Chapter Outline

SUMMARY OUTLINE

I. Overview of Kelly's Personal Construct Theory
Kelly's theory of personal constructs can be seen as a metatheory, or a theory about theories. It holds that people anticipate events by the meanings or interpretations that they place on those events. Kelly called these interpretations personal constructs. His philosophical position, called constructive alternativism, assumes that alternative interpretations are always available to people.

II. Biography of George Kelly
George Kelly was born on a farm in Kansas in 1905. During his school years and his early professional career, he dabbled in a wide variety of jobs, but he eventually received a Ph.D. in psychology from the State University of Iowa. He began his academic career at Fort Hays State College in Kansas, then after World War II, he took a position at Ohio State. He remained there until 1965 when he joined the faculty at Brandeis. He died two years later at age 61.

III. Kelly's Philosophical Position
Kelly believed that people construe events according to their personal constructs rather than reality.
A. Person as Scientist
People generally attempt to solve everyday problems in much the same fashion as scientists; that is, they observe, ask questions, formulate hypotheses, infer conclusions, and predict future events.
B. Scientist as Person
Because scientists are people, their pronouncements should be regarded with the same skepticism as any other data. Every scientific theory can be viewed from an alternate angle, and every competent scientist should be open to changing his or her theory.
C. Constructive Alternativism
Kelly believed that all our interpretations of the world are subject to revision or replacement, an assumption he called constructive alternativism. He further stressed that, because people can construe their world from different angles, observations that are valid at one time may be false at a later time.

IV. Personal Constructs
Kelly believed that people look at their world through templates that they create and then attempt to fit over the realities of the world. He called these templates or transparent patterns personal constructs, which he believed shape behavior.
A. Basic Postulate
Kelly expressed his theory in one basic postulate and 11 supporting corollaries. The basic postulate assumes that human behavior is shaped by the way people anticipate the future.
B. Supporting Corollaries
The 11 supporting corollaries can all be inferred from this basic postulate:
(1) Although no two events are exactly alike, we construe similar events as if they were the same, and this is Kelly's construction corollary. (2) The individuality corollary states that because people have different experiences, they can construe the same event in different ways. (3) The organization corollary assumes that people organize their personal constructs in a hierarchical system, with some constructs in a superordinate position and others subordinate to them. (4) The dichotomy corollary assumes that people construe events in an either/or manner, e.g., good or bad. (5) Kelly's choice corollary assumes that people tend to choose the alternative in a dichotomized construct that they see as extending the range of their future choices. (6) The range corollary states that constructs are limited to a particular range of convenience; that is, they are not relevant to all situations. (7) Kelly's experience corollary suggests that people continually revise their personal constructs as the result of their experiences. (8) The modulation corollary assumes that only permeable constructs lead to change; concrete constructs resist modification through experience. (9) The fragmentation corollary states that people's behavior can be inconsistent because their construct systems can readily admit incompatible elements. (10) The commonality corollary suggests that our personal constructs tend to be similar to the construction systems of other people to the extent that we share experiences with them. (11) The sociality corollary states that people are able to communicate with other people because they can construe those people's constructions. With the sociality corollary, Kelly introduced the concept of role, which refers to a pattern of behavior that stems from people's understanding of the constructs of others. Each of us has a core role and numerous peripheral roles. A core role gives us a sense of identity whereas peripheral roles are less central to our self-concept.

V. Applications of Personal Construct Theory
Kelly's many years of clinical experience enabled him to evolve concepts of abnormal development and psychotherapy, and to develop a Role Construct Repertory (Rep) Test.
A. Abnormal Development
Kelly saw normal people as analogous to competent scientists who test reasonable hypotheses, objectively view the results, and willingly change their theories when the data warrant it. Similarly, unhealthy people are like incompetent scientists who test unreasonable hypotheses, reject or distort legitimate results, and refuse to amend outdated theories. Kelly identified four common elements in most human disturbances: (1) threat, or the perception that one's basic constructs may be drastically changed; (2) fear, which requires an incidental rather than a comprehensive restructuring of one's construct system; (3) anxiety, or the recognition that one cannot adequately deal with a new situation; and (4) guilt, defined as "the sense of having lost one's core role structure."
B. Psychotherapy
Kelly insisted that clients should set their own goals for therapy and that they should be active participants in the therapeutic process. He sometimes used a procedure called fixed-role therapy in which clients act out a predetermined role for several weeks. By playing the part of a psychologically healthy person, clients may discover previously hidden aspects of themselves.
C. The Rep Test
The purpose of the Rep test is to discover ways in which clients construe significant people in their lives. Clients place names of people they know on
a repertory grid in order to identify both similarities and differences among
these people.

VI. Related Research
Kelly's personal construct theory and his Rep test have generated a substantial amount of empirical research in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
A. The Rep Test and Children
Use of the Rep test with children reveals that the self-constructs of depressed adolescents are marked by low self-esteem, pessimism, and an external locus of control. Other research with children and the Rep test shows that preadolescents construe themselves and others in ways consistent with the Big Five personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and intelligence), thus demonstrating that the Big Five factors can come from instruments other than standard personality tests.
B. The Rep Test and the Real Self Versus the Ideal Self
Other research has found that the Rep test was useful in (1) predicting adherence to a physical activity program, (2) detecting differences between the real self and the ideal self, and (3) measuring neuroticism.
C. The Rep Test and the Pain Patient
A number of studies, including the Large and Strong (1997) study, have found that the Rep test can be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring pain.

VII. Critique of Kelly
Kelly's theory probably is most applicable to relatively normal, intelligent people. Unfortunately, it pays scant attention to problems of motivation, development, and cultural influences. On the six criteria of a useful theory, it rates very high on parsimony and internal consistency and about average on its ability to generate research. However, it rates low on its ability to be falsified, to guide the practitioner, and to organize knowledge.

VIII. Concept of Humanity
Kelly saw people as anticipating the future and living their lives in accordance with those anticipations. His concept of elaborative choice suggests that people increase their range of future choices by the present choices they freely make. Thus, Kelly's theory rates very high in teleology and high in choice and optimism. In addition, it receives high ratings for conscious influences and for its emphasis on the uniqueness of the individual. Finally, personal construct theory is about average on social influences.