Emotional experience and the implication grid

The research reported here consisted of a series of experiments aimed at developing a technique which could be used in the study of personal emotional experience. Hinkle's development (1965) of Kelly's construct theory (1955) was chosen as the starting point. Hinkle's original technique was applied using emotional rather than interpersonal constructs. This failed to demonstrate the internal consistency of the implication grid methodology shown in Hinkle's work. Modifications were made to the implication grid so as to simplify the subject's verbal task. Further experimentation demonstrated the validity and reliability of the modified grid. The structural consistency of different areas of individuals' emotional construct systems was investigated, and variations in the level of integration were demonstrated between these different areas.