Interpersonal Relations within an Integrated Setting
This note reports a study of interpersonal relations among black and white faculty at a traditional black state institution. The purpose of the study was to explore the sensitivity of a frequently used measurement scale, FIRO-B, in evaluating the direction and extent of incompatibility within a faculty having marked cultural and social backgrounds. Data were collected during a faculty retreat at the beginning of 1973-1974 school year. After about two hours of informal encounter group activities, faculty were asked to take Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B, Schutz, 1967) for self-evaluation and self-understanding. The scales were scored by the faculty themselves and each marked his/her own race and sex. A total of 61 members participated, including 33 females (black-26; white7 ) and 28 males (black-15; white-13). Both racial and sexual differences were significant for three of the six interpersonal relation domains of FIRO-B. White faculty scored higher in the domain of wanted more inclusion ( M = 4.30 vs 2.19; SD = 3.70 vs 2.99; t = 2.17, df = 59, p < .05) and in the domain of expressed more control (M = 4.35 vs 1.92; SD = 1.69 vs 1.73; t = 4.40, df = 59, p < .001). Females were significantly different from males in expressing control ( M = 1.94 vs 3.64; SD = 2.03 vs 1.72; t = -3.46, df = 59, p < .001). Within race, black females expressed less control than black males (M = 1.46 vs 2.73; SD = 1.76 vs 1.47; t = -2.41, df = 39, p < .05). There was no significant sex difference within the white faculty. Within one sex, white females expressed more control ( M = 3.71 vs 1.46; SD = 1.98 vs 1.76; t = 2.55, df = 31, p < .05) and also wanted to have more control ( M = 6.00 vs 4.11; SD = 1.85 vs 1.50; t = 2.32, df = 31, p < .05 ) than their black colleagues. The white males also expressed more control than the black males ( M = 4.70 vs 2.73; SD = 1.38 vs 1.47; t = 3.52, df = 26, p < .01). However, no significant difference was found for wanting control. The findings suggest that FIRO-B is sensitive enough to differences between groups known to have marked cultural, developmental, and social backgrounds. Incompatibility within this faculty was suggested only in some of the domains of interpersonal relations.