Letters of Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Application of the Golden Section Hypothesis. Issue 2 (3rd April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Christopher J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of constructivist psychology. Volume 30:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 193
• Page End: 199
• Publication Date: 2017-04-03
• Subjects: Personal construct theory -- Periodicals; Constructivism (Psychology) -- Periodicals; 150.1985
• DOI: 10.1080/10720537.2015.1101032
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1072-0537

Abstract

Abstract : The golden section has been shown to be a robust feature of the connotative structure of repertory grids. This article extends the research with repertory grids by providing an analysis of the connotative structure of a historical collection of 124 letters written to Galileo by his eldest daughter, Suor Maria Celeste. I found that the mean level of positive connotation in the letters is quite close to the golden section. This result suggests that the golden section is an underlying connotative feature of the letters Maria Celeste wrote to Galileo, and it provides further support for the golden section hypothesis that the construing person strikes a balance between negative and positive experiences in which negative experiences are focal relative to a background of positive experiences.