Deconstructing personal constructs
From what I understand, personal
constructs are the characteristics that we habitually notice in others. They
are the specific descriptors we use to answer the question “What is he or
she like?” For example, I look at a teenager and consider him uncouth, arrogant
and thoughtless. All of these are constructs that I have created or learned in
order to explain the behavior of teenagers I have met.
1). Do you have a relatively
stable set of constructs about people, or do your constructs vary widely
depending on whom you are judging?
2). Does stereotyping enter your
judgment process; for example, do you use different kinds of constructs to
describe men than to describe women?
3). Are the constructs you use
fair?
4). Are they complete?
5). Do they allow you to make
adequate assessments of others?
