Graduate Student Corner with Ashlea M. Klahr
I was honored when Kate Thomas asked me to write for
the Graduate Student Corner of the SITAR newsletter. Kate wrote an outstanding
piece for the most recent newsletter and, as usual, she is a tough act to
follow. I am not a member of SITAR and I have not had the pleasure of attending
any SITAR meetings. So, I hope to offer what you might consider an “outsider’s”
perspective on the utility of interpersonal theory.
I was introduced to interpersonal theory during my second year of graduate school in an assessment course taught by Chris Hopwood. Although I came to graduate school primarily interested in behavioral genetics, I quickly fell in love with interpersonal theory. It probably helped that Chris was a highly dynamic instructor with a contagious passion for assessment and interpersonal theory. My friendship with the equally passionate Kate Thomas was certainly also a factor. However, interpersonal theory itself was equally persuasive, in its elegant and intuitive simplicity. It wasn’t long before I began to think about my research, clinical work, and relationships through an interpersonal lens. Below, I will provide examples of how interpersonal theory has impacted my research and also my journey as an aspiring psychologist.
My Research. Although I began graduate school with a clear interest in behavioral genetics and developmental psychopathology, I had a great deal of uncertainty about what phenotype or clinical disorder interested me most. As my research and clinical work with children and families progressed, however, I became increasingly interested in the etiology of parenting. Although many studies have examined the overlap between parenting and child outcomes, far fewer studies are devoted to uncovering those factors that shape parenting behavior per se. For my comprehensive project, I thus reviewed the parenting literature with an emphasis on the biological bases of parenting and quickly noticed extensive similarities between theories of parent-child relationships and interpersonal theory. One of the primary models of parenting, for example, suggests that parenting can be described along the two orthogonal dimensions of demandingness and responsiveness (Baumrind, 1968, 1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983), with four resulting parenting styles: authoritarian (high demanding, low responsiveness), disengaged/neglectful (low demanding and low responsive), permissive (low demanding, high responsive), and authoritative (high demanding and high responsive; often found to be the most optimal parenting style for supporting healthy development). I’m sure that the overlap with interpersonal theory is clear (and likely unsurprising) to the members of SITAR!
I discussed the overlap between parenting theory and interpersonal theory with Kate Thomas, and a research collaboration was born. The project bridged two largely distinct research domains: behavioral genetics and interpersonal theory. With the IPC as a guiding framework, we examined momentary interpersonal behaviors in mother-child dyads in a sample of over 350 twin families. Our results revealed significant complementarity in mother-child interactions. In addition, maternal control, but not maternal warmth, was largely attributable to evocative gene-environment correlational processes. In other words, maternal control was shaped by genetically-influenced dominant and submissive behaviors in children, and this effect was observable in brief 7 minute interactions (Klahr, Thomas, et al, 2013, Development and Psychopathology). Kate and I presented this work at the Behavior Genetics Association conference (2011), SITAR (2011) and the Society for Personality Assessment (2013) and hence introduced interpersonal theory and BG, respectively, to relatively novice audiences.
The project described above served to highlight the utility of the IPC for understanding parent-child interactions. I am certain that interpersonal theory will continue to play a large role in my ongoing research examining the etiology of parenting and its association with child outcomes. For example, my dissertation research uncovered an association between mother’s oxytocin receptor genotype (OXTR rs53576) and observed maternal warmth (Klahr, Klump, & Burt; in prep). Observed maternal warmth and control also appear to moderate genetic and environmental influences on child conduct problems (Burt, Klahr, et al, 2013, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry). Finally, video coding using the IPC within the Michigan State University Twin Registry is ongoing, with over 700 twin families now complete (both mother-child and father-child interactions, separately for each twin). This rich dataset will likely yield novel insights into the etiology of parent-child relationships and their associations with child behavioral and emotional development.
In sum, interpersonal theory can serve as a guiding framework for research that may, at first glance, appear far afield. In my experience, the primary hurdle that prevents interpersonal theory from gaining more mainstream status in psychology is lack of exposure rather than lack of utility. Graduate students of SITAR, I encourage you to think about how you might draw connections between interpersonal theory and diverse and unexpected areas of research. I think there is significant opportunity for building collaborations with researchers outside of the interpersonal domain, for applying an interpersonal framework to novel questions, and for drawing upon similarities between interpersonal theory and other existing models of human behavior.
My life. To change gears somewhat, I will close with how interpersonal theory provides a useful framework for conceptualizing how my experiences have led me to a career in psychology. My father cultivated my drive for agency. He always pushed me to go to college, an opportunity that my parents did not have. He viewed formal education as the gateway to knowledge and as a marker of achievement. Although lacking formal education, he is an avid reader of a broad range of topics and runs a successful small business. As a child, I strove to keep up with his reading list and cherished conversations with him about ideas and the world. He has instilled in me both a deep intellectual curiosity and a drive for accomplishment through hard work. My mother, by contrast, has nurtured my desire for communion. Working as a paraprofessional aid in a middle school, she has an almost magical ability to connect with even the most difficult children. From visiting the elderly to the Big Brother/Big Sister program, my mother ensured my involvement in community activities from a young age. She has instilled in me the values of empathy and human connection.
The fundamental modalities of agency and communion, represented by each of my parents, have had an enormous influence on my worldview and values and also on my desire to pursue a career in psychology. Psychology offers a perfect balance (for me) between the values of agency and communion- the application of reasoning and rigorous scientific methods to the understanding and betterment of the human condition. As a graduate student, I have continued my development of agency through hard work, collaborative research projects, and exploring new research ventures at my internship site (e.g., expanding my research through the use of fMRI techniques). I have also grown in communion, building strong relationships with professors, clinical supervisors, colleagues, students, and patients. I love wrestling with the difficult questions that psychologists seek to answer and I love working side by side with bright, talented, and energetic people who share my curiosity.
Of course, there are days when I don’t feel this level of passion and excitement for my work. Currently I’m balancing a busy internship schedule with the stresses of figuring out my plans for next year. It’s easy at times to lose sight of the things that I love about this career. In these times, it is helpful to reflect on why I have chosen this path. For those of you who are in the midst of your graduate training and the stresses that it often entails, I encourage you not to lose sight of why you chose your current path. And, as I think about Kate’s words about striving for balance from the previous newsletter, I hope you can take a moment to reflect on the balance of agency and communion that led you to pursue a career in psychology.
I was introduced to interpersonal theory during my second year of graduate school in an assessment course taught by Chris Hopwood. Although I came to graduate school primarily interested in behavioral genetics, I quickly fell in love with interpersonal theory. It probably helped that Chris was a highly dynamic instructor with a contagious passion for assessment and interpersonal theory. My friendship with the equally passionate Kate Thomas was certainly also a factor. However, interpersonal theory itself was equally persuasive, in its elegant and intuitive simplicity. It wasn’t long before I began to think about my research, clinical work, and relationships through an interpersonal lens. Below, I will provide examples of how interpersonal theory has impacted my research and also my journey as an aspiring psychologist.
My Research. Although I began graduate school with a clear interest in behavioral genetics and developmental psychopathology, I had a great deal of uncertainty about what phenotype or clinical disorder interested me most. As my research and clinical work with children and families progressed, however, I became increasingly interested in the etiology of parenting. Although many studies have examined the overlap between parenting and child outcomes, far fewer studies are devoted to uncovering those factors that shape parenting behavior per se. For my comprehensive project, I thus reviewed the parenting literature with an emphasis on the biological bases of parenting and quickly noticed extensive similarities between theories of parent-child relationships and interpersonal theory. One of the primary models of parenting, for example, suggests that parenting can be described along the two orthogonal dimensions of demandingness and responsiveness (Baumrind, 1968, 1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983), with four resulting parenting styles: authoritarian (high demanding, low responsiveness), disengaged/neglectful (low demanding and low responsive), permissive (low demanding, high responsive), and authoritative (high demanding and high responsive; often found to be the most optimal parenting style for supporting healthy development). I’m sure that the overlap with interpersonal theory is clear (and likely unsurprising) to the members of SITAR!
I discussed the overlap between parenting theory and interpersonal theory with Kate Thomas, and a research collaboration was born. The project bridged two largely distinct research domains: behavioral genetics and interpersonal theory. With the IPC as a guiding framework, we examined momentary interpersonal behaviors in mother-child dyads in a sample of over 350 twin families. Our results revealed significant complementarity in mother-child interactions. In addition, maternal control, but not maternal warmth, was largely attributable to evocative gene-environment correlational processes. In other words, maternal control was shaped by genetically-influenced dominant and submissive behaviors in children, and this effect was observable in brief 7 minute interactions (Klahr, Thomas, et al, 2013, Development and Psychopathology). Kate and I presented this work at the Behavior Genetics Association conference (2011), SITAR (2011) and the Society for Personality Assessment (2013) and hence introduced interpersonal theory and BG, respectively, to relatively novice audiences.
The project described above served to highlight the utility of the IPC for understanding parent-child interactions. I am certain that interpersonal theory will continue to play a large role in my ongoing research examining the etiology of parenting and its association with child outcomes. For example, my dissertation research uncovered an association between mother’s oxytocin receptor genotype (OXTR rs53576) and observed maternal warmth (Klahr, Klump, & Burt; in prep). Observed maternal warmth and control also appear to moderate genetic and environmental influences on child conduct problems (Burt, Klahr, et al, 2013, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry). Finally, video coding using the IPC within the Michigan State University Twin Registry is ongoing, with over 700 twin families now complete (both mother-child and father-child interactions, separately for each twin). This rich dataset will likely yield novel insights into the etiology of parent-child relationships and their associations with child behavioral and emotional development.
In sum, interpersonal theory can serve as a guiding framework for research that may, at first glance, appear far afield. In my experience, the primary hurdle that prevents interpersonal theory from gaining more mainstream status in psychology is lack of exposure rather than lack of utility. Graduate students of SITAR, I encourage you to think about how you might draw connections between interpersonal theory and diverse and unexpected areas of research. I think there is significant opportunity for building collaborations with researchers outside of the interpersonal domain, for applying an interpersonal framework to novel questions, and for drawing upon similarities between interpersonal theory and other existing models of human behavior.
My life. To change gears somewhat, I will close with how interpersonal theory provides a useful framework for conceptualizing how my experiences have led me to a career in psychology. My father cultivated my drive for agency. He always pushed me to go to college, an opportunity that my parents did not have. He viewed formal education as the gateway to knowledge and as a marker of achievement. Although lacking formal education, he is an avid reader of a broad range of topics and runs a successful small business. As a child, I strove to keep up with his reading list and cherished conversations with him about ideas and the world. He has instilled in me both a deep intellectual curiosity and a drive for accomplishment through hard work. My mother, by contrast, has nurtured my desire for communion. Working as a paraprofessional aid in a middle school, she has an almost magical ability to connect with even the most difficult children. From visiting the elderly to the Big Brother/Big Sister program, my mother ensured my involvement in community activities from a young age. She has instilled in me the values of empathy and human connection.
The fundamental modalities of agency and communion, represented by each of my parents, have had an enormous influence on my worldview and values and also on my desire to pursue a career in psychology. Psychology offers a perfect balance (for me) between the values of agency and communion- the application of reasoning and rigorous scientific methods to the understanding and betterment of the human condition. As a graduate student, I have continued my development of agency through hard work, collaborative research projects, and exploring new research ventures at my internship site (e.g., expanding my research through the use of fMRI techniques). I have also grown in communion, building strong relationships with professors, clinical supervisors, colleagues, students, and patients. I love wrestling with the difficult questions that psychologists seek to answer and I love working side by side with bright, talented, and energetic people who share my curiosity.
Of course, there are days when I don’t feel this level of passion and excitement for my work. Currently I’m balancing a busy internship schedule with the stresses of figuring out my plans for next year. It’s easy at times to lose sight of the things that I love about this career. In these times, it is helpful to reflect on why I have chosen this path. For those of you who are in the midst of your graduate training and the stresses that it often entails, I encourage you not to lose sight of why you chose your current path. And, as I think about Kate’s words about striving for balance from the previous newsletter, I hope you can take a moment to reflect on the balance of agency and communion that led you to pursue a career in psychology.