You are on page 1of 5

Fundamental interpersonal relations orientation

Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO) is a theory of interpersonal


relations, introduced by William Schutz in 1958. This theory mainly explains the interpersonal
underworld of a small group. The theory is based on the belief that when people get together in a
group, there are three main interpersonal needs they are looking to obtain affection/openness,
control and inclusion. Schutz developed a measuring instrument that contains six scales of nine-
item questions that he called FIRO-B. This technique was created to measure or control how
group members feel when it comes to inclusion, control, and affection/openness or to be able to
get feedback from people in a group. Unlike many instruments used to examine human
interaction behaviors, and needs, the FIRO-B is and was extremely valid internally and
externally using inferential statistics. Also, while no one knows exactly the "B" was thought to
mean either behaviors, or it was version B. It is greatly useful to utilize on future managers, and
employees, and from their training, workshops, and/or awareness can improve the individual,
and groups of the organization. Lastly, college students overall, test quite high in Control. The
reason most people go to college is so that is more likely the will have less bosses, or be one,
thus satisfying their need for control.
Description
These categories measure how much interaction a person wants in the areas of socializing,
leadership and responsibilities, and more intimate personal relations. Element-B (former known
as 'FIRO-B') was created, based on this theory, a measurement instrument with scales that assess
the behavioral aspects of the three dimensions. Scores are graded from 09 in scales
of expressed and wanted behavior, which define how much a person expresses to others, and
how much he wants from others. Schutz believed that FIRO scores in themselves were not
terminal, and can and do change, and did not encourage typology; however, the four
temperaments were eventually mapped to the Element-B (former known as 'FIRO-B') scales,
which led to the creation of a theory of five temperaments.
Schutz himself discussed the impact of extreme behavior in the areas of inclusion, control, and
openness as indicated by scores on the FIRO-B (and the later Element-B). For each area of
interpersonal need the following three types of behavior would be evident: (1) deficient, (2)
excessive, and (3) ideal. Deficient was defined as indicating that an individual was not trying to
directly satisfy the need. Excessive was defined as indicating that an individual was constantly
trying to satisfy the need. Ideal referred to satisfaction of the need. From this, he identified the
following types:
Schutz composed a "Matrix of Relevant Interpersonal Data", which he called "The
Elephant".
[1]
Each area consisted of a smaller matrix of "act" and "feel" by "Self to Other"
(Action), "Other to Self" (Reaction), and "Self to Self".
"Act" and "Feel" divided the rows, which were:
"Desired Interpersonal Relations (Needs)", which denoted "satisfactory relations" in each
area;
"Ideal Interpersonal Relations" is what would correspond to "moderate" expressed and
wanted scores;
"Anxious Interpersonal Relations" was subdivided into rows of "Too much
activity" (covering high expressed scores) and "Too little activity" (covering low expressed
scores); both being divided into "Act" and "feel".
The last row was "Pathological Interpersonal relations", which was divided into "too much"
and "too little", yielding:
"Psychotic (Schizophrenia)" as Too Little/Inclusion; (There was no "Too Much/Inclusion")
"Obsessive-compulsive" as Too Much/Control and "Psychopath" as Too Little/Control; and
"Neurotic" as too much and too little Affection.
"Self-to other (action)" corresponded to the expressed dimension, and "Other to self (Reaction)"
was the basis for the wanted dimension (though it is phrased in terms of what people do, rather
than what we want them to do, which would be similar to the later Element B). We thus end up
with the six dimensions as follows:
Expressed Inclusion (eI): "I initiate interaction with others" (High: "oversocial"; low
"undersocial")
Wanted Inclusion (wI): "I want to be Included" (High: "social-compliant"; low:
"countersocial")
expressed Control (eC): "I try to control others" (High: "autocrat"; low: "abdicrat")
Wanted Control (wC): "I want to be controlled" (High: "submissive"; low: "rebellious")
Expressed Affection (eA): "I try to be close and personal" (High: "overpersonal"; low:
"underpersonal")
Wanted Affection (wA): "I want others to be close and personal with me" (High: "personal-
compliant"; low: "counterpersonal")
Putting them together, Schutz came up with fifteen "Descriptive Schema and appropriate
terminology for each Interpersonal Need Area":
[2]

Score Inclusion Control Affection
Low e and w
Undersocial
Countersocial
Abdicrat
Rebellious
Underpersonal
Counterpersonal
High e, low w
Oversocial
Countersocial
Autocrat
Rebellious
Overpersonal
Counterpersonal
high e and w
Oversocial
Social-compliant
Autocrat
Submissive
Overpersonal
Personal-compliant
low e, high w
Undersocial
Social-compliant
Abdicrat
Submissive
Underpersonal
Personal-compliant
moderate e and w Social Democrat Personal
In 1977, a clinical psychologist who worked with Element-B (former FIRO-B), Dr. Leo Ryan,
produced maps of the scores for each area, called "locator charts", and assigned names for all of
the score ranges in his Clinical Interpretation of Element-B:
Score Inclusion Control Openness
Temperament by
APS (all 3 areas)
Low e
and w
The Loner The Rebel The Pessimist Melancholy
moderate
e, low w
"Now You See
Him, Now You
Don't"
Tendencies
Self-Confident
"Image of
Intimacy"
Tendency
Phlegmatic
Melancholy /
Phlegmatic Choleric
High e,
low w
Now You See
Him, Now You
Don't
Mission Impossible
Image/(Mask)
of Intimacy
Choleric
high e,
moderate
w
The
Conversationalist
"Mission Impossible"
with NarcissisticTendencies
Living Up To
Expectations
Sanguine Phlegmatic /
Choleric Phlegmatic
high e
and w
People Gatherer
(formerly,
"Where are the
People?")
Dependent-Independent
conflict
The Optimist Sanguine
moderate
e, high w
Hidden
Inhibitions
Let's Take a Break
Cautious
Lover In
Disguise
Phlegmatic Supine /
Phlegmatic Sanguine
low e,
high w
Inhibited
Individual
Openly Dependent Person;
(w=6: Loyal Lieutenant)
Cautious
Lover
Supine
low e,
moderate
w
Cautious
Expectation
The Checker
Careful
Moderation
Supine Phlegmatic /
Melancholy
Phlegmatic
moderate
e and w
Social Flexibility The Matcher
Warm
Individual/The
Golden Mean
Phlegmatic
However, to continue not to encourage typology, the names (which were for clinical
interpretation primarily) are generally not used, and Element-B test results usually total the E, W,
I, C and O scores individually. In the derivative "five temperament" system, the different scores
are grouped into their corresponding temperaments, and considered inborn types. One key
difference is in the "high wanted" scores in the area of Control. A distinction is made between
men and women, with men being "dependent", and women, rather than really being dependent,
only being "tolerant" of control by others. This is attributed to "the stereotypical role of women
in Western Culture", where they were often dependent, and have simply learned to tolerate
control from others. This again, reflects FIRO's belief that these scores reflect learned behavior.
In five temperament theory, no such distinction between the sexes is recognized, and high
wanted scores in Control are seen as an inborn dependency need in both sexes.
Compatibility Theory
Another part of the theory is "compatibility theory", which features the roles
of originator, reciprocal, and interchange.
Originator compatibility, involves possible clashes between expressed and wanted behaviors.
The example given, is two people with high eC and low wC (aka "Mission Impossible" or
"Autocrat Rebellious"). They: "will both want to originate the behaviors associated with the
Control needs, and neither will want to receive those behaviors. Both persons will want to set the
agenda, take responsibility, and direct and structure the actions of others; neither will feel
comfortable taking direction. The result could be competition or even conflict."
Reciprocal compatibility is (from another example given from Control), where high eC with
low wC interacts with the opposite: low eC with high wC ("Openly Dependent", "Loyal
Lieutenant", or "Abdicrat Submissive").
"there is a high degree of reciprocal compatibility because... one will take charge; the other will
be happy to let him or her assume the responsibility."
Interchange compatibility measures how much individuals share the same need strengths. The
example is two people with both high eA and wA ("Optimist" or "Overpersonal Personal-
compliant"). They "will be compatible because both will see Affection behaviors as the basis of
the relationship, and they will engage each other around Affection needs." (i.e. freely give and
receive).
Further development
During the 1970s, Schutz revised and expanded FIRO theory and developed additional
instruments (Schutz 1994, 1992) for measuring the new aspects of the theory, including Element
B: Behavior (an improved version of FIRO-B); Element F: Feelings; Element S: Self; Element
W: Work Relations; Element C: Close Relations; Element P: Parental Relationships; and
Element O: Organizational Climate. Since 1984, these instruments have been known collectively
as Elements of Awareness. Element B differs in expanding the definitions of Inclusion, Control,
and Affection (renamed "Openness"), into an additional six scores to measure how much a
person wants to include, control, and be close to others, and how much other people include,
control, and like to be close to the client. "Expressed" is renamed "See" (current behaviors)
while "Want" remains desired behaviors. Each of the three areas is split into "Do" (initiating
interaction with others) and "Get" (the level received from others). Differences between See and
Want scores indicate levels of dissatisfaction.
[4]

The original FIRO-B was sold to CPP, Inc., which also publishes the MBTI assessment, and
FIRO Element B is owned by Business Consultants Network, Inc.
A third FIRO system, called FIRO-Space is being developed by Dr. Henry L. Thomspon who
developed the second one.

You might also like