Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (ICQ)

Abstract

The Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (ICQ) is a widely used self-report instrument designed to measure an individual’s perceived competence across five crucial domains of interpersonal competence within peer relationships, specifically focusing on interactions with friends and romantic partners/dates. Developed by Buhrmester and colleagues in 1988, the ICQ consists of 40 items rated on a 5-point scale, allowing for a detailed assessment of social skills vital for forming and maintaining successful social connections and achieving psychosocial adjustment.

Keywords

Interpersonal competence, social skills, peer relationships, self-disclosure, emotional support, conflict management, psychological assessment, relationship initiation, assertiveness.

Authors

Duane Buhrmester, Wyndol Furman, Marc T. Wittenberg, Harry T. Reis.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the ICQ is to provide a reliable and differentiated measure of an individual’s perceived ability to handle key social tasks encountered in close peer relationships. Unlike scales that measure general social skills, the ICQ focuses on specific behaviors categorized into five distinct functional domains. This differentiation allows researchers and clinicians to pinpoint specific areas of strength or deficit in an individual’s relational toolkit, providing a foundation for targeted intervention or further study of relational dynamics.

The scale is structured to capture self-perceptions regarding both the initiation of new relationships and the maintenance of established close relationships, acknowledging that different competencies may be required for these varying relational stages. The instrument has proven useful in developmental psychology research, particularly concerning adolescent and preadolescent adjustment, where peer relationships are central to well-being.

Construct

The ICQ operationalizes interpersonal competence as a multi-dimensional construct comprising five empirically derived domains of social skills essential for navigating peer interactions. These domains are hypothesized to be independent yet collectively crucial for relational success.

The five core domains measured by the ICQ are:

• Initiating Relationships: The ability to approach new acquaintances, start conversations, and successfully arrange social activities.
• Self-Disclosure: The capacity to reveal personal, intimate, or sensitive information to companions in an appropriate and timely manner, fostering closeness and trust.
• Asserting Displeasure: The skill to stand up for one’s rights, express dissatisfaction, and confront companions regarding unacceptable behavior or broken promises without resorting to aggression or avoidance.
• Providing Emotional Support: The ability to listen sensitively, offer comfort, and provide constructive advice or support when a companion is experiencing distress or difficulty.
• Managing Interpersonal Conflicts: The competence required to constructively resolve disagreements, negotiate solutions, take the companion’s perspective, and prevent minor conflicts from escalating into damaging fights.

Validity

The original development paper by Buhrmester et al. (1988) established strong construct validity through factor analysis, confirming the theoretical five-factor structure of the scale. The domains demonstrated meaningful, differential correlations with measures of social adjustment and loneliness, supporting the notion that these five competencies are distinct yet crucial components of overall social functioning. Specifically, scores on the ICQ subscales were predictive of relationship quality and psychosocial adjustment in early relational contexts.

Subsequent research, including the validation of the 15-item brief form (ICQ-15) by Coroiu et al. (2015) in German populations, further supported the utility and underlying factor structure, demonstrating that the scales effectively measure perceived interpersonal competence across different cultural and age groups.

Reliability

The ICQ exhibits high internal consistency, indicating excellent reliability across its five subscales. The original study reported the following Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (α) for the domains, measured separately for interactions with friends and dates:

• Initiating relationships: α = 0.86 (Friends); α = 0.85 (Dates).
• Self-disclosure: α = 0.82 (Friends and Dates combined).
• Asserting displeasure: α = 0.85 (Friends’ actions); α = 0.86 (Dates’ actions).
• Providing emotional support: α = 0.86 (Friend); α = 0.87 (Date).
• Managing interpersonal conflicts: α = 0.77 (Friends or Dates combined).

These reliability scores demonstrate that the items within each domain consistently measure the intended construct, with all subscales meeting or exceeding generally accepted standards for psychological research instruments.

Factor Analysis

The original development of the ICQ utilized factor analysis to empirically determine the structure of interpersonal competence, resulting in the establishment of the five distinct factors. The 40 items are distributed across these five factors as follows:

• Initiating relationships (7 items): Items 1, 6, 11, 16, 26, 31, and 36.
• Self-disclosure (8 items): Items 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, and 38.
• Asserting displeasure with others’ actions (8 items): Items 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 32, and 37.
• Providing emotional support (8 items): Items 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29, 34, and 39.
• Managing interpersonal conflicts (8 items): Items 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40.

The items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale assessing perceived competence: 1 = I’m poor at this, 2 = I’m only fair at this, 3 = I’m OK at this, 4 = I’m good at this, 5 = I’m extremely good at this.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire / Psychological Assessment Scale

Format: 40 items (Full version); 15 items (Brief version, ICQ-15). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Original), German (ICQ-15 validation), and likely others through subsequent translation efforts.

Population Group: Individuals engaged in peer relationships (friends and romantic partners).

Age Group: Typically used with adolescents, preadolescents, and young adults, though applicable to all adults.

Population Details: Originally validated on college students, but subsequently adapted for use in developmental studies focusing on preadolescence and adolescence.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate how well they believe they perform specific relational tasks, providing a measure of perceived interpersonal competence rather than objective behavioral performance.

Keywords

ICQ, Buhrmester, social interaction, adolescent development, relationship quality, psychometrics, internal consistency, 5-factor structure.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The ICQ was first published in 1988. As a widely cited academic instrument, researchers typically obtain permissions by referencing the original publication and contacting the primary author for high-volume or commercial use. The full instrument and development paper are often made available for non-commercial research purposes.

The original PDF can be downloaded here: https://www.du.edu/ahss/psychology/relationship-center/media/documents/publications/buhrmester-furman-wittenberg-reis-1988.pdf

Additional resources are available here: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/87df/a1cba25fc8ef3fb6cfdabe79fd0add6700f4.pdf

Reference’s

• Buhrmester, D., Furman, W., Wittenberg, M. T., & Reis, H. T. (1988). Five domains of interpersonal competence in peer relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55(6), 991-1008.
• Buhrmester, D. (1990). Intimacy of Friendship, Interpersonal Competence, and Adjustment during Preadolescence and Adolescence. Child Development, 61(4), 1101-1111.
• Coroiu, A., Meyer, A., Gomez-Garibello, C. A., et al. (2015). Brief Form of the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (ICQ-15); Development and Preliminary Validation With a German Population Sample. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 31, 272-279.

Items of the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (ICQ)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Asking or suggesting to someone new that you get together and do something‚ e.g.‚ go out together.

2. Telling a companion you don’t like a certain way he or she has been treating you.

3. Revealing something intimate about yourself while talking with someone you’re just getting to know.

4. Helping a close companion work through his or her thoughts and feelings about a major life decision‚ e.g.‚ a career choice.

5. Being able to admit that you might be wrong when a disagreement with a close companion begins to build into a serious fight.*

6. Finding and suggesting things to do with new people whom you find interesting and attractive.*

7. Saying “no” when a date/acquaintance asks you to do something you don’t want to do.

8. Confiding in a new friend/date and letting him or her see your softer‚ more sensitive side.*

9. Being able to patiently and sensitively listen to a companion “let off steam” about outside problems s/he is ha‎ving.

10. Being able to put begrudging (resentful) feelings aside when ha‎ving a fight with a close companion.

11. Carrying on conversations with someone new whom you think you might like to get to know.

12. Turning down a request by a companion that is unreasonable.

13. Telling a close companion things about yourself that you’re ashamed of.

14. Helping a close companion get to the heart of a problem s/he is experiencing.*

15. When ha‎ving a conflict with a close companion‚ really listening to his or her complaints and not trying to “read” his/her mind.

16. Being an interesting and enjoyable person to be with when first getting to know people.

17. Standing up for your rights when a companion is neglecting you or being inconsiderate.

18. Letting a new companion get to know the “real you.”*

19. Helping a close companion cope with family or roommate problems.

20. Being able to take a companion’s perspective in a fight and really understand his or her point of view.*

21. Introducing yourself to someone you might like to get to know (or date).*

22. Telling a date/acquaintance that he or she is doing something that embarrasses you.

23. Letting down your protective “outer shell” and trusting a close companion.*

24. Being a good and sensitive listener for a companion who is upset.

25. Refraining from saying things that might cause a disagreement to build into a big fight.

26. Calling (on the phone) a new date/acquaintance to set up a time to get together and do something.*

27. Confronting your close companion when he or she has broken a promise.*

28. Telling a close companion about the things that secretly make you feel anxious or afraid.

29. Being able to say and do things to support a close companion when s/he is feeling down.*

30. Being able to work through a specific problem with a companion without resorting to global accusations (“you always do that”).

31. Presenting good first impressions to people you might like to become friends with (or date).

32. Telling a companion that he or she has done something to hurt your feelings.*

33. Telling a close companion how much you appreciate and care for him or her.

34. Being able to show genuine empathetic concern even when a companion’s problem is uninteresting to you.

35. When angry with a companion‚ being able to accept that s/he has a valid point of view even if you don’t agree with that view.

36. Going to parties or gatherings where you don’t know people well in order to start up new relationships.

37. Telling a date/acquaintance that he or she has done something that made you angry.*

38. Knowing how to move a conversation with a date/acquaintance beyond superficial talk to really get to know each other.

39. When a close companion needs help and support‚ being able to give advice in ways that are well received.*

40. Not exploding at a close companion (even when it is justified) in order to avoid a damaging conflict.*

* Items at brief version