PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

An important aspect of Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory ist the postulate, that all human thinking is dichotomous in nature. Empirical research an theoretical arguments, however, question the validity of this postulate. We used a repertory grid test to study personal constructs. Conditions were created to encourage the bipolar use of personal constructs. Furthermore, half of the subjects were encouraged to lists more than two poles for a construct. Results showed that bipolarity is an important but not an essential aspect of personal constructs. A reconceptualization of contrast relations between construct poles is presented that encompasses more than two contrasting concepts and is in line with the concepts of taxonomy and semantic contrast in psycholinguistic and cognitive psychological research.