Construct (psychology), also hypothetical construct or psychological construct, is a tool used to facilitate understanding of
human behavior
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Kagan, Jerome, Marc H. Bornstein, and Richard M. ...
. A psychological construct is a label for a domain of behaviors. Behavioral sciences use constructs such as conscientiousness, intelligence, political power, self-esteem, and group culture. For example, if a student sees another sitting in a classroom before an examination biting her nails and fidgeting, the interpretation might be that she is experiencing anxiety.
In that case,
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
is a construct that underlies the behavior that is observed. Cognitive psychologists view constructs as
hypothesized causes for certain behaviors, whereas behavioral psychologists view constructs as only descriptors of behaviors. A construct derives its name from the fact that it is a mental construction, derived from scientific process: observing natural phenomena, inferring the common features of those observations, and constructing a label for the commonality or the underlying cause. A construct derives its scientific value from the shared meaning it represents for different people. If a construct is clearly articulated and the phenomena it encompasses are clearly defined, it becomes a useful
conceptual tool that facilitates communication. Once defined, constructs become objects of conceptual scrutiny in their own right. Constructs summarize behavioral domains. Constructs are the building blocks of
scientific theories
A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world and universe that has been repeatedly tested and corroborated in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluatio ...
.
See also
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Construct validity Construct validity concerns how well a set of indicators represent or reflect a concept that is not directly measurable. ''Construct validation'' is the accumulation of evidence to support the interpretation of what a measure reflects.Polit DF Beck ...
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Mental image
A mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of 'perceiving' some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. There are ...
References
Psychological concepts
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