Dear Gary,
The term 'construct' has a diverse history, but as Kelly formulated it,
construct refers to an individual's distinctions that she or he imposes on
experience. For example, I may construe two people as being similar: my dad
and uncle (dad's oldest brother) are 'workaholics and over-achievers', which
I would term as proactive people; whereas, their youngest brother appears to
me to be 'passive' and allows things to happen to him. Consequently, one
construct I hold is 'proactive-passive'. That is one construct I use to
impose some kind of organization on my life's experience so as to anticipate
experience and choose options for action. Obviously there are many
constructs that have different relationships. Beverly's message is
excellent input on superordinate and core constructs as well as Devi's. I
hope this helps.
Vic Jones
Charles Smith wrote:
>
> Devi Jankowicz refers to a contribution I made a few weeks ago, and points
> out, quite rightly, that:
> >
> >To ask "why is being a manager important _to you_" is to ask about core
> >constructs and personal values.
> >
> >To ask "why is being a manager important" is a different question, which
> >may or may not relate to core constructs; it's certainly a more abstract
> >and less personally relevant question.
> >
> However, in the context of the conversation I was reporting, it was quite
> clear that the question I asked was of the first type, concerning personal
> values, and it was certainly understood that way by my respondent. I am
> inclined to believe, as Esteban Laso recently suggests, that his
difficulty
> in replying arose from a fear that a construct that was affecting a
> significant part of his life was, in fact, really not important. I find it
> difficult to accept that 'being a manager' could be described as a value
> held by my respondent - I certainly didn't 'feel daft' for questioning it
-
> so it doesn't seem to fit as a core construct.
>
> This takes me back to my original question. Can we have a construct which
> cannot reasonably be considered core, which nevertheless has no evident
> super-ordinate?
>
> Regards
>
> Charles Smith
>Dear Charles and other followers of this thread-
>Being a student of Constructivism, but not PCP, I have been attempting
>to follow the conversation about constructs and their varieties, and in
>that way learn more about this aspect of PCP methodology.
>However, much of the conversation has assumed the meaning of the key
>term involved: construct. I would appreciate it if you, and others,
>would tell me what it is that constitutes a 'construct,' as you
>understand it?
>And, secondly, would you also tell me what constitutes the varieties of
>constructs referred to by various writers in this thread as:
> - 'superordinate,'
> - 'core,'
> - 'dependency,'
> - etc.?
>Thanks very much. I look forward to hearing from anyone willing to write.
--
>Sincerely yours,
>Gary F. Blanchard
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