Abstract

Starting from the epistemology of complexity and subjectivity, a new instrument has been devised to investigate the subjective ways in which experiences are self referred at the level of immediate experience. The construction and validation process of the Post-Rationalist Projective Reactive (PRPR) are described, the first cognitive post-rationalist projective tool. It investigates Personal Meaning Organizations (PMOs) according to the adaptive and evolutionary post-rationalist approach.

Using 20 stimulus tables, it allows respondents to go deeper into the specific narrative plots of their personality and to understand their inner film, to focus on their subjective feelings. PRPR was administered to a cohort of 294 subjects. A Reliability Analysis and a Cluster Analysis were carried out.

Cluster analysis identified four clusters that overlapped with the theoretical PMOs description. PRPR pictures showed good internal consistency as Reliability Analysis. Significant convergent validity correlations were found with the results of the Mini Questionnaire of Personal Organization (MQPO; r = .71, p < .001) and of clinical interviews (r = .76, p < .001).

The PRPR proved to be both a valuable support for the PMO construct and an effective assessment tool capable of delving into the processes of subjective meaning construction to understand the cognitive organizational closure, reducing the distance between immediate experience and its explanations.

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