Question:
Clare, did you place the problem of physical health as a state and
how did you seek to separate this . . . .?
Dr.
Graves:
This will clarify itself in a few moments, I think, when I get into
how I went about collecting the data.
1.
If it should turn out in the long run, after collecting data, that
psychological health is a state or condition, then what is the state or
condition that is psychological health?
2.
And if it turns out that it is a process, what is the character of
the process? Now, these were the kinds of questions that I was kicking
around when I started into this.
3.
Then, if psychological health is revealed to be a state or
condition, can our state of confusion and controversy become, in theory,
comprehensible and resolvable by clarifying - what is that state which is
psychological health?
4.
Or, if psychological health is revealed to be a process can we, in
theory, develop a comprehension of the process that will clarify the
troubling confusion and contradiction and, in theory, propose means for
the resolution of the conflict and contradiction in psychological
information and theory and the world of human affairs?
VI.
Phase I of the study:
Now, these general questions were then formulated into more
specific research questions where in phase one of the study - I asked
myself:
(1) How do biologically mature human beings conceive of what is the
healthy personality? . . . and secondly I asked myself .
(2) Do biologically mature humans have one major identifiable
conception of what is the psychologically healthy adult?
(3) Do biologically mature humans have more than one conception of
what is the healthy personality?
(4) If adults have several conceptions of healthy personality are
the conceptions classifiable into groups of similar conceptions?
(5) If the various conceptions are classifiable, how can they be
classified?
- Can they be classified content wise? If so, how?
- Can they be classified structurally? If so, how?
- Can they be classified functionally? If so, how?
- for example, do people who possess the same or similar
conceptions operate the same or differently in similar or dissimilar situations?
(6) Will there be evidence that some one conception of health
personality stands out as superior to other conceptions of healthy personality?
So,
in summary, and more specifically stated, the basic question asked was:
What will be the nature and character of conceptions of
psychological health
of biologically mature human beings who are intelligent but
relatively
unsophisticated in psychological knowledge in general, and
theory of personality, in particular?