Purposive preferences for multi-attributed alternatives: A study of choice behaviour using personal construct theory in conjunction with decision theory

The thesis is based on the notion that a person's behaviour is largelya result of the interplay between his beliefs and values. A model isdescribed which ccmbines Personal Construct Theo~J (as a means ofdescribing beliefs) and Multi-Attributed Utility Theory (as a meansof describing values) in order to predict purposive choice behaviour.The model is applied to choice of records, books, clothes and rolebehaviours and is found to predict choices with a high degree ofaccuracy. Prediction using personal constructs is shown to be superiorto that using supplied dimensions. Furthermore, construct weightselicited by a lottery tech~que are shown generally to be purposespecificand to give better predictions of behaviour than UIUt weights.The model is then used to investigate the sentencing of offenders bymagistrates and is again found to predict behaviour with a high degreeof accuracy. The data also indicate the problems inherent in usingverbal measures of construct similarity since the same words may beused differently and different words may be used similarly.Claims for the model's broad applicability are illustrated by usingthe model to reformulate the concepts of 'attention' and 'role' anda means of operationally defining role conflict is suggested.