fei75766_ch19_610-639.indd 628  02/06/20 01:53 PM
Part VI    Learning-Cognitive Theories628
people from thelistatonetime. Then ,theraterthinks about howtwoofthethree 
arealikeandhowtheydiffer from thethird person. If,forexample, theraterthinks 
thattheyandtheirfather areshybuttheirmother isnot,thenthefirstconstruct is
“shy”. They thenwrite “shy” totheright. Then ,theychoose three other people from 
thelistandcreate theirsecond construct from them. Forexample, theirmother and
father maybe“confident,” butnottheirsibling. Theperson nowhastwoconstructs, 
shyandconfident. Thenumber ofconstructs created from setsofthree roles isupto
test-taker, butthesuggested minimum issix.Examples ofthree setsofroles andtheir
corresponding constructs maybe:
Roles  Construct
You, Mother, Father  shy
Mother, Father, Sibling  confident
You, Partner, BestFriend  friendly
You, BestFriend, Ex-Friend  smart
Partner, Ex-Partner, BestFriend  hostile
Rejecting Person, Threatening Person, BestFriend  warm
Successful Person, Happy Person, Ethical Person  happy
These constructs nowtelltherater(andthetest-giver) howtheyseetheworld. 
Inthiscase, shyness, confidence, andfriendliness areimportant ways thisperson has
ofseeing theirworld andthepeople init.
Thesecond major stepisoptional, andisshown inthelower gridportion of
Figure 19.2. Here, theperson rates every role/person onevery construct. After doing 
soonallconstructs, theratercanthenseehowdifferent constructs aresimilar to
eachother ornotexamining which onesmatch onXsandOs.Forinstance, ifpeople FIGURE 19.2  Example of a Repertory Grid.
Source: J.Silvester andM.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
Name
Self
Mother
Father
Spouse/Partner
Brother/Sister
Brother/Sister-in-law
Ex-boy/girlfriend
Best Friend
Distant Friend
Rejecting Person
Threatening Person
Successful Person
Happy Person
Ethical Person
Neighbor Constructs
__________sv__________ 1
__________sv__________ 2
__________sv__________ 3
__________sv__________ 4
__________sv__________ 5
__________sv__________ 61
E.g. XX OO OO OO OO XX XX X Shy (X) vs Conﬁdent (O )23 45 67 89 10 1112 13 14 15Final PDF to printer