Ductile thermoset polymers via controlling network flexibility.

We report the design and synthesis of a polymer structure from a cross-linkable epoxy-ionic liquid system which behaves like a hard and brittle epoxy thermoset, perfectly ductile thermoplastic and an elastomer, all depending on controllable network compositions.

Personality psychology and problem behaviors: HIV risk and the five-factor model.

Studies of personality and problem behaviors may begin with analyses of the problem and develop hypotheses about personality traits that might be relevant; or they may begin with models of personality and explore links to behavior. Because it is well validated and relatively comprehensive, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality lends itself to systematic exploratory studies that may sometimes lead to unanticipated findings. In this article, we review a program of research in a high-risk, disadvantaged population that illustrates the utility of the FFM in understanding health risk behavior. Previous analyses showed that behavior associated with the risk of HIV infection can be predicted from the personality dispositions of Neuroticism and (low) Conscientiousness.

Prospects for the assessment of normal and abnormal interpersonal behavior.

The Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) are current representatives of a long-standing tradition and their use as assessment instruments is expected to become increasingly widespread in the near future and beyond. The IAS is a direct descendent of the interpersonal circumplex tradition and is characterized by an extraordinarily close relation between theory and method in the assessment of both normal and disordered personalities. The IIP stems from a more recent conceptual distinction between psychiatric symptoms and problems of living that has been linked directly to the interpersonal circumplex. This review is meant to alert clinicians to promising supplements to traditional intrapsychic and symptomatic psychodiagnostic batteries.

Circumnavigating Dodge Morgan's interpersonal style.

The Interpersonal Circumplex Model provides a third perspective on Dodge Morgan's personality that clarifies and extends the perspectives provided by the five-factor and life-story models. Classification of Morgan as a prototypical autonomous personality "type" allows for nomothetic interpretations based on an extensive empirical literature. An explicit structural representation of agency and communion served to reveal the diversity of substantive interpretations that have been made with respect to these metaconcepts. Agreement on a structural representation of agency and communion might lead to more uniform interpretations of their dynamic relations with each another.

An informal history of the interpersonal circumplex tradition.

Circular representations of human nature can be traced from ancient astrology to Leonardo Da Vinci to the modern interpersonal circumplex (IPC) tradition. which began with Harry Stack Sullivan. The Kaiser Foundation Psychology Research Group operationalized key concepts of Sullivan's and Timothy Leary (1957) provided extensions of Sullivanian theory that formed the conceptual basis for contemporary circumplex models The current generation of circumplex investigators is exceptionally well represented by the contributors to this special series. The IPC can serve as an integrative cognitive framework for making sense of diverse realms that are well outside its original focus of convenience. The visual and psychological appeal of this powerful model is briefly illustrated.

Psychometric and Geometric Characteristics of the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS-R).

Previous research has suggested that the Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) have properties that are compatible with the substantive, structural, and external characteristics required by the circumplex-based interpersonal theory which guided scale construction procedures. In the present study, we describe an item-analytic procedure that identifies and selects items in terms of their estimated geometric location within a circumplex model and we apply the procedure to the task of reducing the 128-item IAS to a 64-item short form version (IAS-R). Scales constructed to conform to a circumplex model are evaluated by somewhat different structural criteria than are those developed to conform to other multivariate models and these differences are illustrated. The resultant IAS-R was found to have improved substantive and structural characteristics and acceptable reliability. We discuss possible applications of this highly efficient measure of interpersonal behavior.