Reasons to Randomize: Sort-Specific Effects on Construct Content in Cross-Sectional Repertory Grid Studies

Several articles have discussed the effect of variations in the repertory grid procedure on measures derived from the data it generates. Largely unexplored, in contrast, is the effect of a more subtle variation inherent in the grid procedure itself: the specific combination of elements used in a dyad or triad during elicitation. This study investigates the differential effects of a specific element combination on the elicited constructs by means of data-driven content analysis. Three independent repertory grid samples were collected, one using nutrition styles (N = 70) and two using occupational profiles as elements (both N = 60). For the latter two studies, the sorting technique (dyad vs. triad) was varied. A pronounced specific effect of the sorts on elicited construct content was found across all three studies.     

THE JOINT REPRESENTATION OF CONSTRUCTS AND ELEMENTS IN REPERTORY GRID DATA BY COMPONENT ANALYSIS: SLATER'S INGRID IS NOT THE BEST SOLUTION

The dominant method of analyzing repertory grid data in order to produce a joint spatial representation of constructs and elements has been Slater's INGRID procedure, often labeled "principal components" but more accurately described as a singular-value-­decomposition. This approach also involves centering the grid about construct means. In this article, it is shown that this removes a relationship between construct means and first component loadings for constructs. It is also shown, however, that a strong relationship between element means and element first component loadings remains. Ways of overcoming this problem are examined.     

ON TESTING THE COMMONALITY OF CONSTRUCTS IN SUPPLIED GRIDS

The repertory grid technique has long been the empirical tool of choice for research based on personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955). In some situations, respondents are asked to evaluate a set of elements with respect to a fixed or supplied repertoire of constructs, and an assumption is made that respondents will employ these constructs similarly. This situation is thus equivalent to the semantic differential technique. In the repertory grid context it is justified through the commonality of construing corollary of personal construct theory. This is an assumption that can be tested, although it seems to have attracted little attention in the past. Here a criterion for commonality of a construct is proposed, namely that of the data conforming to a unidimensional scaling model, and a simple method of testing this is illustrated.     

Constructing and measuring self-esteem

Abstract

The concept of self-esteem is examined as it relates to the theory and practice of personal construct psychology (PCP). William James's two perspectives on the self, as a knower and as an object of knowledge, are related to two PCP perspectives, the self as a construct and the self as an element. Various PCP concepts, such as core role constructs, range of convenience, and emergent poles, are interpreted in regard to self-esteem. Methods for changing self-constructions to enhance self-esteem are also described. A modified repertory grid format is recommended for the study of self-esteem, one that uses positive experiences as grid elements instead of people who fit selected roles.     

An Examination of Biodata Theory‐Based Constructs in a Field Context

This study examined whether items from a biodata inventory were consistent with theory‐based constructs as suggested by the ecology model. The model posits five constructs explain biodata predictive ability. Items were sorted using the theory‐based construct domains. The resulting scale scores were assessed for evidence of content, criterion‐related, and construct validity in a sample of 6032 automated systems controllers. Results suggested moderate support for the theory‐based constructs. A notable finding was that items capturing a theoretical construct were impacted by the life stage in which they were anchored. Results further suggest the need to examine if certain life stages are more predictive than others or perhaps if certain constructs are more predictive when related to a particular life stage.     

A New Development to Aid Interpretation of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis of Repertory Grid Data

Hierarchical clustering is a common way to analyze repertory grid data, as it allows visual identification of homogeneous groups of elements and constructs. This article explores a bootstrap approach to clustering that additionally allows significance testing of dendrogram structures. Given that the choice of the specific clustering method and distance measure can be justified, the method yields indications of closely related element or construct structures. Closely integrated groups of constructs link to the concept of cognitive complexity. Several new complexity indexes are derived from the bootstrap solution. The behavior of the indexes is compared (a) across the most common clustering methods and distance measures and (b) to standard complexity measures. The derived measures reflect a different aspect of complexity than standard measures.     

COMPARING APPLES WITH APPLES: THE IMPORTANCE OF ELEMENT WORDING IN GRID APPLICATIONS

Elements form a key component of all repertory grid applications. Outside of the clinical context, the majority of applied research still relies on conventional role titles, objects, events, and situation elements for construct elicitation, limiting alternative applications of the technique. This article draws attention to a neglected topic in the grid literature by addressing the importance of element form and wording when eliciting personal constructs. In particular, no discussion to date has addressed the type of elements needed for more complex managerial and organizational phenomena, such as eliciting cognitive perceptions of a system of something (which, in the true sense of the word, may include people, objects, activities and events). The authors propose the use of more heterogeneous elements that would signify a more meaningful range of representativeness of the domain of interest. Once this is established, the elements would need to be reworded into "-ing" words to ensure triadic comparison are comparing like with like. The use of system elements opens up new applications of Kelly's (1955) grid technique.     

Identification,Reflection, And Correlation: Problems In The Bases Of Repertory Grid Measures

Repertory grids, deriving from George Kelly's personal construct theory, have been used to provide measures of a number of personality and cognitive variables. Several of these grid measures, such as the identification index, some measures of cognitive complexity, and other indices extracted from factor analyses of grids, are based on correlations between the columns (elements) of the grid data matrix. These measures are problematic and unstable because the intercolumn correlations depend on the direction of scoring across each of the matrix rows (constructs). This direction is not guided by explicit or theoretically justified rules and appears to be arbitrary and inconsistent between researchers. Also, correlation is a poor measure of element similarity, the basis of the identification measure. The importance of the valuating aspect of construing may provide a basis for the standardization of scoring. And scoring from the valued pole of a construct may help bring stability and meaning to the correlation-based measures.     

Structural equation models and personality research

This article is a nontechnical introduction to the use of structural equation models in personality research Although such models can be fruitfully used to address a variety of important theoretical issues, the substantive focus in this article is on the use of such models for elucidating the construct validity of personality measures We include numerous more specific topics under our treatment of construct validity First of all, we show how structural equation models can be applied to the issues of convergent and discriminant validity Do our variables measure the constructs we want them to measure and not other constructs that we would prefer not to measure? Second, we show the utility of structural equation models for predictive validity Do our variables reliably predict other constructs with which they are theoretically linked? Finally, we examine the stability of personality constructs through structural equation models Through-out, our emphasis is on the particular advantages that structural equation models bring to these analytic tasks Ultimately, such models must be used in the service of theory, and when used appropriately, they can help us to refine both our measures and our theories of individual differences     

Book Reviews

Abstract

This article reports on a comparison of the views of teachers in Italy and the United Kingdom on their profession in relation to other professions. Common constructs about their profession are discussed for each national group, followed by a commentary on the similarities and differences between the groups related to their embedding culture. For example, both groups perceive teachers as having much in common with social workers and the clergy in terms of high demand for emotional involvement and creativity, while both express concern over low income for effort conjoined with erosion of professional autonomy. This latter concern is more pronounced in the data from Italy, reflecting the more centralized control of curriculum, a policy only currently being initiated in the United Kingdom

Although we are sympathetic to the reservations of Yorke (1987) about their utility in the study of teachers' thinking (as noted in Pope [1981] and Denicolo [1985]), we found the grid procedure to be a useful vehicle for exploring the issues in this study. Thus we have avoided treating the grid data in an essentially positivistic manner and did use notes made during the conversations that occurred during grid completion to shed light on the personal meaning to the participant of the words used to denote each construct. Within this article the details of personal meanings of each participant are omitted, although the analysis and discussion took account of these, since our particular goal here is to present the group data for the two countries.

The focus had been on the teachers' constructs regarding the teaching profession. The same data could be used to illuminate their views on any of the professions discussed in the study. In addition to developing insights into teachers' thinking about their profession, the study helped to strengthen the developing spirit of international collaboration in research in teacher education from the perspective of personal construct psychology.     

PREDICTIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN REPERTORY GRID DATA: A NEW ELABORATION OF KELLY'S ORGANIZATION COROLLARY

When Kelly introduced the repertory grid in 1955 he linked it to a theory that emphasized anticipation and prediction and employed a formal statement of construct organization that argued for superordinate and subordinate relationships among constructs. Almost all analytic methods devised for repertory grid data have ignored this link although in the early 1980s several methods of assessing prediction were proposed. This article shows some simple predictive statistics that can be used to identify asymmetric relations in repertory grid data and provide different pictures of grid structure.     

What makes a good counsellor? An analysis of ways in which counsellor trainers construe good and bad counselling trainees

As part of an investigation into criteria used by counsellor trainers to distinguish between good and bad students of counselling, experienced counsellor trainers were asked to complete a repertory grid. Each trainer was asked to list five good counsellor trainees and five not so good or bad counselling trainees they had worked with, as elements for the grid. Repertory grid forms were provided by the researcher with spaces for ten constructs which were elicited from the trainers in the standard triadic manner. For each elicited construct subjects were asked to rate each trainee on a five point scale. Twenty-seven correctly completed grids were collected. The 262 constructs elicited were conflated into 22 semantically similar categories by the researcher and independent raters. The data was subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Services (SPSS). Overall the constructs that were most frequently used in describing trainees were open-closed, personable/aloof, secure-insecure, professionally skilled-unskilled. The mean differences for scores of good and bad trainees for each of the 22 conflated constructs were calculated. The greatest mean difference related to professional competence. The 22 conflated constructs were subsumed into three categories, and the mean of the difference between ratings for good and bad trainees within each category was calculated. Counselling related competence showed the greatest mean difference. Implications for counselling course curricula and the selection and assessment of counsellor trainees are discussed.     

Asymmetric integrality with dimensions of visual pattern

Subjects performed speeded classification tasks with visual patterns that varied in two dimensions: the elements used to construct the patterns (the letters X, Y, V, and 0) and the configurations formed by the spatial arrangement of the elements. Neither dimension could be attended to selectively without interference from the other, indicating that the dimensions are integral. But the amount of interference between the two dimensions was asymmetrical; irrelevant variation of elements (while classifying by configuration) was harder to ignore than irrelevant variation of configuration (while classifying by elements). This held true whether the element or the configuration discrimination was easier in tasks with no irrelevant variation. It is concluded that the asymmetry is due to attentional strategies in the processing of these patterns and not to the discriminabilities of the dimensions used.

     

Incremental validity principles in test construction

The authors articulate 5 basic principles for enhancing incremental validity, both among elements within a test and between tests, during test construction: (a) careful, precise articulation of each element or facet within the content domain; (b) reliable measurement of each facet through use of multiple, alternate-form items; (c) examination of incremental validity at the facet level rather than the broad construct level; (d) use of items that represent single facets rather than combinations of facets; and (e) empirical examination of whether there is a broad construct or a combination of separate constructs. Using these principles, the authors offer specific suggestions for modifications in 3 classic test construction approaches; (a) criterion keying, (b) inductive test construction, and (c) deductive test construction. Implementation of these suggestions is likely to provide theoretical clarification and improved prediction.     

Mood-related changes in construing self and others

Two repertory grids were administered to 31 Canadian undergraduates (20 women and 11 men) in which they rated themselves and 10 personal acquaintances on 11 supplied constructs. For the initial (baseline) grid they followed neutral instructions. For the second grid, they rated the same figures while listening to happy music and attempting to recall pleasant memories. The results from both grids closely approximated a set of theoretical predictions derived from a model of interpersonal judgment by Lefebvre, Lefebvre, and Adams-Webber (1986) within the framework of personal construct theory.     

Testing a computational model of interpersonal judgment with personal constructs

In a repertory grid experiment based on elicited personal constructs we tested several predictive implications of a computational model of interpersonal judgment developed by Lefebvre, Lefebvre, and Adams-Webber (1986). Results are compared with related findings within the framework of personal construct theory.     

A Repertory Grid analysis of perceptions of vocational counseling roles

A Repertory Grid was constructed to determine the perceptions held by 143 secondary school students of people who gave them vocational counseling. Responses on the 22 × 22 grid were averaged over the whole group and for subgroupings of the sample, using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering analysis to examine the pattern of relationships and the composition of clusters of elements and constructs. As predicted, it was found that the subjects made their discriminations between people on two major construct dimensions, an intimacy and a potency factor, and that people filling vocational counseling roles appeared in two of the generalized figure clusters, each having different characteristics attributed to them. Eighteen subjects were unable to complete their grids. When school achievement was assessed there was no evidence that a relationship existed between academic achievement and the capacity of subjects to complete grid protocols.     

Empowerment Theory: Clarifying the Nature of Higher-Order Multidimensional Constructs

Development of empowerment theory has focused on defining the construct at different levels of analysis, presenting new frameworks or dimensions, and explaining relationships between empowerment-related processes and outcomes. Less studied, and less conceptually developed, is the nature of empowerment as a higher-order multidimensional construct. One critical issue is whether empowerment is conceptualized as a superordinate construct (i.e., empowerment is manifested by its dimensions), an aggregate construct (i.e., empowerment is formed by its dimensions), or rather as a set of distinct constructs. To date, researchers have presented superordinate models without careful consideration of the relationships between dimensions and the higher-order construct of empowerment. Empirical studies can yield very different results, however, depending on the conceptualization of a construct. This paper represents the first attempt to address this issue systematically in empowerment theory. It is argued that superordinate models of empowerment are misspecified and research that tests alternative models at different levels of analysis is needed to advance theory, research, and practice in this area. Recommendations for future work are discussed.     

Individuation and attachment in personality development: Extending Erikson's theory

The question of whether Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is a complete and coherent view of development in males and females is considered After a thorough review of Erikson's views on the role of sex in psychosocial development, the authors suggest that an important element is neglected in Erikson's account of personality development in both sexes That is, due to his focus on issues of identity, Erikson does not account fully for the development of intimacy or other expressions of interpersonal attachment The authors conclude that the major shortcoming of Erikson's theory is not, as some feminists have argued, that it is a male theory but that it fails to account adequately for the processes of interpersonal attachment that are essential to the development of both males and females Preliminary elements of a two-path model of development are proposed