The Reiss Relationship Profile
Understanding couples
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steven Reiss, Ph.D., : is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale University. According to the Social Science Citation Index, his research ranks in the upper 1 percent of academic psychologists in terms of influence.
Ages: 16 & up.
Each partner goes online at www.16desires.com and answers 128 simple questions about his/her values, life goals, and basic desires. A three to seven page report of the results is sent to you via email immediately after both partners are finished answering the questions.
This tool can be used in premarital and marital counseling.
* The results graphically display the extent to which the partners are aiming for similar versus opposite life goals and values.
* This tool assesses 16 fundamental long-term compatibilities or incompatibilities.
* The results explain why these partners are attracted to each other.
* The results explain why the partners have certain repeated or difficult to resolve quarrels.
* The results evaluate potential compatibility or problems regarding sex, fidelity, money, raising children, household chores, morals, and abuse.
* The results are stated in plain English (no technical jargon) understandable by couples with a high school education.
* More than 80% of couples say the results are meaningful and revealing.
Recent research has shown 16 basic desires that give purpose to human life. Everybody embraces all 16 basic desires, but to different extents. How an individual prioritizes the 16 basic desires (called a Reiss Profile) explains why partners are attracted to each other and determines what they will quarrel about repeatedly.
The Reiss Relationship Profile compares how much each partner values the following 16 intrinsic desires:
Acceptance, the need for approval
Curiosity, the need to think
Eating, the need for food
Family, the need to raise children
Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one's clan/ethnic group
Idealism, the need for social justice
Independence, the need for individuality
Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments
Physical Activity, the need for exercise
Power, the need for influence of will
Romance, the need for sex
Saving, the need to collect
Social Contact, the need for friends (peer relationships)
Status, the need for social standing/importance
Tranquility, the need to be safe
Vengeance, the need to strike back
USER QUALIFICATIONS
This tool can be purchased only by qualified users. The minimum qualifications are:
1.The tool can be purchased by M.A- level marriage counselor (psychologists or social workers) who have had training or 1 year experience in marriage counseling.
2.The tool can be purchased by clergy who have had experience or training comforting couples.
QUESTIONS
If you wish to talk about this instrument with an IDS sales rep, email sales@idspublishing.com or call 614-885.2323.
HOW THE REISS PROFILE WAS VALIDATED
The Reiss Profile is the first standardized, comprehensive assessment of what motivates people. It shows the forces driving personality development of mentally healthy people. Users and clients often comment on how accurate the Profile is; the scientific validity coefficients are very high. The predictive validity is extraordinary.
Phase I: Exploratory factor studies of lists of hundreds of motives repeatedly showed 15-16 basic intrinsic desires of life. Multinational, confirmatory factors studies.
The 16 basic desires are acceptance, curiosity, eating, family, honor, idealism, independence, order, physical activity, power, romance, saving, status, social contact, tranquility, and vengeance.
Everybody embraces these desires, but to different extents. How you rank order the 16 basic desires is called your Reiss Profile. Your RP predicts your personality traits and how you behave in many situations.
Phase II: Psychometric studies established test-retest, internal, and inter-rater reli-abilities.
Phase III: Concurrent validity shown with Big 5, Myers Briggs, Murray's needs, ASI.
Each scale validated against "real-world" behavior. Published in APA and other top journals. 20 peer-reviewed articles, more than 10,000 administrations in six countries.
Phase IV: In order to apply the RP to relationships, the content of four leading books on love and marriage were classified into the 16 basic desires. Dr. Stephen Judah, an expert marriage counselor, reviewed the narrations and suggested certain modification. Dr. Judah administered the instrument to 75 couples in marriage counseling, and 25 couples not in counseling. The couples were interviewed about the validity and meaningfulness of the results.
REFERENCES
Engel, G., Olson, K.R., & Patrick, C. (2002). The personality of love: Fundamental motives and traits related to components of love. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 839-853.
Havercamp, S.H., & Reiss, S. (2003). A comprehensive assessment of human striving: Reliability and validity of the Reiss Profile. Journal of Personality Assessment, 81, 123-132.
Maller, R. G., & Reiss, S., (1992). Anxiety sensitivity in 1984 and panic attacks in 1987. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 6, 241-247.
Maller, R.G., & Reiss, S. (1987). A behavioral validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 1, 265-272.
Olson, K. R., & Weber, D. A. (2004). Relations between big five traits and fundamental motives. Psychological Reports, 95, 795-802.
Reiss, S. (2005). Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation at 30: Unresolved scientific issues. Behavior Analyst, 28, 1-14.
Reiss, S. (2005). Why people become organ donors. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in New Orleans.
Reiss, S. (2005). Human individuality and the divide between science and religion. Zygon 40, 131-142.
Reiss, S. (2004). Multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation: The theory of 16 basic desires. Review of General Psychology, 8, 179-193.
Reiss, S. (2004). The 16 strivings for God. Zygon, 40, 131-142.
Reiss, S. (2001, Feb.). Secrets of happiness. Psychology Today, 50-56.
Reiss, S. (2000). Human individuality, happiness, and flow. American Psychologist, 55, 1161-62.
Reiss, S. (2000). Who am I: The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities. New York: Tarcher/Putnam. 288 pp. (translated into Chinese, Danish, Japanese, Spanish, and Swedish.)
Reiss, S. (2000). Why people turn to religion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 39, 47-52.
Reiss, S. (1999). The sensitivity theory of aberrant motivation (pp. 35-58). In S. Taylor (ed.), Anxiety Sensitivity: Theory, Research, and Treatment. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Reiss, S. (1997). Trait anxiety: It's not what you think it is. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 201-214.
Reiss, S. (1991). Expectancy model of fear, anxiety, and panic. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 141-153.
Reiss, S. & Havercamp, S.H. (2005) Motivation in a developmental context: Test of Maslow's theory of self-actualization. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 45, 41-53
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S.M. (1999). Sensitivity, functional analysis, and behavior genetics: A response to Freeman et al. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 104, 289-293.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S.H. (1998). Toward a comprehensive assessment of fundamental motivation. Psychological Assessment, 10, 97-106.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S.M. (1997). Sensitivity theory and mental retardation: Why functional analysis is not enough. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 101, 553-566.
Reiss, S., & Havercamp, S.M. (1996). The sensitivity theory of motivation: Implications for psychopathology. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 621-632.
Reiss, S., & McNally, R.J. (1985). Expectancy model of fear. In S. Reiss and R.R. Bootzin, R.R. Theoretical Issues in Behavior Therapy. New York: Academic Press.
Reiss, S., Peterson, R.A., Gursky, D.M., & McNally, R.J. (1986). Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency, and the prediction of fearfulness. Behavior Research and Therapy, 24, 1-8.
Reiss, S. & Reiss, M. (2004). Curiosity and mental retardation: Beyond IQ. Mental Retardation, 42, 77-81.
Reiss, S., & Sushinsky, L. W. (1975). Overjustification, competing responses, and the acquisition of intrinsic interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 1116-1125.
Takakuwa, M. & Wakabayashi, M. (1999, personal communication). Unpublished factor study of Japanese translation of Reiss Profile with Japanese college students.