Social Relations Model

The Social Relations Model (SRM), developed by David Kenny and colleagues, is a variance-decomposition framework for analyzing interpersonal perception and behavior in groups. When every member of a group rates (or behaves toward) every other member in a round-robin design, each rating reflects three distinct sources: the perceiver's general tendency to see others a certain way (actor effect), the target's general tendency to be seen that way by others (partner effect), and the unique adjustment a particular perceiver makes for a particular target (relationship effect), plus error. The SRM partitions the total variance into these components and estimates two kinds of reciprocity -- generalized (do people who like others tend to be liked?) and dyadic (do specific pairs uniquely reciprocate?). By separating the perceiver, the target, and their unique relationship, the SRM answers fundamental questions about whether interpersonal judgments lie in the eye of the beholder, the qualities of the person judged, or the chemistry of the dyad.