Theories of Personality 9th Edition

576 Part VI Learning-Cognitive Theories

Arlene considered only four: riding a public bus, walking, relying on friends, or

driving her own car. Subsumed under the construct of car were three subordinate

constructs: repairing her old car, buying a new one, or purchasing a late-model used

car. This example suggests that constructs have not only a complex ordinal relation-

ship with each other but a dichotomous relationship as well.

Dichotomy of Constructs

Now we come to a corollary that is not so obvious. The dichotomy corollary

states that “a person’s construction system is composed of a finite number of

dichotomous constructs” (Kelly, 1955, p. 59).

Kelly insisted that a construct is an either-or proposition—black or white,

with no shades of gray. In nature, things may not be either-or, but natural events

have no meanings other than those attributed to them by an individual’s personal

construct system. In nature, the color blue may have no opposite pole (except on

a color chart), but people attribute contrasting qualities to blue, such as light blue

versus dark blue or pretty versus ugly.

In order to form a construct, people must be able to see similarities between

events, but they must also contrast those events with their opposite pole. Kelly (1955)

stated it this way: “In its minimum context a construct is a way in which at least

two elements are similar and contrast with a third” (p. 61). As an example, return to

Figure 19.1. How are intelligence and independence alike? Their common element has

no meaning without contrasting it to an opposite. Intelligence and independence have

no overlapping element when compared to a hammer or a chocolate bar. By contrasting

intelligence with stupidity and independence with dependence, you see how they are

alike and how they can be organized under the construct “good” as opposed to “bad.”

vs.

Intelligence Health

Bus Walk Friends

Repair old car Buy used car Buy new car

Stupidity Illness

School

Independence

Transportation

Car

Dependence

Home

Good Bad

FIGURE 19.1 Complexity of relationships among constructs.