Pertinence as reflected in personal constructs

Two characteristics commonly are attributed to pertinence: its personal nature and its polarity. Personal means that, because of his or her private understanding of a particular information problem, the individual need holder is the only one who may value an information source for an information problem. Polarity suggests that pertinence has two foci: one that centers on aspects of the subject matter and its universe (topicality) and one that encompasses the user and his or her insertion into and use of that universe (informativeness). This study applies Kelly's Personal Construct Theory to the concept of pertinence. Kelly's theory postulates that people seek to predict and control the course of their lives by constructing personal mental models of the world, reflected as abstracted structures which channelize behavior and activities. Personal constructs concerning pertinence were elicited from five subjects based on self‐selected information sources used in an information problem. These constructs were then arranged in two ways by three other subjects: by perceived similarity and by foci. Constructs are examined for sibling similarity, consistency of application, and their relationship to relevance judgments. The arrangements of constructs were examined for congruity by examining participation of different construct builders in the same arrangement and overlap of members between sets in different arrangements. Findings show that individuals' personal constructs exhibit both similarity and dissimilarity; that individuals apply their construct system consistently; relevance may be equivalent for two documents, but the ratings of those documents on a person's constructs tend to differ; personal systems are built from similar constructs, but the structuring of constructs differs between individuals; and topicality and informativeness do emerge as observable foci of the concept of relevance. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.