Symptomatology and the Use of Affect Constructs to Influence Value and Behavior Constructs.
This study examined participants' tendency to use affective constructs to influence nonaffective constructs (behavioral and valuative), as well as their ability to generate affective constructs. Using a modified repertory grid procedure, 131 participants compared each combination of affective, valuative, and behavioral constructs so as to make decisions about the relative influence of these constructs. Low-symptom participants did not differ from high-symptom participants in the frequency of affective constructs generated. However, when participants were asked to make decisions about personal change, low-symptom participants' affective constructs influenced their nonaffective constructs more frequently than did those of high-symptom participants. It is suggested that high-symptom participants do not necessarily have difficulty in identifying affective experiences but have difficulty in using affect to alter their constructions.