1. a complex idea or concept formed from a synthesis of simpler ideas. See higher order construct.

2. an explanatory model based on empirically verifiable and measurable events or processes—an empirical construct—or on processes inferred from data of this kind but not themselves directly observable—a hypothetical construct. Many of the models used in psychology are hypothetical constructs.

3. in the study of social cognition, an element of knowledge (a cognitive construct).