“It is like the king and his kingdom”: mapping constellations via the model of the agonistic self methodology (MAS-M)

ABSTRACT

Building on the Dialogical Self Theory (DST) and the Model of Agonistic Self (MAS), this paper introduces the Model of Agonistic Self Methodology (MAS-M). This approach employs constellations as the interpretative framework for the qualitative analysis of data on the self-in-context. Constellations are defined as wider patterns of interactions between voices which follow specific and repetitive scenarios. In order to develop MAS-M, reflexive thematic analysis was performed on individual reports written after interviewing nine elementary school teachers. The data was gathered during two-stage interview process employing the Agonistic Self Interview (ASI), which was introduced into the standard MAS-M procedure. We identified six constellations, whose structure and dynamics were formally described: The King and His Kingdom constellation, Crisis Intervention, Defense of Purpose, Value Conflict, Temporary Inclusion of Sidelined Perspectives, and Reflection. We will discuss the psychological function of each constellation, and their future application as a practical, diagnostic, and research framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Agonistic self interview
• dialogical self theory
• power relations
• qualitative methodology
• teacher’s professional self

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2023.2201199.

Notes

¹ Voice resistance can vary in intensity: a) habitual, b) increased or c) decreased to the point of inaudibility (suppression) (Džinović, Grbić, & Vesić, 2023).

² Since the Institute to which the authors are afiliated already had an intensive long-term cooperation with the schools where our participants worked, we did not ask for written consent. The cooperation between institutions was formalized by contract between the Institute’s director and the principals of the involved schools.

³ The term ‘ideology of purpose’ refers to the values shared by the voices comprising King’s coalition and the dominant Ideologue. This is in line with our theoretical propositions that each voice is defined by its distinctive ideological stance, but relations between the voices rest on their compatibility, i.e. common parts of their ideology (Džinović, Grbić, & Vesić, 2023).

⁴ These transitory constellations can help us analyze and understand the process background of diverse psychological phenomena related to motivation, cognition, and personality.

⁵ Which can themself become a new, dysfunctional form of the King’s constellation.

⁶ The Antagonist is a form of Protestor that personifies an immense frustration, feelings of helplessness, personal worthlessness or futility of someone’s efforts (Džinović, Grbić, & Vesić, 2023).

⁷ This marks the change from the King’s constellation to the Value Conflict constellation.

⁸ Mina’s example in the previous chapter has shown how her Advocate, the Enlightener, temporarily completely suppressed her King, the Teacher, and took over the interaction with the exterior voices, i.e. the students.

⁹ Based on the data available, we can only conclude that the reinforced ideology is that of the Dominant Ideologue, but we assume that Reflection can also reinforce the ideology of the Advocate.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia (Contract. No. 451-03-47/2023-01/200018 and 451-03-47/2023-01/200163)

Notes on contributors

Sanja Grbić

Sanja Grbić is teaching assistant at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (2020-in progress), where she teaches courses on qualitative methodology and sociocultural psychology. In her PhD thesis she relies on sociocultural approach and utilizes narrative and interaction analysis to study co-construction of identity in adolescence, which is also the topic of her recently published paper. Her research interests are at the intersection of developmental psychology, personality psychology and psychotherapy. She is in training at the Institute for gestalt psychotherapy (EAPTI-SEB).

Vladimir Džinović

Vladimir Džinović is senior research associate at the Institute for Educational Research in Belgrade. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. He deals with the application of constructivist psychology, Foucault’s analysis of power and the dialogical self theory in the fields of education, personality psychology and psychotherapy. Also, the area of his expertise is qualitative research in psychology, and especially the methodology of multiple self and techniques in the psychology of personal constructs. He recently published an article dedicated to the study of the identity of a successful student analyzed using a polyphonic agonist self model.

Dragan Vesić

Dragan Vesić is research assistant at the Institute for Educational Research, Belgrade (2016-2022) and a PhD student at Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, where he obtained his master’s degree. His work is focused on the application of Personal Construct Theory in the research of personality, wellbeing and psychotherapy under the qualitative paradigm. In his PhD thesis he uses Personal Construct Theory and methodology to study student absenteeism. His work at the Institute for Educational Research is also aimed at the development of the multiple self theory and methodology. He is a psychotherapist under supervision and a member of Serbian Constructivist Association.