Introduction to the special section on structural analysis of social behavior

The structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) model dissects interpersonal and intrapsychic events into 3 underlying dimensions: (a) focus (on other, on self with other, and on self with self): (b) affiliation (love vs. hate); and (c), interdependence (enmeshment or dominance-submission vs. differentiation or emancipate-separate). Accompanied by predictive principles (similarity, opposition, complementarity, introjection, antithesis), the model can operationalize important aspects of a wide range of psychological events. Questionnaires, coding systems, and software permit the SASB model to be applied in a wide array of clinical and research contexts. It has been used by people of divergent theoretical persuasions including the interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, psychoanalytic, expressive, family, and group approaches. In this article, the model and its predictive principles are reviewed, along with examples of research, clinical, and theoretical applications. The articles in this section provide examples of especially creative and appropriate uses.