Self-schematic change : the experience of unemployment and job-search training

Review of the literature concerning cognitive schemata revealed numerous approaches and definitions. It was proposed that personal construct theory offered an established framework for the study of schemata, and that repertory grid techniques derived from this theory may be effective in assessing self-schematic change. The Social Self-Esteem Inventory, the Assertion Inventory, repertory grid and implications grid were administered to 24 unemployed subjects before and after attending a job-finding club, an intervention expected to produce a change in self-perception. No change in self-esteem or assertion was found with inventory data. Repertory. grid data appeared to be sensitive to self-esteem change. Cognitive organisation change was assessed by repertory grid measures of intensity, cognitive complexity, and consistency, and by implications grid measures. Results were negatively affected by data collection difficulties and the lack of a control group, and tentative conclusions only could be. drawn. Findings were considered to support the application of personal construct theory and repertory grid techniques to the investigation of self-schematic change, but it was concluded that further research was necessary.