her get the check, and sent her on her way. It only took a few minutes to figure out the problem, and the client left feeling more positive than when she arrived. (OOK A.Z, B. 1)
(During a joking conversation about a client) When I go to visit a friend in London, I will call the client on Saturday and ask: “How are you, Mr. K., how are you...What do you think about...” He will get the impression that I really in fact, he is on his payroll... as if he is the most important of all clients. (OOKA.4, B.2)
This client was struggling financially, and I had had a close relationship with him for several years—as a friend, business partner, and salesperson. He valued my opinion based on this relationship. We worked together for several years, trying to reconstruct his business and help him adapt to changing market conditions. He was mainly involved in wholesale operations. I convinced him to focus all his efforts on retail, perhaps cut some unprofitable areas, streamline his business and focus on what would bring the most profit. (OOK A.8, B.Z) (All points - for Building relationships.)
