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A SENTENCE COMPLETION TASK FOR
ELICITING PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS
IN SPECIFIC DOMAINS
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James W. Grice*, Edward Burkley
III**, Melissa Burkley**,
Sara
Wright***, Jennifer
Slaby***
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*Oklahoma
State University, **University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
***University of Iowa, ***Nevada, Missouri, USA
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A novel sentence completion task was
developed to assess how individuals view themselves and others in
different
domains of experience. This task was incorporated into a repertory grid
and
evaluated in two studies. In the first study, ratings obtained from the
grid
procedure were shown to be internally consistent and reliable over time
in two
distinct domains of experience: mathematics and athletics. Moreover,
ratings for
oneself in the grids for each domain were found to be highly correlated
with
corresponding subscale scores from a popular multidimensional measure
of
self-concept. In the second study, the repertory grid ratings were
again shown
to be internally consistent and to yield information that was truly
distinct
across the domains of mathematics and athletics. Positive ratings for
oneself
in the grids were again shown to correlate highly with corresponding
subscale
scores from the same multidimensional measure of self-concept. The
theoretical
and methodological implications of these results and new procedures
were
discussed.
Keywords: sentence
completion, self-concept, idiographic
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INTRODUCTION
Since the 1980s self-concept researchers
have developed and promoted hierarchical and multidimensional models of
the
self (see Byrne, 1996). These models have essentially replaced the
monolithic
view of self-concept with more complex schemes that subdivide the self
based on
different domains of experience. For instance, Marsh’s (1990; Marsh
&
Hattie, 1996) hierarchical model subdivides a person’s general
self-concept -
the apex of the hierarchy - into twelve primary domains of self-concept
including mathematics, athletics, and physical appearance. Bracken’s
(1996)
multidimensional model similarly incorporates specific components of
the self
based on different domains of experience, such as family life,
interactions
with friends, and participation in education. The sum of experience in
these
different domains or contexts yields a given individual’s general
self-concept.
By extending beyond a monolithic viewpoint, these models offer greater
flexibility for studying the role of self-concept in specific domains
of experience.
Personal construct researchers have also
been aware of the importance of domain specificity when studying how
individuals
construe themselves and their surroundings. From the perspective of
Personal
Construct Theory (PCT, Kelly, 1955), the elements (people, places,
things,
etc.) that comprise a given situation cannot be disentangled from the
personal
constructs (bipolar dimensions of discrimination) an individual will
use to
make sense of that situation (see Bonarius, 1977). Hence, when studying
a
particular domain of experience personal construct psychologists have
long
realized that it is of utmost importance to examine the specific
constructs
that each person brings to bear on the given experience. Examples of
this
approach can be seen in Brook’s (1991) study of work self-concept and
Neimeyer
and Hall’s (1988) study of self-image in the context of marriage. Other
researchers
have studied individuals’ constructions in the domains of teaching
(Shapiro,
1991), studying physics (Winer & Vázquez-Abad, 1997), and
group problem
solving (Morçöl & Asche, 1993). In each of these
studies the participants
were asked to provide and apply personal constructs that were relevant
to the
specific domain of experience under investigation.
Against this background it is perhaps
surprising
that personal construct psychologists have not devoted more resources
to
developing and testing standardized methods for explicitly eliciting
personal
constructs in different domains. While Kelly (1955) did modify his
original
triadic elicitation procedure in his Role Construct Repertory Test to
elicit
constructs relevant to interpersonal relationships or self-identity, he
did not
present methods for eliciting constructs in highly specific and varied
domains
of experience. While it is conceivable that the triadic method could be
modified
to accommodate different contexts, such alterations may extend beyond
the
flexible boundaries of Kelly’s original method. Furthermore, Epting,
Probert,
and Pittman (1993) reviewed most of the extant procedures for eliciting
personal constructs and concluded that a number of procedures are
generally less
confusing and simpler to employ than Kelly’s triadic procedure. None of
the
procedures reviewed, however, were designed to elicit personal
constructs in
specific domains of experience. In the present paper we introduce a
modified
repertory grid procedure based on a sentence completion task that is
highly
flexible, yet structured so that it can be easily programmed into a
computer.
Below, we evaluate this new procedure in two studies designed to assess
the
reliability and validity of the data it produces in two distinct
domains of
experience. We finally discuss how this technique could prove useful
for
self-concept, self-discrepancy, and semantic space researchers.
Sentence
Completion Grid
McAdams (1990, 1993) proposed a model of
identity that views the self as a continually unfolding story with a
distinct
narrative structure. By examining someone’s ‘life story’ a psychologist
can
bear witness to the ideological setting, imagoes, nuclear episodes, and
generativity script which comprise that individual’s identity. This
approach is
akin to Kelly’s (1955) self-characterization technique in psychotherapy
and is
reminiscent of Allport’s (1965) Letters from Jenny, where he
discovered
the themes and idiosyncratic nuances of Jenny Gove Masterston’s
identity woven
into the fabric of her written correspondences. A single sentence
within Jenny’s
letters is essentially a fragment of her larger, more complete life
story. The
implication for construct elicitation is that people may find it more
natural
and meaningful to respond to a procedure that emulates the narrative
aspect of
the self (cf., Epting, Probert, and Pittman, 1993), such as a sentence
completion
task.
The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank
test
(Rotter & Rafferty, 1950) represents one of the more notable uses
of a
sentence completion task to obtain psychological data. The appeal of
this
procedure is that it generates idiographic information in a highly
efficient
manner. In a sense, it is like a structured interview that forces an
individual
to cull the ‘essential’ verbal statements from his or her larger
narrative
response. Interestingly, sentences not only offer structure, but
flexibility as
well. The most recent advances in computer-adaptive ability testing
(Embretson,
1999) reveal that word problems can be used to create an unlimited pool
of
items. Parts of a single problem are identified as ‘variants’ which can
be replaced
with alternate forms of variants without changing the essential nature
of the
question. A small number of problems (composed of sentences) with a
small number
of variants can thus be used in different combinations to produce a
large
number of item clones that make up the item pool. This logic
can be
followed to construct sentences for eliciting constructs in different
domains.
For example, the sentence, “While sitting in a math class I
feel ______”
can easily be altered by replacing the italicized, variant portion of
the
sentence, “While exercising in a gym class I feel ______”, or
“While on
a romantic date I feel _______.” Different individuals can also be
referenced
in the sentence, representing the people who play important roles in
the self
narrative (McAdam’s imagoes, 1990, 1993). From the perspective of PCT,
the
roles we play with others have a powerful and sweeping impact upon our
construct
systems. It is no secret that Kelly (1955, p. 179) considered
this point
to be so important that he initially referred to his approach as ‘role
theory.’
These significant others may provide the means for eliciting constructs
that
are central to an individual’s self-concept. Most people can think of
at least
one person whom they admire or consider to be successful in a
particular domain.
This individual can be included as the subject of the sentence above,
“While sitting
in a math class Dick feels _______.” A person who is considered as
unsuccessful may also be included in the sentence. In this manner the
sentence
completion task would allow individuals to think about themselves and
people
whom they know personally in a way that clearly contrasts different
qualities.
Completing a repertory grid entails
rating
or ranking a series of elements on elicited constructs. Individuals can
be
asked to make judgments regarding the self, possible selves (e.g.,
undesired
self, future self, past self, etc.), and others relative to the
construct
dimensions. The ratings or rankings are typically recorded in matrix or
‘grid’
form in which the rows are comprised of constructs and the columns are
comprised
of elements. Employing construct dimensions from the sentence
completion task
described above will yield a sentence completion grid of values
that
reflect each individual’s unique constructions of the elements in a
targeted
domain of experience. Like any other repertory grid, the values in the
sentence
completion grid can be analyzed using a variety of statistical or
mathematical
models. The psychometric qualities of the ratings or rankings in the
grid can
also be examined via traditional analysis strategies.
In two studies reported
herein we in fact evaluated the reliability and validity of data
obtained from
this novel sentence completion grid procedure. In the first study, we asked two
groups of participants to complete grids in one of two distinct domains
- mathematics and athletics - on two test
occasions. We then assessed the test-retest reliability of ratings
obtained for
the grid elements (viz., self and others), and we assessed the internal
consistency of ratings obtained for the particular self element. The
convergent
and discriminant validities of the self ratings were also examined by
comparing
the results to a popular and well established measure of self concept,
Marsh’s
Self Description Questionnaire - III (SDQ-III, 1989). The grid ratings
in both
domains were expected to be highly consistent across the two test
occasions.
Moreover, the ratings for the self in the mathematics grid were
expected to
correlate highly with the corresponding mathematics subscale of the
SDQ-III;
whereas ratings for the self in the athletics grid were expected to
correlate
highly with the corresponding physical ability subscale. Based on
Marsh’s
(1989, 1990) model of self concept and published results for the
SDQ-III, we expected
the self ratings for the mathematics and athletics grids to be at best
modestly
correlated with non-corresponding subscales from the SDQ-III.
In the second
study, we asked one sample of
participants to complete two sentence completion grids: one in the
domain of
mathematics, and one in the domain of athletics. The results from the
grids for
the two domains were then compared directly, and the overall pattern of
ratings
for the elements were expected to differ. Consistent with Marsh’s model
of self
concept, the grid ratings for the particular self element in the
mathematics
and athletics grids were also expected to be nearly orthogonal.
Furthermore,
convergent and discriminant validity for the self ratings was again
assessed by
comparing the results to responses on the SDQ-III. As in the first
study, the
self ratings for the mathematics and athletics grids were expected to
be significantly
correlated with their corresponding SDQ-III subscales, and at best
modestly
correlated with the non-corresponding subscales.
STUDY 1
Methods
Participants
Ninety-eight undergraduate students (21
males and 74 females, 3 individuals failed to report gender) with a
median age
of 19 years (M = 20.6, SD = 5.0) participated in this
study in
exchange for course credit. Most of the participants (75.5%) were
Caucasian,
13.3% African American, 4.1% Hispanic, 3.1% Asian, and 4.0% reported
their
ethnicity as ‘other’ or chose not to respond. Each participant
completed, in
random order, Marsh’s Self-Description Questionnaire - III (SDQ-III;
1989) and
a sentence completion grid on each of two occasions approximately one
week
apart. The SDQ-III was administered as a paper-and-pencil test and one
of two
versions of the grid task - mathematics or athletics - was administered
on both
occasions via computer with a beta version of Idiogrid (Grice, 2002a).
Half of
the individuals completed the mathematics grid on both occasions, and
half completed
the athletics grid. Due to participant attrition or non-responding,
however,
complete data were obtained for forty-five (n = 45) and
forty-two (n
= 42) of the participants in the mathematics and athletics groups,
respectively.
Instruments
Self-Description Questionnaire - III. The Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ-III; Marsh,
1989) is a
self-report questionnaire consisting of 136 items that are rated on an
8-point
Likert-type scale. It is comprised of thirteen subscales that assess
general
self-concept and twelve specific domains of self-concept: mathematics,
physical
ability, opposite sex peers, religion, honesty, verbal, emotion,
parent, academic,
problem solving, physical appearance, and same sex peers. Marsh reports
internal consistency coefficients that range from .72 to .95 for the
thirteen
subscales across four different test occasions, and one-month
test-retest reliabilities
that range from .76 to .94 (p. 70). As will be reported below,
the
internal consistency and stability of the SDQ-III item and subscale
scores for
the current sample of individuals were similar to those reported by
Marsh.
Sentence Completion Grid. Each participant completed one of two repertory grids
designed to
assess each individual’s construction of self and others in two
distinct
domains: mathematics and athletics. Mathematics was described to the
participants
as, “...any activity involving the manipulation of numbers, such as
simple
addition and subtraction or more complex procedures such as algebra or
calculus.” Athletics was described as, “...both physical activities
(such as
aerobics) and competitive sports (such as basketball). In other words,
any
activity involving general coordination and physical ability.” The
procedures
for administering the two grids were highly similar; hence the
mathematics
version of the grid will be presented first, followed by a brief
description of
the unique components of the athletics grid.
The participant began the automated grid
task by first entering the name of an individual other than himself or
herself
considered to be successful in the domain of mathematics. The
participant also
entered the name of a person thought to be unsuccessful in mathematics
and the
name of a close friend. Duplicate names were not allowed. After
detailed
instructions and a single practice trial, a twelve-item sentence
completion
task was administered that addressed the participant’s feelings,
values, and
perceived performance levels in the area of mathematics. The sentences,
in the
order presented, were:
1.
|
While sitting in a mathematics course
I feel ______________. |
2.
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Succeeding in mathematics makes
(successful person) feel ______________. |
3.
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Mathematics
makes (unsuccessful person) feel _______________. |
4.
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While doing his/her mathematics homework,
(successful person) feels ______. |
5.
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(Unsuccessful person) does not succeed in mathematics
because he/she ___. |
6.
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Compared to other courses, I perform
_____________ in mathematics. |
7.
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The one thing that people who succeed in mathematics
have in common is that they are ____________. |
8.
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Succeeding in mathematics requires a
person to be ____________. |
9.
|
Knowing how to succeed in mathematics
is _____________. |
10.
|
Succeeding in mathematics makes me
feel ____________. |
11.
|
(Successful person) values mathematics
because it is ____________. |
12.
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I value/do not value mathematics
because it is ____________.
|
The first names
of the successful and
unsuccessful individuals were automatically placed in the sentences
where
indicated. Participants typed their response to each sentence as a
single word
or short phrase in the space provided (up to 35 characters were
allowed). They
were also queried for the opposite of their initial response to each
sentence
(e.g., sad might be typed as the
opposite of happy). Although participants
were not explicitly prevented from entering duplicate responses, a list
of the
constructs was continually updated on the computer screen along with a
message
reminding the participant not to enter duplicate responses. The
computer
program then constructed seven-point bipolar rating scales anchored by
the participant’s
words or short phrases. The midpoint of each scale was labeled as
“uncertain or
does not apply.” Portions of the sentences were also used to create
stems for
the scales (e.g., “Use the scale below to rate how you feel while
sitting in a
math class:” for the bipolar adjectives elicited from the first
sentence).
After four practice trials, the participants rated eight people, or
elements,
on each of the scales. The eight elements, in order or presentation,
were: “self”,
“unsuccessful person in math”, “ideal self”, “successful person in
math”, “undesired
self”, “friend”, “self 1 year from now”, and “typical student.” The
ideal self
was defined as, “yourself as you would really like to be”, and the
undesired
self was defined as “yourself as you would NOT like to be.” These
elements are
similar to those commonly found in studies of semantic space (e.g.,
Hart,
Fegley, & Brengelman, 1993; Ogilvie, 1987). The result of the grid
task for
each individual was a 12 x 8 matrix of ratings, and an example
participant=s
sentence completion grid for the mathematics domain can
be seen in
Figure 1.
Self
. Unsuccessful
Person
.
. Ideal
Self
. . .
Successful Person
. . .
. Undesired
Self
. . .
. . Friend
. . .
. . .
Self one year from now
.
. . .
. . .
Typical
Student Peer
. . .
. . .
. .
hallenged 2 3 -1
3 0 0
0 0 unchallenged
happy 3 3
3 3 0
1 3 0
sad
frustrated -2 1 -3
-3 3 2
-3 0 easy
satisfied 3
2 3 3
-3 1 0
0 missing
something
is not
mathematically
inclined -2 3
-3 -2 3
-1 -3 2
a math wiz
well 3 0
3 2 -3
1 0 0
poorly
thinker 3
1 3 2
-3 1 3
0 lazy
d with
numbers 3
-1 3 3
-3 2 3
0 bad with numbers
helpful 3 3
3 3 -3
3 3 1
detrimental
good 3 3
3 3 -3
2 3 2
bad
challenging 2 3 3
2 -3 2
3 1 boring
thought
provoking 3 3
3 3 0
2 2 1
easy
Figure
1. Example
sentence completion grid from the
mathematics domain. The emergent poles of the constructs (i.e., those
elicited
first) are listed on the left, and the implicit poles are listed on the
right.
The ratings could range in value from +3 (emergent pole applies) to -3
(implicit pole applies).
As stated above, the procedures for the
athletics grid were nearly identical to those for the mathematics grid.
The
only differences were (a) the participants considered individuals who
were
successful and unsuccessful in athletics, and (b) the participants
completed a
different set of sentences. With respect to the second difference, the
italicized
fragments of the mathematics sentences were replaced with words
relevant to
athletics:
1.
|
While participating in athletics I
feel ______________. |
2.
|
Succeeding in athletics makes
(successful person) feel ______________. |
3.
|
Athletics
makes (unsuccessful person) feel _______________. |
4.
|
While exercising, (successful
person) feels ___________. |
5.
|
(Unsuccessful person) does not succeed in athletics
because he/she ________. |
6.
|
Compared to other activities, I
perform _____________ in athletics. |
7.
|
The one thing that people who succeed in athletics
have in common is that they are ____________. |
8.
|
Succeeding in athletics requires a
person to be ____________. |
9.
|
Knowing how to succeed in athletics
is _____________. |
10.
|
Succeeding in athletics makes me
feel ____________. |
11.
|
(Successful person) values athletics
because they are ____________. |
12.
|
I value/do not value athletics
because they are ____________. |
As described above, fragments of these
sentences were also used to construct the item stems for the rating
procedure.
Results
A measure of grid similarity developed
by
Slater (1972; also, see Grice, 2002b, pp. 65-67) was employed to assess
the
overall consistency in the ratings for the elements across the two test
occasions. This measure requires the element role titles to be the same
in the
compared grids but does not require identical constructs. It was hence
appropriate
for the current grids. Slater’s index essentially quantifies the degree
of
similarity between the element correlation matrices (converted to
angles in
radians) and can loosely be thought of as an index of similitude
between the patterns
of elements located in the construct spaces of the two grids. When the
patterns
of elements are identical the index will equal 1, and when the two
patterns are
dissimilar the index will be less than or approximately equal to 0. The
observed
results were generally near 1 for all forty-five pairs of mathematics (M
= .82, Mdn = .90, SD = .22) and forty-two pairs of
athletics (M
= .88, Mdn = .94, SD = .13) grids, indicating
impressively high
stability in the element ratings across the two test occasions for both
domains.
The ratings for the self element in the
grids were of particular interest since they could be compared to the
self-concept ratings on the SDQ-III. Repertory grid researchers often
rely on
some type of discrepancy index, such as the Euclidean distance between
the self
and ideal self, to extract self-relevant information from a grid.
Unfortunately,
such discrepancy indices have a long history of psychometric
difficulties
(Cronbach, 1958; Cronbach & Furby, 1970; Edwards, 1994, 1995). We
therefore
adopted a simple strategy suggested by MacKay (1992) of keying all of
the
constructs in the same direction based on some criterion; in this
instance, the
rating of the ideal self on each construct. Specifically, when the
ideal self
was rated below the midpoint of the scale, the ratings for all of the
elements
on that particular construct were reflected. If the ideal self was
rated at or
above the midpoint of the scale, the original ratings were maintained.
The constructs
were thus aligned in terms of their subjective polarity (positive vs.
negative),
and the internal consistency of the self ratings could be assessed. An
average
rating could also be computed for the self in which high values
indicated a
positive evaluation of oneself and low values indicated a negative
evaluation.
The validity of the self ratings on the grids could then be assessed by
comparing
their averages with the SDQ-III subscale scores.
Cronbach’s alpha was computed for the
aligned self ratings in both the mathematics and athletics grids for
each test
occasion. The resulting values for the mathematics grids were equal to
.89 for
both the first and second test occasions, and the corresponding results
for the
athletics grids were both equal to .86. These values compared favorably
to the
internal consistencies computed for all participants for the
mathematics (alpha
= .96 for both occasions) and physical ability (alpha = .94 for both
occasions)
subscales from the SDQ-III. The coefficient alpha values for the
remaining
eleven subscales of the SDQ-III for both test occasions were also
similar in
magnitude (M = .86, Mdn = .89, min = .63, max
=
.94) to the alpha values for the grids.
The averages of the aligned self ratings
across the twelve constructs are summarized in Table 1. As can be seen, the
means for the repertory grid ratings were not significantly different
across
the two test occasions. The means for eleven of the thirteen SDQ-III
subscales
were also essentially the same for the two test occasions. The
mathematics and
physical appearance subscales did yield statistically significant (p
< .05) increases in scores over time, but the observed effect sizes
were
very small (~ 2 scale points; d # .30). The confidence intervals for all measures were
fairly narrow,
indicating respectable precision in the population parameter estimates.
In terms of test-retest reliability, the
participants’ average ratings for the self in the mathematics grids
were highly
consistent, r = .84, as were their average ratings for the self
in the
athletics grids, r = .81. By way of comparison, the test-retest
reliabilities for the SDQ-III mathematics and physical ability
subscales for
all participants were .94 and .80, respectively. The test-retest
reliabilities
for the remaining eleven SDQ-III subscales (see Table 1) were generally lower
than the reliabilities of the grid ratings (M = .75, Mdn
= .72, min
= .61, max = .86).
Correlations among the average self
ratings
and SDQ-III subscales for those participants who completed the
mathematics
grids are reported in Table 2 and can
be examined for evidence of convergent
and discriminant validity. As can be seen in the first row and first
column of Table 2, the validity of the
grid self ratings was supported. In terms of
convergent evidence, positive self ratings in the mathematics grids
were
significantly and highly associated with higher self-concept in
mathematics for
both test occasions (r’s > .70). With respect to discriminant
validity, the correlations between the grid ratings and the other
subscales
from the SDQ-III were small (most r’s < .15 in absolute
magnitude)
and nonsignificant for both test occasions.
The correlations for those participants
who
completed the athletics grids are reported in Table 3. Similar to the results
for the mathematics grids, the validity of the self ratings was
supported. In
terms of convergent evidence, positive self ratings in the athletics
grids were
significantly and highly associated with higher self-concept in
physical
ability for both test occasions (r’s > .61). In terms of
discriminant
validity, the correlations between the grid ratings and the other
subscales
from the SDQ-III were generally small (most r’s < .20 in
absolute
magnitude) and nonsignificant for both test occasions. A few exceptions
were
observed (see Table 3); most notably, the athletic grid self ratings
were
significantly and positively correlated with the physical appearance
subscale
scores on both test occasions.
STUDY 2
Method
A number of modifications were made to
the
procedures in Study 1. First, participants were required to complete
two
smaller sentence completion grids: one for mathematics and one for
athletics.
Subsets of the twelve original sentences and elements were chosen and
entered
into smaller grids to reduce the total number of ratings. These changes
were
made to lower the fatigue that participants may experience while
completing two
large grids and the 136-item SDQ-III in a single testing session.
Second, the
sentence completion grids were always presented first to control for
the possibility
that the participants' elicited constructs or
element ratings were affected in some way by
their responses to the SDQ-III.
Seventy-two undergraduates, 15 men and
55
women (2 individuals did not report their gender), participated in this
study in
exchange for course credit. The median age of the participants was 19
years (M
= 19.6, SD = 4.3), and 75% of the individuals were Caucasian,
14% African
American, 1.4% Asian, and 9.6% reported their ethnicity as ‘other’ or
failed to
respond.
Each participant completed two sentence
completion grids and the SDQ-III. The repertory grids were administered
via
computer as described above in Study 1, and the SDQ-III was again
administered
on paper. Thirty-six of the participants, chosen randomly, completed
the
mathematics grid first, and the remaining participants completed the
athletics
grid first. The SDQ-III was always administered last. Sentences 1, 2,
3, 5, 7,
8, 9, and 11 were chosen randomly from the complete set of sentences in
Study 1
and were used in this study. The “undesired self” and “self 1 year from
now”
figures were also chosen randomly from the nonessential elements and
dropped,
resulting in 8 x 6 grids (48 ratings each). Since participants
completed two
grids, rather than one, these changes reduced the fatigue that would
likely set
in during the completion of two larger 12 x 8 grids (96 ratings each).
Results
Slater’s (1972) index was again used to
compare the pattern similarity of the elements (i.e., the rated people)
in the
mathematics and athletics grids. If the grids successfully tapped two
distinct
domains of experience, the resulting values should generally be near
zero. The
observed results ranged from -.72 to .98 across all seventy-two
participants
and did indicate that the ratings for the two domains were generally,
but not
completely, distinct (M = .39, Mdn = .45, SD =
.46).
The constructs were again keyed in the
direction of the ideal self by reflecting the ratings of those
constructs on
which the ideal self was located below the midpoint of the scale.
Coefficient
alpha was then computed for each grid and surprisingly revealed
increased
internal consistency in the smaller grids used in this study.
Coefficient alpha
for the self ratings in the mathematics grid was .92, and the
corresponding
alpha in the athletics grid was .86. These values compared very well to
the
coefficient alphas for the mathematics (.95) and physical ability (.95)
subscales
of the SDQ-III for this sample. The results for the remaining eleven
subscales
of the SDQ-III were generally similar in magnitude (M = .84, Mdn
= .88, min = .68, max = .94) to the alpha values for
the grids.
The correlations among the self ratings
and
the SDQ-III subscales were computed and examined for evidence of
convergent and
discriminant validity. As can be seen in Table
4, the results again revealed excellent
evidence for the validity of the sentence completion grid ratings. In
terms of
convergent validity, the correlation between the average self ratings
in the
mathematics grid and the SDQ-III mathematics subscale was positive and
large in
magnitude (r = .80, p < .001), as was the correlation
between
the self ratings in the athletics grid and the physical ability
subscale (r
= .80, p < .001). With regard to discriminant validity, the
self
ratings in the mathematics and athletics sentence completion grids were
nearly
orthogonal (r = .12, p < .340). The mathematics self
ratings
were also nearly orthogonal to the physical ability subscale of the
SDQ-III (r
= .20, p < .103), and the athletics self ratings were nearly
orthogonal to the mathematics subscale scores (r = .11, p
<
.386). It can also be seen in the first and second rows of Table 4 that
the
mathematics and athletics self ratings from the sentence completion
grids were
not significantly correlated with most of the remaining eleven SDQ-III
subscales. The few statistically significant exceptions still revealed
small
effect sizes and were not replicated from Study 1.
DISCUSSION
Summary of
Results
The novel sentence completion grids were
found to yield reliable and valid data in both studies reported above.
In the
first study, the patterns of relationships among all of the elements
(i.e., the
people who fit specific role titles) in the mathematics and athletics
grids
were stable over seven day’s time. The average ratings for the self,
considered
in polar relation to the ideal self, were similarly consistent over
time in
both the mathematics and athletics grids; and the ratings for the self
were
internally consistent in both types of grids as well. The test-retest
and
internal consistency reliability estimates ranged from .81 and .92 and
would be
considered suitable for purposes of conducting basic research.
Moreover, the
estimates of reliability for the grid data compared favorably to those
computed
for scores on the Self Description Questionnaire - III (SDQ-III; Marsh,
1989)
in the current sample. The SDQ-III is a popular and well established
self-report measure of self-concept and served as an appropriate
benchmark for
the novel sentence completion grids.
The validity of the grid ratings for the
self, considered in polar relation to the ideal self, was also
supported in the
first study. The average self ratings in the mathematics sentence
completion
grids were found to correlate positively and highly with the
mathematics
subscale of the SDQ-III, and the average self ratings in the athletics
grids
were found to correlate positively with the physical ability subscale
of the
SDQ-III. Correlations between grid ratings in both domains and the
remaining
SDQ-III subscales were small by comparison, and almost all were not
significantly
different from zero. The average self ratings in both the mathematics
and athletics
sentence completion grids hence revealed excellent convergent and
discriminant validity
based on comparisons with a standard, nomothetic measure of
self-concept.
In the first study, each participant
completed either a mathematics or athletics sentence completion grid.
In the
second study, each participant completed both types of grids. Although
the
grids were smaller, having fewer elements and constructs, the ratings
were
still found to be reliable and valid. The estimates of internal
consistency for
the mathematics and athletics self ratings, considered in polar
relation to the
ideal self, were found to be high and comparable to estimates computed
for the
SDQ-III subscales. With respect to validity, the overall patterns among
the
elements in the grids were generally dissimilar across the two types of
sentence
completion grids. Recall that, while not necessarily identical, several
of the
people in the grids fit equivalent role titles (e.g., successful and
unsuccessful
persons) and the self, ideal self, and typical student were constant
across
both types of grids. Despite these equivalences, the elements rated as
similar
in the mathematics grids were not necessarily rated as similar in the
athletics
grids, and elements considered as dissimilar in one grid were not
necessarily
considered as dissimilar in the other grid. It is as if a different
picture of
the elements emerged depending on the domain under consideration.
Average
ratings for the specific self element in the mathematics and athletics
sentence
completion grids were also found to be nearly orthogonal, as expected
on the
basis of multidimensional self-concept models. Indeed, the self ratings
from
the mathematics and athletics grids correlated highly with their
corresponding
subscale scores of the multidimensional SDQ-III, and were nearly
orthogonal to
non-corresponding subscale scores.
These initial results for the sentence
completion repertory grid are very promising. They are surprising as
well, not
only because of the newness of the procedure, but also because of its
idiographic nature. Each participant essentially created his or her own
unique
series of rating scales comprised of the responses to the sentence
completion
task. Furthermore, in the first study, each participant was not
required to
enter the same responses (constructs) for the first and second testing
sessions. A particular individual could therefore create an entirely
different
set of rating scales for the two test occasions. Despite these sources
of
variability, however, the overall element ratings and the ratings for
the self
in both the mathematics and athletics grids demonstrated test-retest
reliabilities comparable to those for data from a well established
nomothetic
scale.
Implications for
Idiographic Research
Some authors hold that idiographic
approaches produce more meaningful responses because they allow
participants to
consider ideas, traits, characteristics, etc. they consider to be
personally
important and most relevant to the task or situation at hand (see
Pelham, 1993;
Pelham & Swann, 1989). A number of early studies within the realm
of
personal construct theory indeed showed that participants found rating
scales
formed from their own constructs to be more meaningful than rating
scales
formed from bipolar adjectives provided by the examiner (see review by
Adams-Weber, 1979). The personal meaningfulness or importance of the
constructs
elicited and used by the participants in the two current studies could
not be
assessed directly, but examination of the constructs themselves
revealed some
interesting examples of the unique information that emerged from the
sentence
completion task. For instance, one student from Study 2 elicited the
following
constructs in the mathematics domain: irritated
vs. overjoyed, intelligent vs. stupid, inadequate
vs. gifted, does
not understand it vs. knows the material, methodological
thinkers vs. daydreamers, regimented in their thinking
vs. creative
thinkers, a talent vs. a learned
skill, and important vs.
inconsequential. Compare these constructs with those from another
participant shown in Figure 1, and a sense of the individual
variability
involved in the sentence completion grid emerges. Whether or not the
unique
aspects of each person’s personal constructs and grids offer
information
above-and-beyond a traditional nomothetic measure such as the SDQ-III,
however,
is a question that remains unanswered at this point. The correlations
between
the self ratings in the grids and the corresponding SDQ-III subscales
were
positive, relatively high, and statistically significant, but the
proportion of
overlap between the measures never exceeded 70%. It would hence be
worthwhile
to compare the predictive power of the sentence completion grid to a
nomothetic
questionnaire regarding some relevant dependent variable, such as body
image or
class performance.
In addition to its idiographic nature,
the
sentence completion grid possesses a number of attractive features. For
instance, virtually any domain of experience that can be assessed via
simple
self-report methods can also be assessed with the sentence completion
grid.
Sentences could easily be written for the remaining eleven dimensions
of Marsh’s
hierarchical model of self-concept and the six factors of Bracken’s
multi-faceted model. Given the flexibility of the sentence completion
task, a
large number of sentences could easily be written for any of these
domains.
Moreover, the sentences could be written to be more narrowly focused
than in
the current studies. For example, self-concept in the domain of
statistics
could be assessed and correlated with performance in an undergraduate
statistics
class which most students experience as very different from a typical
course in
mathematics. Marsh and Redmayne (1994) argued that physical
self-concept has a
multidimensional, hierarchical nature, which suggests that the focus of
at
least some of the SDQ-III subscales may be refined further. In other
words, the
SDQ-III or other measures of self-concept may not be narrow or specific
enough
to provide adequate predictive power for some domains of experience.
The sentence
completion grid may not suffer from this limitation. On the other end
of the
spectrum, sentences with a wide focus could be constructed; for
example, “Overall,
I am the type of person who is ____________”, or “Generally speaking, I
really
wish I was more ____________.” These sentences would yield grid ratings
relevant to one’s general self-concept, and a large number of such
sentences
could easily be constructed.
If sentence completion grids can be
constructed at different levels of abstraction, then a hierarchical
model of
self-concept could be tested. For instance, mathematics, athletics, and
general
sentence completion grids could be administered to the same
individuals. The
ratings for the self in the grids could then be compared as described
above.
Based on Marsh’s (1989, 1990) model, one would expect small
correlations
between the self ratings in the specific and general grids. Indeed, the
SDQ-III
general self-concept subscale scores in the two studies reported above
were
nearly orthogonal to the average self ratings in the mathematics and
athletics
grids. It also seems conceivable to test models of self-discrepancy
using the
current methods. Self-discrepancies are those discrepancies between a
person’s ‘actual
self’ and some alternative or idealized self such as the ‘feared-self’,
‘future-self’,
‘ideal-self’, or ‘ought-self’. Higgin’s (1987; Higgins, Klein, &
Strauman,
1985) self-discrepancy theory posits that different self-discrepancies
are
predictive of different emotional states. For instance, discrepancies
between
the actual and ideal selves are predictive of depression, whereas
discrepancies
between the actual and ought selves are predictive of anxiety. In most
studies
of self-discrepancy, the various selves are measured generally. By
using the
sentence completion grid and including different selves in the
constructed
sentences and rating procedures, self-discrepancies could be measured
in
particular domains. Discrepancies between all pairs of elements
(people) in the
grid could also be examined, as is commonly done in studies of semantic
space
(e.g., Hart, et al., 1993). As was shown in the second study above, the
snapshot
of the semantic space obtained from the grid ratings changed
considerably
depending on the domain the individuals were considering, mathematics
or athletics.
It seems plausible that such differences across domains are the rule
rather
than the exception. Placing a person in context when assessing his or
her semantic
space would therefore be an important consideration in study design.
Caveats and Future Research
Certainly, additional studies of the
sentence completion grid’s psychometric properties must accompany or
precede
these potential avenues of research. Only two domains of experience
were
examined in the two studies reported herein, and only one set of
sentences was
constructed and examined. Additional sentences relevant to the domains
of
mathematics and athletics should be constructed and assessed in an
attempt to
replicate the current findings. The relationships among elements (i.e.,
the
people) across two grids in the same domain but based on different sets
of
sentences should also be examined. Based on the proposition that the
sentences
are essentially sampled from a homogeneous domain, one would expect
that the
results above would replicate with new sentences and that constructing
two sets
of sentences for, say mathematics, would yield equivalent patterns of
relationships
among the elements. The issue of grid size (i.e., the number of
elements and
number of constructs) also deserves further attention. Would the
results above
hold for grids with twice the number of constructs or elements? Recall
that the
self ratings in the grids from the second study above were more
internally
consistent than the larger grids in the first study. Would this
counterintuitive
effect replicate in an independent study, and would the trend continue
such
that as the grids include more constructs or elements, the internal
consistency
of the ratings decreases? Most of the element role titles were
identical (e.g.,
‘self’, ‘friend’) in the mathematics and athletics grids, but some were
only
nearly equivalent (e.g., ‘unsuccessful person
in math’ and ‘unsuccessful person in athletics’). Could these
differences alone
account for the changes in element patterns between the two grids? A
study that
includes identical elements rated in both domains would help to address
this
question. Issues of scaling must also be explored. Most notably, in the
current
studies the midpoint of the seven-point rating scale was labeled as
‘uncertain
or does not apply’, which apparently includes two distinct
alternatives. This
approach for dealing with the midpoint may not be optimal, and other
strategies
(e.g., providing a separate ‘does not apply’ option) could be employed
and
compared. The results from such psychometric studies would be
informative not
only for the sentence completion methodology described herein, but also
for
research that incorporates any type of repertory grid technique.
Finally, from the perspective of
Personal
Construct Theory, a number of important questions must be addressed.
For
example, what types of constructs are being elicited from the sentence
completion task? Core constructs are those an individual uses to
maintain his
or her identity. Eliciting such constructs would seem to be necessary
for
obtaining a valid assessment of an individual’s sense of self. Role
constructs
are those bipolar dimensions of discrimination formed from an attempt
to
understand a particular person’s outlook or the views of a large group.
If the
topic domain of the sentence completion task is a role relationship
(e.g., a marriage),
are role constructs, or perhaps even core role constructs, elicited?
Obviously,
the sentence completion grid is new, and a great deal of basic research
is yet
to be done to explore its limitations and its potential. Nonetheless,
the
initial results from the two studies above are promising, and we are
therefore
hopeful that the current paper will stimulate additional research on
the
sentence completion grid and lead to additional developments for
assessing
individual’s personal constructs in different domains of experience.
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ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
James
W. Grice, Ph.D., is an assistant
professor of psychology in the department of psychology at Oklahoma State University
where he teaches courses on statistical methodology. His is most
interested in
multivariate statistics and their application to problems in mainstream
personality psychology. He has been a student of Personal Construct
Theory
since the 1980s and has authored scientific papers and computer
programs
relevant to repertory grid methodology. E-mail: jgrice@okstate.edu
Edward and
Melissa Burkley
are currently
enrolled in the social psychology doctoral program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Sara
Wright is completing her postdoctoral
studies in neuropsychology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinics,
Center for Disabilities and Development.
Jennifer
Slaby is a psychologist in Nevada,
Missouri, who
earned her Master’s degree in general psychology from Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville.
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REFERENCE
Grice, J. W., Burkley
III, E., Burkley, M., Wright, S., Slaby, J.
(2004). A sentence completion task for
eliciting personal constructs in specific domains. Personal
Construct Theory & Practice,
1, 60-75.
(Retrieved from http://www.pcp-net.org/journal/pctp04/grice04.html)
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Received: 15 Feb 2004 - Accepted: 14 May 2004 -
Published: 31 May 2004 |
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