Theories of Personality 9th Edition

Chapter 19 Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs 585

and many variations of the original test have evolved. One example is seen in
the top Figure 19.2. The experimenter provides certain roles and the test-taker
or rater provides the specific names for the roles. Roles include yourself, your
mother, father, spouse/partner, etc. In this case, there are 15 different roles.
The major goal of the test involves developing the constructs a person has
about the important people in their life by asking the person (rater) to choose any
three people from the list at one time. Then the rater thinks about how two of the
three are alike and how they differ from the third person. If, for example, the rater
thinks that they and their father are shy but their mother is not, then the first con-
struct is “shy”. They then write “shy” to the right. Then they choose three other
people from the list and create their second construct from them. For example,
their mother and father may be “confident,” but not their sibling. The person now
has two constructs, shy and confident. The number of constructs created from sets
of three roles is up to test-taker, but the suggested minimum is six. Examples of
three sets of roles and their corresponding constructs may be:

Roles Construct

You, Mother, Father shy

Mother, Father, Sibling confident

You, Partner, Best Friend friendly

You, Best Friend, Ex-Friend smart

Partner, Ex-Partner, Best Friend hostile

Rejecting Person, Threatening Person, Best Friend warm

Successful Person, Happy Person, Ethical Person happy

These constructs now tell the rater (and the test-giver) how they see the
world. In this case, shyness, confidence, and friendliness are important ways this
person has of seeing their world and the people in it.

FIGURE 19.2 Example of a repertory grid.
Source: J. Silvester and M. McDermott, “Kelly’s Repertory Grid,” All in the Mind, BBC Radio 4, October 9, 2002, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
science/allinthemind_20021009.shtml

NameSelfMotherFatherSpouse/PartnerBrother/SisterBrother/Sister-in-lawEx boy/girlfriendBest FriendDistant FriendRejecting PersonThreatening PersonSuccessful PersonHappy PersonEthical PersonNeighbour Constructs:

1 __________sv__________

2 __________sv__________

3 __________ __________sv

4 __________sv__________

5 __________sv__________

6 __________sv__________

1

E.g. XXOOXXOOOOXXOO X Shy (X) vs Confident (O)

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