AIM Framework glossary
Relatedness Coherence Tests
Canonical definition
The Relatedness Coherence Tests are three questions that test whether the reasons an Individual gives for holding another at negative Relatedness, that is, for disliking the other, cohere with one another and with what the Individual does: (1) Would avoidance have answered the reason? (2) Was this once something I liked about them? (3) Do I dislike this in someone I like? A reason that fails any of the three is not the reason. Hate, approach toward an Individual held at negative Relatedness, lies at the pole where the reasons given cohere least.
Explanation
When you dislike someone you can usually say why, and the three questions check whether the why holds up. If the reason is that the person is a danger, the fitting response is to avoid them; if you seek them out or compete with them instead, the danger is not the reason. If the thing you hold against them is something you once liked about them, the thing has not changed, only how you see their gains. If you do not dislike the same thing in people you like, it is not the reason either. The questions work because each one sets two of your own accounts side by side, which no account of a single person does. A reason that fails points to what the two of you came to compete for. The further dislike goes toward hatred, the less the reasons hold, because hatred pulls toward the person and every reason then has to explain why.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Operational Standard.