The Revised Person’s Relating to Others Questionnaire [PROQ2-96]

Description

The Revised Person’s Relating to Others Questionnaire (PROQ2-96) is a 96-item self-report instrument designed to assess an individual’s tendency to develop negative or dysfunctional forms of interpersonal relating. The instrument was developed by J. Birtchnell and C. Evans, while the Greek adaptation was conducted by A. Kalaitzaki and I. Nestoros.

The PROQ2 is based on the theory of interpersonal relating, also known as Birtchnell’s Interpersonal Octagon model. According to this theoretical framework, interpersonal relationships can be represented through two major dimensions: closeness versus distance and upperness/power versus lowerness/weakness.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the PROQ2-96 is to assess negative forms of interaction and undesirable interpersonal relationships that an individual may develop with others.

The instrument allows researchers and clinicians to identify different interpersonal patterns and to examine how individuals position themselves in relation to others in terms of closeness, distance, power, and weakness.

Structure

The PROQ2 consists of 96 items, distributed across eight subscales corresponding to the eight sectors of the Interpersonal Octagon.

Each subscale contains 12 items, of which 10 assess negative forms of relating, while 2 are positive items included to balance the overall negative tone of the questionnaire.

Greek Adaptation Sample

The psychometric properties of the Greek version were examined in a sample of 457 individuals representing the Greek population with regard to basic demographic characteristics, as well as in a second sample of 134 university and technological education students in Crete.

The use of these two samples allowed the instrument to be examined in both the general population and a student population.

Scoring

The questionnaire is scored using specialized computer software, which calculates and prints results for:

the eight sectors of the Interpersonal Octagon,
the four primary positions or dimensions, namely neutral closeness, neutral distance, neutral upperness/power, and neutral lowerness/weakness,
and the overall score.

The software also provides a graphical representation of the individual’s negative score. Higher levels of shading within a sector of the octagon correspond to higher negative scores in that particular interpersonal pattern.

Interpretation

The maximum negative score for each sector of the Interpersonal Octagon is 30, while the maximum negative score for the entire questionnaire is 240.

Individuals with healthier interpersonal relationships generally obtain lower scores, whereas higher scores indicate a stronger presence of negative or dysfunctional forms of relating.

Validity

The validity of the PROQ2 was examined in terms of face validity, content validity, and construct validity.

The analyses identified strong correlations between the main scales and adjacent intermediate subscales in both the Greek general population sample and the student sample.

High correlations were also found between Hamby’s dominance subscale and the PROQ2 subscales associated with power-related positions. Regarding divergent validity, negative correlations were reported between the anger-management subscale of the PRP and all PROQ2 subscales as well as the total score. Overall, the findings indicated satisfactory face, content, and construct validity within the study.

Reliability

In the sample of 457 participants, the overall internal consistency of the PROQ was Cronbach’s α = 0.87. Reliability coefficients for the eight subscales ranged from 0.65 to 0.81, with a mean of 0.73.

In the sample of 134 students, the reliability coefficients of the individual subscales ranged from 0.60 to 0.76.

Applications

The PROQ2-96 may be used in research and clinical settings to examine interpersonal relationships, dysfunctional patterns of relating, and the ways in which individuals organize their relationships in terms of closeness, distance, power, and weakness.

It may also be useful in studies of personality, psychopathology, family relationships, and social interaction, particularly when a detailed mapping of negative interpersonal patterns is required.

References

Birtchnell, J., & Evans, C. (2004). The Person’s Relating to Others Questionnaire (PROQ2). Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 125–140.

Birtchnell, J., & Shine, J. (2000). Personality disorders and the interpersonal octagon. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 73, 433–448.

Kalaitzaki, A. E., & Nestoros, I. N. (2002). Family relationships of individuals with psychotic symptoms: Description and assessment based on the Interpersonal Octagon theory. In N. Polemikos, M. Kaila, & F. Kalavasis (Eds.), Educational, Family and Political Psychopathology, Vol. B: Deviant Dimensions in the Family Context (pp. 140–163). Athens: Atrapos.

Kalaitzaki, A. E., & Nestoros, J. N. (2003). The Greek version of the Revised Person’s Relating to Others Questionnaire (PROQ2): Psychometric properties and factor structure. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 76, 301–314.