The effect of element role titles on construct structure and content

Abstract

In 1958, Mitsos provided evidence for the effect of role titles in the specification of elements in the repertory grid. He found that role titles led to consistent specification of elements over time. He speculated that this had an effect on the structure of grid data but did not test this. In the present study, 119 undergraduates completed a grid, either with elements defined by roles titles including the self, or with only the self specified and other elements defined simply as acquaintances. The role-title grids proved less cognitively complex although there was no difference in self-other distances. Role-title grids produced more constructs classified as emotional or relational while acq..