The phenomenological perspective: lecture 1 Flashcards
“Kellian” exercise: same/different
reflects the constructs that you use to construe events in your life
core tenant of the phenomenological approach
the persons subjective experience, their phenomenology, is the most important source of data for personality theorists
Kellys “fundamental postulate”
- behavior, thought, and feeling are determined by constructs used to anticipate or predict events
- personality is reflected in individual differences in the content and organizational structure of construct systems
constructs
traits or concepts applied to others in a simplistic, either or fashion
most important features of constructs
- vary in predictive efficiency
- hierarchically organized
- based upon our construal of life experiences
- people choose
When construct no longer predicts well….
anxiety is experienced
when an entire construct system no longer predicts well….
threat is experienced
How to combat anxiety and threat
- generate a new construct
- modify an existing construct
Plaks and Stecher:
study: measure implicit theories of intelligence
-measure anxiety after told what “percentile” they were in
Results:
* fixed-entity theorists felt more anxious after performance improvement than after no change
* incremental theorists felt more anxious when their performances did not change than after they declined
* both entities and incremental tried to gain subjective sense of control when their theories failed.
Aristotelian/ collaborative theory
leaders gain power through virtuous acts of temperance, courage, humility and magnanimity. Once in power, they advance the interest and welfare of the collective
Machiavellian/ coercive
power gained through force, fraud, manipulation, and strategic violence
ruthlessness= smart
Ten Brink and Keltner:
hypothesized that SES plays into what theory of power they believe in
Results:
*low SES = coercive lay theory of power
* high SES = collaborative lay theories
* different construal’s of life experiences lead to different construct like theories of how the world works in a manner consistent with Kellian theory
