FIRO-B

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• FIRO-B
• Maryland School of Public Policy
• Office of Executive Programs

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FIRO-B Theory, Interpretation and Linkages
Eugene R. (Geno) Schnell, Ph.D. faculty member
with the Center for Leadership Education at the
Johns Hopkins University 2336 Bright Leaf
Way Baltimore, MD 21209 410.585.1363 410.585.1367
eschnell_at_jhu.edu
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FIRO (rhymes with Cairo) Fundamental
Interpersonal Relations Orientation by William
C. (Will) Schutz, Ph.D. (Harvard, Berkeley,
Albert Einstein Medical School, Antioch,
Esalen) draws primarily upon the ideas of T.W.
Adorno, Erich Fromm, and Wilfred Bion Original
Well-Known Measures FIRO-B Behaviors FIRO-F Feel
ings LIPHE Life InterPersonal History
Enquiry MATE Marital Attitudes
Evaluation COPE Coping Operations Preference
Enquiry
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Major Works The Interpersonal Underworld, also
FIRO A Three Dimensional Theory of
Interpersonal Relations (Science Behavior
Books, 1958/1966) Joy Grove Press, 1967 Here
Comes Everybody Harper Row, 1971 The Human
Element Jossey-Bass, 1994 Recent Work
(1982/1992) Element B Behaviors Element
S Self-Concept Levels of Truth Team
Concordance
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Popular Uses of the FIRO-B

• Self-Awareness
• Stress Management
• Personal Coaching/Counseling
• Career Counseling/Development
• Team Building
• Leadership Development
• Culture Change
• Conflict Management (team, interpersonal,
  marital)

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What is the FIRO-B?
the FIRO-B is focused on interpersonal
relations the FIRO-B is based on the idea the
humans have interpersonal needs that underpin our
interactions and, like other biological needs,
non-satisfaction can lead to undesirable
biological consequences interpersonal needs are
a product of both genetic predisposition and
early imprinting in our family of origin,
therefore are unlikely to change dramatically
without significant intervention interpersonal
needs are deeply connected in a system of
inter-relationship people are likely to attach
to behaviors and situations that satiate their
needs
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A Few Differences to Note
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FIRO-B Terms
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Inclusion, Control or Affection?
Source Judith Waterman
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• Two forms of the basic need
• EXPRESSED toward others
• how much I want to demonstrate the behavior
• active, easily seen and mutually agreed upon
• something I initiate toward others by my words
  or actions
• WANTED from others
• how much I desire to receive the behavior
• (want others to behave toward me)
• usually more passive, elicited, or arranged to
  happen
• something I rely on others to do, say, or
  convey to me
• note willing to accept or tolerate may not be
  the same as wanted

Expressed Versus Wanted Needs
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The FIRO-B Model
Source Schnell, E. (2000) Participating in
Teams. CPP Palo Alto
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Six-Cell Model
for any of the six cells, results range from 0 to
9 for purposes of interpretation, scores of 0,
1, and 2 are considered in the LOW range 3, 4,
5, and 6 are considered in the MEDIUM range 7,
8, and 9 are considered in the HIGH
range Looking at Heather, what would be the
range for each of her 6 cells?
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Factors That Can Influence Scores

• Scoring errors
• Language/vocabulary problems
• Cultural issues affecting the expression of
  needs
• Environmental pressure to behave in defined
  ways
• Faking
• Important life events

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What Do the Ranges Mean?
Medium

• the associated descriptions are noticeably
  characteristic of your interpersonal relations
• the associated behaviors or desires would be
  displayed by you in particular situations
  (depends exactly on who and where and why you
  are interacting with them)
• you remain highly flexible in figuring out how
  you will behave or what you can expect
• you avoid situations that require that you
  constantly behave or rely on others in a
  particular way

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Another Way to Represent FIRO-B Results
scores of 9, 8, 7 represent 90, 80 or 70 of the
time, you express/want these behaviors (this is
turns out to be most of the time, no matter where
you are or who you are with) scores of 6, 5, 4,
3 represent 60, 50, 40 or 30 of the time, you
express/want these behaviors (this turns out to
be like a light switch sometimes you are on
when the people and situation is right and other
times your are off when the people or situation
doesnt match) scores of 2 and 1 represent 20 or
10 of the time, you express/want these
behaviors (this is not very much of the time, no
matter where you are or who you are with) scores
of 0 represent 1-5 of the time, you express/want
these behaviors (this is pretty rarely, even if
the people or situation changes)
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Exercise
Imagine being in a group where everyone had the
same result on one of the FIRO-B dimensions.
Focusing just on that dimension, what would it be
like to be in this group? (1) Describe the
climate of the team what would it feel like to
work with these people? (2) List specific
behaviors that you would see that would typify
the group. (3) In what ways would the group
likely be highly effective (e.g., types of
tasks, aspects of a project, or phase(s) of a
decision process)? (4) In what ways would the
group likely be less effective (e.g., what
types of tasks, aspects of a project, or phase(s)
of a decision process)?
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What You Want From Other Leaders? (Strongest
Wanted Need)
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The Team of FIRO-Bs
Guess the most likely FIRO-B scores (only one
dimension) of people who are related to a
baseball team
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Correlations Between the FIRO-B Scales and
Selected Adjectives
Source Oxford Psychologists Press
Note n 1,632 all correlations significant at
p .05
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Country Comparisons
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Summative FIRO-B Scores
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Research on the FIRO-B and Leadership

• Higher scores on eC are associated with higher
  self-ratings of leadership effectivenesss
• Higher scores on wC are associated with lower
  self-ratings of leadership effectiveness
• Higher scores on eC are associated with higher
  ratings of Initiating Structure Higher scores
  on all other FIRO-B scales are associated with
  Consideration

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From Benchmarks Research (Self-Ratings)
Expressed Inclusion leading subordinates,
setting a developmental climate, building and
mending relationships, compassion and
sensitivity, putting people at ease, acting with
flexibility Expressed Control
decisiveness Wanted Control difficulty molding
a staff, difficulty making strategic
transitions Expressed Affection
resourcefulness, leading subordinates, setting a
developmental climate, building and mending
relationships, compassion and sensitivity,
self-awareness, putting people at ease, acting
with flexibility, (and a negative relationship
with confronting problems with interpersonal
relationships and difficulty molding a
staff) Wanted Affection compassion and
sensitivity, putting people at ease (and
negatively related to confronting problems with
interpersonal relationships and difficulty
molding a staff)
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MBTI/FIRO-B Research Hypotheses
Expected Relationships Extraversion -
Expressed Wanted Inclusion Feeling -
Expressed Wanted Affection Sensing - Wanted
Control Judging - Expressed Control
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Correlation of FIRO-B Scores with MBTI Form G
Continuous Scores in Two Samples of Managers and
Leaders
Source Hammer and Schnell (1997)
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Ranking of Psychological Type with Highest Means
Scores within FIRO-B Dimensions
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Ranking of Psychological Type with Lowest Means
Scores within FIRO-B Dimensions
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Organization of Leadership Report
Overall Leadership Orientation Facets of Your
Leadership Style (type-based) Your Leadership
Approach (preferences x strongest needs) Basic
Interpretation of FIRO-B MBTI Results,
including role preferences Interpersonal
Relations How Interaction Affect Your Leadership
(total need score x E-I preference) What You
Show First in Leadership (highest expressed,
dominant extraverted function) Working With
Groups and Other Leaders How You Work in a Team
(FIRO-B based) What You Expect from Other
Leaders (highest/lowest wanted need,
temperament) Power and Organizational
Culture Your Bases of Power and Influence
(strongest interpersonal need) Your Influence on
Organizational Culture (function pair,
strongest/weakest total need) Dealing With
Change and Stress (type and FIRO-B based) Action
Plan (based on type and FIRO-B)