Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 206
Closeness can be one-sided
Keep the relationship, respondent, and version explicit before interpreting a score as evidence of interpersonal connection
Premise
Relational closeness is consequential, but it is not identical to disclosure, frequency of contact, trustworthiness, or team cohesion. Lawrence R. Wheeless developed the Interpersonal Solidarity Scale to measure a respondent’s perception that a specified interpersonal relationship is close rather than remote, including connection, trust, liking, interaction, and confiding.
For executives, the instrument can turn a vague claim—“we have a strong relationship”—into a repeatable set of relational judgments. The evidence remains perceptual and dyadic. One person’s score is not an objective property of the relationship, and interpersonal solidarity cannot be aggregated casually into a team or organizational claim.
What the model is: Interpersonal Solidarity Scale in Knowledge →
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- Risks and limits
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- FamilyTool
- CategoryMeasurement & Assessment Instruments
- DomainConversation & Relationships
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Tool
In this series, Tool names the editorial family primarily used to act on, examine, measure or organize communication. It includes instruments, methods, practices, protocols, codes and institutional arrangements. Membership does not certify effectiveness, portability or safe use in every setting.
Editorial orientation · Category
Measurement & Assessment Instruments
Produces measures, scores, profiles or assessments through defined items, observations or measurement rules. The entry identifies what is measured and the conditions governing interpretation.