Generality of Complexity of Differentiation and Effects of Construct Type, Figure Attractiveness, and Familiarity

Abstract

Repertory grid techniques are used in a multivariate study of degree of differentiation of social judgments, and the effects of type of figure judged (liked versus disliked persons, and well known versus slightly known persons) and the type of construct used in making judgments (appearance versus personality). Subjects were 60 female and 28 male college students who were taking a second year course in psychology. A high level of generality of relative differentiation was found in person perception. Scores showing higher differentiation were obtained for constructs regarding appearance than for constructs about personality and for disliked figures than for liked figures. There was a predicted interaction in which the effects of figures' attractiveness were greater for personality than for constructs of appearance. The findings are interpreted as indicating that caution should be exercised in interpreting repertory grid measures of complexity of differentiation, since scores are influenced by many factors, some of which may be viewed as methodological artifacts.