Constructivist Contributions to Personality

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Constructivist Contributions

Dr. Guillem [email protected]


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Constructivism

An epistemological position

Reality does not reveal itself through thesenses, it must be interpreted

Living = interpreting the incoming events =>living = knowing

Knowledge is self-referent (vs. objectiveknowledge)


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Constructivism is NOT

Idealism: reality does not exist (ontology)

Relativism: anything goes

A rejection of science or the scientific method

A therapy school or modelInstead:

It has informed many theories and therapies(Piaget, Kelly, social constructionism,neuroconstructivism, systemic therapies,

narrative approaches,)


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Constructivist main assumptions

about human beings

Proactive (vs. reactive)

Take decisions (vs. determined)on moment-to-moment basis

constructed (vs. stimuli)

Respond to professional interventions (items,

techniques) according to how they construe it Develop a sense of identity (who I am) and

uniqueness for which we seek continuity

(coherence)


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Personality Psychology:

McAdams model

A comprehensive framework for understandingthe whole person

whole person

McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2006). A new BigFive: Fundamental principles for an integrativescience of personality. American Psychologist,

61, 204-217. 6


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(1) an individuals unique variation on the general

evolutionary design for human nature

(2) expressed as a developing pattern of

dis ositional traits

(3) characteristic adaptations (self)

(4) self-defining life narratives

(5) complexly and differentially situated

in culture and social context

7


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Constructivism in the differentlevels of study of Personality

R

Constructivist Issue McAdams model

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Traits and Biological Basis

Schemes, Goals,

Self-regulation

Life story, L

E

V

AN

C

E

Implication

Epistemic

Basis of

Knowledge


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Traditional Assessment Constructivist Assessment

Investigator centred approach

Personality as it is postulatedaccording to the investigator'stheoretical constructs (e.g.,extroversion vs. introversion,

Person-centred approach: itinvolves the study of a person's

own theories (the "lay"perspective), which consists ofpersonal constructs.

Aims to explore the person's.

control, etc.) based on previousresearch.

Geared to the classification of thesubject within theoreticallyderived categories

Opaque to the subject

(the interviewer is the onlyexpert)

idiosyncratic constructionprocesses.

Less concerned with the subjects'"real world" than with the way inwhich they construe that world:

subjective methods


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Methodological Proposals in

Constructivism Use of multivariate methodology

Repertory Grid (Correspondence Analysis) Narratives-Life Story (Hierarchical Class Analysis)

Use of Qualitative Software , - , ,

Qualitative methodology Discoursive analysis of meaning Conversational analysis Language Analysis Grounded Theory Others

10


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The Repertory Grid Technique

Designed to capture the dimensions andstructure of personal meaning.

Its aim is to describe the ways in which people

terms.

It is not so much a test in the conventionalsense of the word as a structured interviewdesigned to make those constructs with which

persons organise their world more explicit.


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Origins and context George A. Kelly (1955) developed the Repertory Grid

Technique (originally termed Rep Test) as aninstrument for the elicitation of personal constructs.

Personal Construct Theory (PCT) is considered to be a.

Kelly was very critical of his approach being cognitive

Mahoney considers PCT as a cognitive constructivistapproach.

This idea respects the phenomenological slant of Kelly'stheory.


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Personal Construct Theory

Kelly sees the human being very much as a

scientist who creates hypotheses in order tomake it easier to interpret and understandevents self-re ulation theories .

These hypotheses are personal constructswhich are basically bipolar in nature.

Constructs are the grasping of differences,discriminations we make in our experience

Example: cold warm, generous selfish


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Personal Construct Systems

A person is obviously not guided by only oneconstruct but by an entire network of meaning.

This system consists of hierarchically arrangedpersonal constructs.

The most central or "core" constructs are those that'

In addition, there are more peripheral constructsthat, although subordinate to these core constructs,are actively involved in construing events and further

actions. The repertory grid technique is a structured

procedure designed to elicit a repertoire of constructs

and to explore their structure and interrelations.


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Some Advantages of RGT

Flexibility: it makes it applicable to a wide

variety of contexts and purposes. The systematic and thorough mathematical

for the scientific study of personal meaning.

More than 2,000 studies published.


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Sample areas investigated with the RGT Schizophrenia

Eating disorders

Anxiety disorders

Depression

Education

Teacher training

Forensic psychology

Business consultancy

Family conflicts Irritable Bowel

Evaluation of therapy

process & outcome

Marketing research Artificial intelligence

Environmental

perception

Assenzahl, M. & Wessler, R. (2000). Capturing design space from a user perspective:

The Repertory Grid Technique revisited.International Journal ofHuman-Computer Interaction, 12, 441-459


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A Repertory Grid consists of:

a series ofelements that are

representative of the content area understudy,

a set ofpersonal constructs that thesubject uses to compare and contrastthese elements,

a rating system (e.g., from 1 to 7) thatevaluates the elements based on the

bipolar arrangement of each construct.


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A case illustration: Teresa When Teresa, 22 years old, was seen by Luis ngel Sal at the

psychological services of the University of Salamanca, she was

in the final year of her studies in chemical sciences. AlthoughTeresa proved to be an excellent student, she revealed seriousdoubts about her self worth. She cried frequently, and had

,

boyfriend who was extremely supportive. Teresa was anxiously hesitant about accepting a new job

which would involve moving to another city 600 Km awayfrom home.


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Teresas grid


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Correspondence AnalysisFactors (axes) in Teresas grid


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Self-construction Measures

Self-Ideal discrepancy (self-esteem):Self-Ideal Correlation (Teresa: 0.43)

Identification-Perceived Social Isolation: Self-Others Correlation (Teresa: -0.36)

View of others:Ideal-Others Correlation (Teresa: -0.26)


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Self-congruency and

Self-discrepancy in the RGT

To study the construction of the self, the RGT

includes these two elements: SELF NOW (How I see myself now?)

IDEAL SELF How I wou i e to eConstructs in which SN and IS are close are

termed congruent and those in which theyare set apart discrepant


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Teresas implicative dilemma


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Dilemmas as Cognitive conflicts

A type of cognitive structure

Related to identity (core constructs),implicit or tacit, resistant to change

A articular form of or anization that links

specific cognitive contents (e.g., I wish toovercome my shyness) to core values(e.g., I am modest) in a conflictive way

(e.g., If I become social I might also endup being arrogant BUT If I want to keep

my modesty I have to remain timid)


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MULTI-CENTER DILEMMA PROJECT G. Feixas, J. Gurdia i M. Villegas (UB)

L. A. Sal (UNED)

Jess Garca (U Sevilla)

D. Winter (U Hertforshire, Regne Unit)

. e ro n o, or uga

H. Fernndez-lvarez (Fundacin Aigl, Argentina)

M. Gurrola (U Autnoma Estado de Mxico)

F. Melis (Pontificia U Catlica de Chile)

C. Lucero (U de la Frontera, Chile)

M. I. Erazo (U Antonio Nario, Colombia)

P. Naidoo (U Western Cape, Sudfrica)


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Dilemmas and mental healthFeixas & Saul (2004) Sample

Clinical Non-clinical

Presence of

implicative

dilemmas

NOn = 136 213

% 47,9 % 66,1 %

n = 148 109

% 52,1 % 33,9 %

TOTAL (n = 606) n = 284 322

Differences are significant using a chi-squared test

A logistic regression analysis including sex and age

yields presence of implicative dilemmas as the first

variable to enter into the equation


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Clinical problems researched Depression

Fibromyalgia Eating Disorders

Menopause Somatization disorders

Women victims of Intimate Partner Violence Anxiety disorders


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Some implications Cognitive conflicts might explain the blockage

and the difficult progress of many patients Need for specific interventions focused in the

resolution of these internal conflicts

2009/11 Research Project: Cognitive Conflictsin Unipolar Depression

2012/14 Research Project: Cognitive therapyfor unipolar depression: efficacy of a dilemma-focused intervention


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Many thanks for your attention!!

[email protected]://www.ub.edu/gdne/gfeixas

http://www.usal.es/tcp

Constructivist Contributions to Personality

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