Are Interpersonal Strengths Associated with Academic Achievement and Interests?

This study examined the associations between interpersonal strengths and academic achievements and interests in a sample of 248 university students. Interpersonal strengths were assessed by the Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths (IIS), which conforms to the twodimensional interpersonal circumplex (IPC) model of personality. Academic achievement indexed by high school GPA and SAT scores and college GPA, were correlated with the agentic (dominant—submissive) and communal (warm—cold) dimensions of interpersonal strength. Academic interests were indexed by the student’s current major. Students were classified into one of four interpersonal types based on the level of their agentic and communal interpersonal strengths (Warm-Dominant; Cold-Dominant; Cold-Submissive; Warm-Submissive). Chi-square analyses were conducted to examine the distribution of student majors as a function of interpersonal strength classification.