Exploring Rational and Non-rational Dimensions of Interpersonal Complexity

Contemporary models of psychosocial development include domains of development for interpersonal relations and cognitive complexity. Integrating these two domains to conceptualize interpersonal complexity is a useful construct for research purposes. Furthermore, the analysis of interpersonal complexity can benefit from approaching it from both rational and non-rational dimensions. The former can be done through Jane Loevinger’s conceptualization of adult ego development while the latter can be done through Gilbert Durand’s conceptualization of the Anthropological Structures of the Imaginary. Furthermore, the Washington University Sentence Completion Test is an empirically sound instrument to test the rational aspects of interpersonal complexity while the Archetypal Test of Nine Elements is an empirically sound instrument to test the non-rational elements of it. This article will conclude with research implications and applications of approaching interpersonal complexity from both the rational and non-rational dimensions.