Constructivism is an epistemnological position about the impossibility of objective knowledge. But it doesn't mean rejecting science, rather the opposite. Its contributions to Personality Psychology are outlined. The Repertory Grid technique is explored in more detail, and its potential for identifying cognitive conflicts emphasised.

1. Constructivist Contributions
to Personality Psychologyto Personality Psychology
Dr. Guillem Feixas
gfeixas@ub.edu

2. Constructivism
• An epistemological position
• Reality does not reveal itself through the
senses, it must be interpreted
• Living = interpreting the incoming events =>• Living = interpreting the incoming events =>
living = knowing
• Knowledge is self-referent (vs. objective
knowledge)

4. Constructivism is NOT
• Idealism: “reality does not exist” (ontology)
• Relativism: “anything goes”
• A rejection of science or the scientific method
• A therapy school or model• A therapy school or model
Instead:
• It has informed many theories and therapies
(Piaget, Kelly, social constructionism,
neuroconstructivism, systemic therapies,
narrative approaches,…)

5. Constructivist main assumptions
about human beings
• Proactive (vs. reactive)
• Take decisions (vs. determined)
on moment-to-moment basis
• Act according to the reality they have• Act according to the reality they have
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)

6. Personality Psychology:
McAdams model
• A comprehensive framework for understanding
the whole person
• 5 big principles for an integrative science of the• 5 big principles for an integrative science of the
whole person
McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2006). A new Big
Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative
science of personality. American Psychologist,
61, 204-217. 6

7. (1) an individual’s unique variation on the general
evolutionary design for human nature
(2) expressed as a developing pattern of
dispositional traitsdispositional traits
(3) characteristic adaptations (self)
(4) self-defining life narratives
(5) complexly and differentially situated
in culture and social context
7

8. Constructivism in the different
levels of study of Personality
Identity
R
EMeaning
Constructivist Issue McAdams’ model
8
Traits and Biological Basis
Schemes, Goals,
Self-regulation
Identity
Life story,
E
L
E
V
A
N
C
E
Implication
Epistemic
Basis of
Knowledge
Meaning

9. Traditional Assessment Constructivist Assessment
• Investigator centred approach
• Personality as it is postulated
according to the investigator's
theoretical constructs (e.g.,
extroversion vs. introversion,
internal vs. external locus of
• “Person-centred approach“: it
involves the study of a person's
own theories (the "lay"
perspective), which consists of
personal constructs.
• Aims to explore the person's
idiosyncratic constructioninternal vs. external locus of
control, etc.) based on previous
research.
• Geared to the classification of the
subject within theoretically
derived categories
• Opaque to the subject
(the interviewer is the only
expert)
idiosyncratic construction
processes.
• Less concerned with the subjects'
"real world" than with the way in
which they construe that world:
“subjective methods”

10. Methodological Proposals in
Constructivism
• Use of multivariate methodology
– Repertory Grid (Correspondence Analysis)
– Narratives-Life Story (Hierarchical Class Analysis)
• Use of Qualitative Software
– Narratives (NUDIST, ATLAS-TI, AQUAD, SPAD)– Narratives (NUDIST, ATLAS-TI, AQUAD, SPAD)
• Qualitative methodology
– Discoursive analysis of meaning
– Conversational analysis
– Language Analysis
– Grounded Theory
– Others
10

11. The Repertory Grid Technique
• Designed to capture the dimensions and
structure of personal meaning.
• Its aim is to describe the ways in which people
give meaning to their experience in their owngive meaning to their experience in their own
terms.
• It is not so much a test in the conventional
sense of the word as a structured interview
designed to make those constructs with which
persons organise their world more explicit.

12. Origins and context
• George A. Kelly (1955) developed the Repertory Grid
Technique (originally termed “Rep Test”) as an
instrument for the elicitation of personal constructs.
• Personal Construct Theory (PCT) is considered to be a
predecessor of the cognitive approach.predecessor of the cognitive approach.
• Kelly was very critical of his approach being “cognitive”
• Mahoney considers PCT as a cognitive constructivist
approach.
• This idea respects the phenomenological slant of Kelly's
theory.

13. Personal Construct Theory
• Kelly sees the human being very much as a
scientist who creates hypotheses in order to
make it easier to interpret and understand
events (self-regulation theories).events (self-regulation theories).
• These hypotheses are personal constructs
which are basically bipolar in nature.
• Constructs are the grasping of differences,
discriminations we make in our experience
Example: “cold – warm”, “generous – selfish”

14. Personal Construct Systems
• A person is obviously not guided by only one
construct but by an entire network of meaning.
• This system consists of hierarchically arranged
personal constructs.
• The most central or "core" constructs are those that
define the person's identity.define the person's identity.
• In addition, there are more peripheral constructs
that, 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.

15. Some Advantages of RGT
• Flexibility: it makes it applicable to a wide
variety of contexts and purposes.
• The systematic and thorough mathematical
analysis of the data makes it an excellent toolanalysis of the data makes it an excellent tool
for the scientific study of personal meaning.
• More than 2,000 studies published.

16. Sample areas investigated with the RGT
• Schizophrenia
• Eating disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Depression
• Family conflicts
• Education
• Teacher training
• Forensic psychology
• Business consultancy
• Marketing research• 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 of
Human-Computer Interaction, 12, 441-459

17. A Repertory Grid consists of:
• a series of elements that are
representative of the content area under
study,
• a set of personal constructs that the• a set of personal constructs that the
subject uses to compare and contrast
these elements,
• a rating system (e.g., from 1 to 7) that
evaluates the elements based on the
bipolar arrangement of each construct.

18. A case illustration: Teresa
• When Teresa, 22 years old, was seen by Luis Ángel Saúl at the
psychological services of the University of Salamanca, she was
in the final year of her studies in chemical sciences. Although
Teresa proved to be an excellent student, she revealed serious
doubts about her self worth. She cried frequently, and had
great difficulty in meeting others, even though she had agreat difficulty in meeting others, even though she had a
boyfriend who was extremely supportive.
• Teresa was anxiously hesitant about accepting a new job
which would involve moving to another city 600 Km away
from home.

19. Teresa’s grid

20. Correspondence Analysis
Factors (axes) in Teresa’s grid

24. 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)

25. 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 would like to be?)• IDEAL SELF (How I would like to be?)
Constructs in which SN and IS are close are
termed “congruent” and those in which they
are set apart “discrepant”

26. Teresa’s implicative dilemma

27. Dilemmas as Cognitive conflicts
• A type of cognitive structure
• Related to identity (core constructs),
implicit or tacit, resistant to change
• A particular form of organization that links• A particular form of organization that links
specific cognitive contents (e.g., “I wish to
overcome my shyness”) to core values
(e.g., “I am modest”) in a conflictive way
(e.g., “If I become social I might also end
up being arrogant” BUT “If I want to keep
my modesty I have to remain timid”)

28. MULTI-CENTER DILEMMA PROJECT
• G. Feixas, J. Guàrdia i M. Villegas (UB)
• L. A. Saúl (UNED)
• Jesús García (U Sevilla)
• D. Winter (U Hertforshire, Regne Unit)
• E. Ribeiro (U Minho, Portugal)• E. Ribeiro (U Minho, Portugal)
• H. Fernández-Álvarez (Fundación Aiglé, Argentina)
• M. Gurrola (U Autónoma Estado de México)
• F. Melis (Pontificia U Católica de Chile)
• C. Lucero (U de la Frontera, Chile)
• M. I. Erazo (U Antonio Nariño, Colombia)
• P. Naidoo (U Western Cape, Sudàfrica)

29. Dilemmas and mental health
Feixas & Saul (2004) Sample
Clinical Non-clinical
Presence of
implicative
dilemmas
NO
n = 136 213
% 47,9 % 66,1 %
YES
n = 148 109dilemmas
YES
% 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

30. Clinical problems researched
• Depression
• Fibromyalgia
• Eating Disorders
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Menopause
• Somatization disorders
• Women victims of Intimate Partner Violence
• Anxiety disorders

31. 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 conflictsresolution of these internal conflicts
• 2009/11 Research Project: “Cognitive Conflicts
in Unipolar Depression”
• 2012/14 Research Project: “Cognitive therapy
for unipolar depression: efficacy of a dilemma-
focused intervention”

32. Many thanks for your attention!!
gfeixas@ub.edugfeixas@ub.edu
http://www.ub.edu/gdne/gfeixas
http://www.usal.es/tcp