B00344V2I22015

The Internationall Journal of Indian Psychology
ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISSN: 2349--3429 (p)

Volume 2, Issue 2, Paper ID: B00344V2I22015
B00344
http://www.ijip.in | January to March 2015
Interpersonal Relationships among College Students: an Assessment

J. Parameswari1
ABSTRACT:
Developing and maintaining interpersonal relationship is important for success in life.

Interpersonal relationship serves as a base for social support that plays a crucial role particularly
in emotionally charged situations. It is also noted that interpersonal relationship enhances overall
wellbeing of man. The present study is done to find out out how students behave and what kind of
behavior they expect from others. For this purpose, FIRO – B questionnaire developed by
Schultz (1958) was used with a sample of 200 college students who were selected through
stratified random sampling method from two two colleges in Salem city. The strata used in this study
are gender, discipline and order of birth. The collected data were analyzed using tt-test that
revealed significant gender difference in expressed inclusion and wanted control dimensions of
interpersonal
nal relationship. Further, arts discipline students significantly differed from science
discipline students in wanted control. There was a significant difference in expressed inclusion
and wanted affection based on order of birth of the students.
B, interpersonal relationship, college students, adolescents.

Keywords: FIRO –B,
BACKGROUND:
Interpersonal relationship is the relationship between two or more individuals. Human beings are
gregarious in nature. Though being social is innate nature of mankind,
mankind, life experiences help in
shaping the relationship with others. Developing and maintaining interpersonal relationship is
important for success in life. Interpersonal relationship serves as a base for social support that
plays a crucial role particularly iinn emotionally charged situations. It is also noted that
interpersonal relationship enhances overall wellbeing of man. Goswami(2012)
Goswami studied the
positive and negative quality relationship and wellbeing of children and reported that positive
relationship withh family, neighbourhood and friends increases wellbeing of children, whereas
negative relationships tend to decrease their wellbeing. Among students, relationship determines
their achievement and also relationship encourages performance (Aspelin, 2012).
2012) Interpersonal
relationship predicts emotional distress. Students with high level of interpersonal relationship
showed low level of emotional distress (Kenny, Dooley & Fitzgerald, 2012)
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Periyar University, Salem, Tamilnadu, India
© 2015 I J Parameswari;; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided th thee original work is properly cited.
AIM:
To assess college students’ behavior towards others and their expectation from others.
HYPOTHESES:
1. There is a significant gender difference in interpersonal relationship

2. Arts and science students differ in their interpersonal relationship
3. Students significantly differ in their interpersonal relationship based on their order of
birth
RESEARCH METHOD
Sample
A sample of 200 college students were selected through stratified random sampling method from
two colleges in Salem city. The strata used in this study are gender, discipline and order of birth.
Tool used:
FIRO – B questionnaire developed by Schultz (1958) was used to measure interpersonal

relationship of adolescents. This questionnaire consists of 54 questions to be answered on a 6
point scale. This scale has good reliability with inter-rater reliability ranging form 0.85 to 0.96
and test-retest reliability ranging form0.71 to0.85.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1: Gender difference in interpersonal relationship
Dimensions of Gender Mean SD t- Value

interpersonal relationship (N=100 each)
Expressed inclusion Male 3.83 1.16 3.31*
Female 4.54 1.80
Expressed control Male 3.75 1.47 0.65
Female 3.90 1.75
Expressed affection Male 3.72 1.32 0.29
Female 3.66 1.92
Wanted inclusion Male 2.73 1.33 1.59
Female 2.37 1.84
Wanted control Male 5.86 1.92 5.83*
Female 4.17 2.17
Wanted affection Male 3.17 1.46 1.79
Female 2.78 1.62
*Significant at 0.05 level
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 41

From the above table it is seen that there is a significant gender difference in two sub-dimensions
of interpersonal relationship, namely expressed inclusion and wanted control.Bakken and
Romig(1992) in their study reported gender difference in expressed control and wanted affection.
They reported that males showed high preference for expressed control and low preference for
affection, whereas females showed preference for affection and low preference for expressed
control. In the present study, girls show high level of expressed inclusion compared to boys. By
nature girls prefer being in group. They while-away their time discussing or gossiping with their
group. They feel more comfortable in a group than alone. They show their real self in the group
than when they are alone. This may be the reason for their high score in expressed inclusion.
Boys show high preference for wanted control than girls. It is rare for boys to be emotionally
close in their relationship. They have different group of friends to meet their different needs. For
example, boys may have a friend to accompany them for shopping, another friend to guide in
taking important decisions. Boys may not know to effectively use the autonomy given to them.
They need someone to guide them in the right direction. These may be the reasons for their score
in need for wanted control.
Table 2: Difference in interpersonal relationship based on discipline
Dimensions of Discipline Mean SD t- Value

interpersonal relationship (Science=106Arts=94)
Expressed inclusion Science 4.22 1.73 0.31
Arts 4.15 1.33
Expressed control Science 3.87 1.76 0.40
Arts 3.78 1.45
Expressed affection Science 3.78 1.72 0.85
Arts 3.59 1.54
Wanted inclusion Science 2.41 1.58 1.35
Arts 2.71 1.62
Wanted control Science 4.64 2.31 2.59*
Arts 5.44 2.03
Wanted affection Science 3.01 1.58 1.38
Arts 2.94 1.52
.
The above table makes it clear that there is a significant difference in wanted control between
students of art and science discipline. Students from arts discipline have high need for wanted
control than the students from science discipline. From the secondary school onwards students of
science stream have a defined goal and also have the motive to reach the goal. They work on
their own and know how to attain their goal. Even if they have no concrete goal, their degree will
fetch them a job. But this is not so with the arts discipline students. The students of arts stream
tend to be lethargic and have no concrete plan for their future. This is because they are not sure

of the scope of their subject. Most of the arts students lack the skill to sell their talents.
Therefore, they are in need of guidance in setting goals and taking decisions about their career
especially.
Table 3: Difference in interpersonal relationship based on order of birth
Dimensions of Order of birth Mean SD t- Value

interpersonal relationship (First born=80
Later
born=92)
Expressed inclusion First born 4.55 1.53 3.69*
Later born 3.71 1.45
Expressed control First born 3.92 1.51 0.79
Expressed affection First born 3.71 1.73 0.28
Wanted inclusion First born 2.61 1.72 0.64
Wanted control First born 5.09 2.46 0.35
Wanted affection First born 3.34 1.50 2.74*
Table 3 shows the difference in interpersonal relationship based on order of birth. It is clear from
the table that there is a significant difference in expressed inclusion and wanted affection
between first born and later born adolescents. First born children show high need for expressed
inclusion than later born children. It is natural for elder children to show concern, attention and
care for younger ones at home. This behavior tend to extend to social settings also.
First born children also show a high need for wanted affection compared to later born children.
Parents tend to show more attention and care to younger child than the elder child, believing that
the elder child can take care of self. At this stage the elder child may feel left out and their need
for affection may increase.
REFERENCES
Kenny, R., Dooley, B., and Fitzgerald, A. (2013).Interpersonal relationships and emotional
distress in adolescence.Journal of Adolescence. 36(2), 351-360.
Goswami, H. (2012). Social relationships and children’s subjective wellbeing.Social Indicators

Research. 107(3), 575-588.

Aspelin, J. (2012). How do relationships influence student achievement?Understanding student

performance from a general, social, psychological standpoint.International Studies in Sociology
of Education. 22(1), 41-56.
Schutz, W.C. (1958). FIRO: A three dimensional theory of interpersonal behavior. New York:
Holt, and Winston.
Bakken, L., and Romig, C. (1992). Interpersonal needs in middle adolescents: companionship,
leadership and intimacy. Journal of Adolescence. 15(3), 301-316.

B00344V2I22015

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

B00344V2I22015

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

B00344V2I22015

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Internationall Journal of Indian Psychology

ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISSN: 2349--3429 (p)

Interpersonal Relationships among College Students: an Assessment

Developing and maintaining interpersonal relationship is important for success in life.

B, interpersonal relationship, college students, adolescents.

1. There is a significant gender difference in interpersonal relationship

FIRO – B questionnaire developed by Schultz (1958) was used to measure interpersonal

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1: Gender difference in interpersonal relationship

Dimensions of Gender Mean SD t- Value

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 41

Table 2: Difference in interpersonal relationship based on discipline

Dimensions of Discipline Mean SD t- Value

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 42

Table 3: Difference in interpersonal relationship based on order of birth

Dimensions of Order of birth Mean SD t- Value

Goswami, H. (2012). Social relationships and children’s subjective wellbeing.Social Indicators

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 43

Aspelin, J. (2012). How do relationships influence student achievement?Understanding student

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology | 44

You might also like