The Couple's Grid: A Tool for Assessing Interpersonal Construction in Couples

Abstract

In the study of human relationships, interest in interpersonal construction is increasing because of its implications for the quality of the couple's relationship. The processes involved in construing self and others may play a key role. However, a precise methodology to study those processes has not yet been developed. The aim of this article is to present a dyadic assessment tool, the couple's grid (CG), which is inspired from constructivist and systemic perspectives. Derived from Procter's (1985) family grid, the CG is similarly based on the repertory grid technique. The CG assesses perception of self and partner, and their ideals, and also the metaperception of the partner's view (e.g., "What does your partner think about you?"). These two levels of analysis provide measures of perceived similarity, commonality, and sociality. This article describes the development of CG as an assessment tool with a case illustration.In the study of human relationships, interest in interpersonal construing processes has increased due to their centrality in the origin and maintenance of psychological disorders. Therapeutic interventions with couples and families, rather than individuals, are receiving more attention and are considered to improve the prognosis of both personal and relational difficulties. Clinical research in this area focuses on aspects of communication and the way individuals perceive others in order to have a better understanding of the cognitive processes of adjusted couples

Dyadic effects of interpersonal perception on the quality of couple relationships: Idealization and accuracy matter

“…CG (Salla et al, 2015) is an instrument derived from the repertory grid (Kelly, 1991). The repertory grid technique involves a semistructured interview that begins with naming elements : present self, ideal self (“the way I would like to be”) and significant others identified by the participant.…”

“…The CG focuses on shared meanings and on how each member of the couple construes the other's behaviors and attitudes. It is thus a conjoint instrument personalized for both partners using a subset of 20 personal constructs from their respective individual repertory grids (for the criteria used to select the subset of each partner, see Salla et al, 2015) and eight given elements (perception of self and partner, ideal self, ideal partner, and metaperception of these elements from partner's view (e.g., “What does your partner think about you?”). Each partner (separately) using a 7‐point Likert‐type scale rates elements on the basis of each construct, as in the repertory grid technique.…”

“…The present study uses the Couple's Grid (CG; Salla et al, 2015), an instrument inspired by both the systemic model and personal construct theory (Feixas, 1990; Kelly, 1991). Rather than preestablished items reflecting a set of theoretical constructs, the main purpose of the CG is to identify how each partner construes him or herself in terms of their personal constructs (schemas used to perceive and understand the world by each individual), as well as how both partners perceive themselves, taking into account their shared meanings.…”

Self-concept 6 months after traumatic brain injury and its relationship with emotional functioning

“…We calculated the standardized Euclidean distances (ED) as proposed in Salla et al (2015) . This analysis allows determining the distance between two elements (e.g., present-self and ideal self) expressed as a decimal number between zero and one, where one represents the maximum distance.…”