Rose of Leary model explained including a Test

Article by: Patty Mulder

Last update: March 1, 2026

Rose of Leary helps you understand behavior in conversations more quickly, especially when communication is difficult or stuck in the same pattern. You probably recognize this. One person pushes, the other resists. Or one person withdraws and the other speaks more loudly. This model shows how one person’s behavior triggers behavior in the other. This allows you to see not only what is happening, but also why it is happening. It gives you more control over difficult conversations, fewer misunderstandings, and clearer cooperation.

In this article, you will discover what the Rose of Leary is, where the model comes from, and how the four quadrants and eight behavioral areas work. You will find practical examples that you will immediately recognize in the workplace and tips on how to consciously switch to behavior that invites the other person to cooperate. You will also find a useful reflection tool to determine your own preferred style and enter your next conversation with greater confidence. Enjoy reading!

What is the Rose of Leary? The theory

Do difficult people exist? This basic question immediately leads to another question. Why is certain behaviour perceived as difficult by other people? To get a better understanding of this perception, psychologist Timothy Leary distinguished four basic behaviours, which he subdivided into nuances. It’s called the Rose of Leary.

In the Rose of Leary it is not about the typing of human nature but rather about getting a clearer understanding of the impact of behaviour on others and the interaction between people. According to Timothy Leary, people do have a preference for a certain type of behaviour.

Rose of Leary Model is about basic behaviour

In order to clarify human behaviour and the interaction between people, Timothy Leary developed a communication model, named the Rose of Leary Model, based on a horizontal and a vertical axis.

Figure 1 – the Rose of Leary Model

The horizontal axis focuses on relationships with others and the vertical axis focuses on attitude to others. The four directions form a rose from which the name of Timothy Leary ’s theory has been derived.

He referred to the north axis as the above behaviour, the south axis as the below behaviour, the west axis as the ‘opposed’ behaviour and the east as the together behaviour. Timothy Leary distinguishes additional nuances in these four basic behaviours such as above- together, above- opposed, below-together and below-opposed.

Above behaviour

Above behaviour is about active, initiating and leading behaviour. The degree of dominance is determined by the other party.

Below behaviour

Below behaviour is about submissive behaviour, the individual does not get involved, effaces himself or displays very modest behaviour.

Opposed behaviour

Opposed behaviour is about people who are aggressive and do not agree with other people unquestioningly. They want thorough explanations and motivations before they take action. This could develop into defiant behaviour.

Together behaviour

This is about an ideal situation in which people can work as a team and in which people are receptive to other people’s opinions.

Examples of Rose of Leary

According to Leary, it is about action-reaction. Below you will find some examples of everyday situations. Try to recognise the action-reaction patterns in the image above.

2 colleagues work together in the office

At some point, one of the colleagues pushes his office chair back abruptly and says to his colleague: ‘I have to stick something together and, once again, there’s no adhesive tape. Why did you not order it sooner?’ The other colleague is offended and responds: ‘I can’t think of everything, do it yourself!’

A project team member and the project manager meet at the coffee machine

The team member says to the project manager: ‘I don’t know what to do anymore, I’m never going to get the job done.’ To which the project manager then says: ‘come on now! You can do it, especially with the help of the right people. What needs to be done? What exactly is the problem?’

Two other colleagues bump into each other while out walking during the lunch break

One of them is sitting on a bench with a long face and says: ‘I don’t feel like doing anything on this rainy day. And on top of that, it’s Monday.’ The colleague continues to complain, to which the other says with an irritated tone: ‘If you don’t feel like doing anything, please complain about it to someone else. I’ve had enough of your remarks!’

Employee at a company receives an app

An HR employee at a company receives an app from her colleague:‘are you going to eat with us during the lunch break?’ She responds: ‘yes great, I’ll be right there.’

The rules of the examples listed above are as follows:

Offensive -> defensive
Following -> leading
Defensive -> offensive
Leading -> following

Rose of Leary – complementarity Theory

Leary assumes with the rose of Leary that people tend to respond with complementary behaviour to behavioural variants, in which one type of behaviour triggers another type of behaviour.

On the one hand this has to do with the human instinct; on the other hand this has to do with influences from the environment.

In his complementarity theory of the rose of Leary, he indicates how this works:

Above behaviour triggers Below behaviour

Unconsciously we are inclined to respond submissively to above behaviour and we let ourselves be guided and controlled by this.

Below behaviour triggers Above behaviour

Unconsciously we are inclined to display leadership behaviour when we interact with people who display below behaviour, we are inclined to take them by the hand and control them.

Opposed behaviour triggers Opposed behaviour

Unconsciously we are inclined to react more critically when someone else is critical and we are even inclined to agree with so-called defiant behaviour.

Together behaviour triggers Together behaviour

Unconsciously we are energized by working together in harmony. It stimulates us to continue doing our work and to listen to other people’s opinions.

It is only after becoming aware of the complementarity theory, that it is possible to resist this unconscious control. Timothy Leary provides points of reference but he also emphasized that each person responds differently.

The best application for each behavioural variant is to use the opposed variant above-together. Without putting the emphasis on dominance, this behaviour adopts leadership soft skills so that cooperation can be achieved.

By giving the right feedback people, who are inclined to display above behaviour, opposed behaviour or below behaviour, can be corrected and encouraged to cooperate with each other.

Tip: Use Leary’s Rose in conflicts
Leary’s Rose is also valuable in conflict situations. By using questions or scenarios that simulate difficult conversations, you can gain insight into your response patterns under stress—such as aggressive, withdrawn, following, or leading behavior. This helps improve communication in tense situations.

Examples of Leary’s Rose

According to Timothy Leary, it is all about action-reaction. Below are some examples of situations from everyday life to explain Leary’s Rose. Try to recognize the action-reaction patterns from the image above.

Two colleagues are working together in the office. At one point, one of them pushes his chair back and says to his colleague: “I need to tape something, and now there’s no tape again. Why didn’t you order some earlier?” The other colleague reacts as if stung by a wasp: “I can’t think of everything, do it yourself!” and then grumpily continues working.
A project team member and the project manager bump into each other at the coffee machine. The team member says to the project manager: “I don’t know what to do anymore, I’ll never finish the work.” The project manager replies: “Come on! You can do it, especially with the help of the right people. What needs to be done? What exactly is the problem?”
Two other colleagues bump into each other while walking around during their lunch break. One of them is sitting on a bench with a long face and says: “I don’t feel like doing anything on this rainy day. And then it’s Monday too.” The colleague continues to complain, prompting the other to say irritably: “If you don’t feel like doing anything, go and nag someone else. I’ve had enough of your comments!”
An HR employee at a company receives a text message from her colleague: “Are you coming to lunch with us during the lunch break?” She replies: “Yes, great, I’ll be right there.”.

The rules of the examples listed above are as follows:

Offensive -> defensive
Following -> leading
Defensive -> offensive
Leading -> following

Tip: Apply the Rose of Leary at team level
The Rose of Leary is also effective for team analysis. Have team members score each other with observation or feedback forms to reveal communication patterns. This helps in team coaching and strengthening leadership and cooperation.

Rose of Leary in education

The educational system benefits from the application of Timothy Leary’s rose model which he developed as an American psychologist.

Behaviour can be predicted, to a certain extent, which is what the model is all about. The research shows that different actions trigger particular sets of responses to emerge. The way in which a reaction is given can therefore be predicted and also influenced.

Teachers need to deliver their educational content with maximum accuracy because this information holds significant value for their work.

Leary’s Rose helps to analyse certain behaviours and learn to understand the other person. The method serves educational purposes by allowing teachers to assess their students but they can also evaluate their own instructional approaches.

Based on this, the teacher can take action when necessary. The method also helps teachers to provoke certain desired behaviours in students.

Rose of Leary test

Toolshero offers you a quick self-test to identify your personal style preference. Use Rose of Leary test as an indicator, and focus on gaining more insights into your own way of communicating. Download the test below, fill in the questions, and fill in the scores on the score card to determine your preferred personal style.

Download the Rose of Leary test

For members only | Get instant access to the Rose of Leary test — plus unlimited access to 1,200+ expert articles and tools. Explore Membership Options

Reflection questions for personal and professional development

The Rose of Leary only becomes truly valuable when the model is linked to your own behavior. Reflection questions help you to look at the position you take and the reactions it evokes, based on concrete situations. It is not about right or wrong, but about gaining insight into patterns and choices.

Use the questions below when discussing a conversation that has lingered in your mind, a difficult meeting, or a recurring pattern with a colleague, customer, or manager.

Your preferred behavior

What position do I usually take: above, below, together, or against?
How do others often respond to me in conversations?
Do I recognize that I tend to shift to against or below behavior when I am stressed?
Which behavior feels most safe and familiar to me?

Situations that cause friction

What exactly do I do in terms of attitude, tone, and words at such moments?
What reaction does that elicit in the other person?
In hindsight, when would I have preferred to have behaved differently?

Patterns in interaction

What combinations do I often see, for example, offensive and defensive or leading and following?
Who usually takes the lead in our interaction and who adapts?
Where do we reinforce each other and where do we pull each other into a less helpful pattern?
What happens when I consciously do something different than usual?

Desired development

What behavior do I want to use more often to improve cooperation?
What would the above behavior look like in my practice?
What small adjustment in my communication can I try out right away in the next conversation?
What do I need to maintain new behavior, for example, preparation, feedback, or support from a colleague?

By using these questions regularly, Leary’s Rose becomes a tool for targeted growth. The model then helps not only to analyze interactions, but above all to practice new behavior step by step in everyday conversations.

Patterns and how to break them

The Rose of Leary shows that one person’s behavior always leads to a response from the other. In most cases, this works in favor of the collaboration. But sometimes, a restrictive pattern develops. This is an ongoing exchange in which both parties get “stuck” on each other. It can feel like you’re having “the same conversation over and over again,” with the same level of frustration as the outcome.

For example, there’s the pattern of top versus bottom. One person responds critically, correctively or reproachfully. The other person defends themselves, retreats or becomes passive. The more one person pushes, the more the other person shuts down. It’s a pattern that reinforces itself. You might think, “See, he doesn’t do anything on his own.” The other person might think, “Whatever I do, it’s never good enough.” Without realizing it, both people are reinforcing each other’s behavior.

Another common pattern is top together versus bottom together. One person takes all the responsibility and provides input. The other person follows. This can work for a long time, until one person gets overwhelmed and the other feels dependent or not appreciated. In this case, too, the pattern will only continue as long as neither person makes any changes.

The Rose of Leary offers a simple recipe for breaking these patterns: change starts with one person. Instead of responding from the same place, you deliberately choose another behavior. In attack-defense situations, this can mean moving from below to above together: calmly setting boundaries, clarifying your position and inviting the other person to contribute their ideas. In passive-taking behavior, it can help to take the upper position less often and ask the other person more often for suggestions, choices and responsibilities.

Breaking patterns takes practice. You can practice by briefly looking back after a difficult conversation. What was your position? What was the other person’s position? Which of your behaviors contributed to the pattern? And what behavior within Leary’s Rose could you have chosen instead? Doing this regularly will give you enough information to deliberately choose a different position in the next conversation.

In this way, the Rose of Leary becomes not just a model for understanding your communication patterns. It becomes a tool for getting stuck interactions moving again. With a little practice, small changes in your own behavior can be enough to shift the pattern and make the collaboration more productive.

Extended with other models

The Rose of Leary is already extremely powerful when combined with other models. In addition to studying surface behavior, you also get to see underlying reasons, patterns, and collaboration effects. This results in more depth and more choices for your conversations. You can use the following models to strengthen your skills:

Transactional Analysis

Transactional Analysis can help you recognize recurring communication patterns, such as Parent, Adult, and Child. Teh Rose of Leary sees the visible behavior of a person and the stance they take, but Transactional Analysis takes a layer deeper and shows you the psychological role that lies underneath. The two models together show you more clearly what happens in a conversation and why you keep falling back on the same reactions.

Johari window

The Johari window looks at what you know about yourself and what others know about you. The field of the Johari window also shows what is still unknown. The Rose of Leary shows you whether people are open or not in their communication, and how this affects their communication. More openness and relevant feedback leads to fewer misunderstandings and more quickly people start behaving as “together”.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence involves recognizing emotions and understanding how they affect us, as well as adapting to them in ourselves and others. This model relates directly to the Rose of Leary, since visible behavior is often the result of what is going on beneath the surface. The more you understand what is really happening, the more you can make conscious choices regarding which behavior will best help you in the situation. This allows you to break free from automatic countern Patterns more quickly, and you gain the opportunity to collaborate.

Drama triangle and winner’s triangle

The drama triangle consists of the three roles that people take on in difficult situations, which are Rescuer, Persecutor and Victim. These roles in the Rose of Leary explain why conversations tend to get stuck in specific patterns. The winner’s triangle shows an alternative approach, taking a mature approach with equal roles and more responsibility. Comparing the two models offers a solution to getting out of problem behavior, but also a lot of possibility for effective behavior.

STARR method

The STARR method lets you analyze specific situations from your practice. By linking the Rose of Leary to the STARR method you can identify in each situation where you stood in relation to the other person, what this evoked in the other person, and what alternative behavior would have been possible. This reduces the distance between insight and change because you work with real-life examples instead of hypothetical situations.