George Kelly Personal Construct Theory Preview of theory The theory is cognitive, in that it emphasizes the persons thoughts

and focuses on the persons personality rather than the situation. Kelly called his theory a jackass theory, meaning the theory concerns the nature of the animal rather than environmental forces that push (pitchfork theories) or pull (carrot theories). He focuses on the phenomenological world of the person. Kelly believed people are not pawns of their environment. They set their destiny in sync with how they perceive events. Biography Kelly was born in 1905 in Kansas to a Presbyterian minister. His first area of study was engineering, which can be seen in the conceptualization of his psychological theory. His undergraduate degree was in education, from Edinburgh, Scotland. He earned his doctorate from University of Iowa after studying psychology only 9 months. His theory seems very different from the mainstream as he was not immersed in psychological thought. He worked as a traveling school psychologist for the Kansas school system, using his clients to develop his theory. He described therapeutic work as man-the-scientist. He ultimately took over Carl Rogers position at Ohio State University in the clinical training program. His theory was published in 1955 in The Psychology of Personal Constructs. In the last year of his life, 1967, he moved to Brandeis U. to work with Abraham Maslow. Constructive Alternativism saw the person as a scientist of his life. Personal constructs are what the person uses to predict what will happen in his life. People try to develop concepts of life that will make their lives feel more predictable- especially human relationships. Accurate predictions allow for control. When predictions fail, it forces us to revise these person concepts. Man-the-scientist is Kellys metaphor for the person experimenting within his life. The person is active in service of anticipating events. No additional motivation is necessary. The person adapts in a futureoriented way, hypothesizing future events as well as possible. Constructive alternativism is the idea that all our present interpretations of the world are subject to revision. So our beliefs are not concrete truth, but the act of construing events is usually tentative.

This uncertainty can bring freedom, not anxiety. People are free to construct alternate interpretations of the universe. The theory describes 12 statements, a fundamental postulate and 11 corollaries. The Fundamental Postulate Fundamental postulate suggests that we prepare for the events that we anticipate. Our actions, thoughts, and emotions are determined by this anticipation, even if it is inaccurate. The example he gives is how differently would we act if we believed we were going to win the lottery the next day, or face the end of the world tomorrow? Validation occurs if events occur as they are anticipated. If not, there is invalidation. So we learn from experiences and validation (or not) and shift our constructions accordingly. This is basic scientific method. Except people become invested in seeing life in a certain way, so they may selectively ignore some facts or focus on others. Depending on where we look, we can make our prophecies selffulfilling. (half-full vs. half-empty glass argument) So upbeat people ignore the negatives, and depressed people focus on them. We scan our world for confirmation of our belief system and find evidence to agree with what we believe. Scientists are willing to accept evidence that invalidates their premise, but people often are not. Healthier people are more willing to accept evidence that flies in the face of their beliefs. The Process of Construing has to do with how we anticipate events. 1) The construction corollary says we anticipate confirmation of our constructs, our anticipations. Events do not always repeat themselves exactly, but we expect them to and adapt our behavior accordingly. Kelly uses the term events to mean people. a. Hitler was disturbed. b. Disturbed is the construct, Hitler is the event. Preverbal construct is a construct or anticipation that is used without having a verbal word symbol. They may be emotions, especially emotions developed in reaction to a particular person or experience of which the person is unaware. (Having been sexually abused as a child, and unconsciously reacting negatively to sexual contact as an adult.) Many physical symptoms are representative of preverbal constructs, as the body is often better at expressing constructs than language can.

So preverbal constructs could be described as unconscious emotional experiences- emotions occurring without conscious content. 2) The experience corollary is the simple idea that people change with experience. There is development, but not in any predictable, stage-like way. Change occurs as people reformulate their constructs in the face of validation. 3) The choice corollary is the idea that people choose a construct to apply to a new situation from a variety of alternatives. We seek to extend our predictions. Elaborative choice is a choice that allows a construct to be extended. We choose to find ways to use our beliefs in broader ways and environments. We will dare to do something different, to explore and experiment, and develop new constructs accordingly. Choice is threatening sometimes, however, so in the face of threat, we may pull back- sedimentation. This rigidity protects against the threat of change, which may feel overwhelming. As Anais Nin said, And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. So people often do not make changes until the current environment becomes painful in itself. But not making changes contributes to calcification of the personality, a rigidity that does not allow new information to pierce it. As Kelly said, people may anticipate events by trying to become more and more certain about fewer and fewer things,.. 4) The modulation corollary is the belief that the permeability of constructs sets limits to the possibilities of the construct. (This aspect of theory reminds me of Piagets schema being subject to change due to assimilation or accommodation.) Permeable constructs admit new elements that have not been considered before. A permeable construct can be extended to allow in new information. These are constructs that can be used to handle new experiences. Concrete constructs are the opposite of permeable constructs- they are not open to new information. Part of therapy includes finding ways to make some constructs more concrete, not applied to inappropriate targets, or opening up other constructs to make them more flexible and useful in a broader array of environments.

The structure of construct systems 1) The dichotomy corollary states that constructs are bipolar, either-or, good-bad, etc. Either pole can be applied to a person, or the dichotomy is seen as not applicable to a person at all. The likeness end is most often applied to people, as we seen how some people are seen to be alike. The contrast end shows how people are different. Often the contrast end is hidden to the person, submerged and unavailable to the person cognitively. Slot movement- Under stress people often switch from one pole to the opposite (raging alcoholic to holy abstainer). Stress makes current constructs inadequate, so change may erupt. Both poles of a persons dichotomy must be understood to anticipate change. Otherwise the change appears illogical. (liveliness- exhaustion, or liveliness- suicide) 2) The organization corollary describes hierarchical relationships among constructs. We organize our constructs in a convenient manner for ease of access. Superordinate constructs are more abstract and envelope characteristics, which are broken down by subcategories. These subcategories allow for more accurate predictions. Core constructs are central to a persons identity. They are superordinate constructs and are stabilizing elements within the personality, slower to change. Peripheral constructs are less comprehensive and not central to ones identity. 3) The fragmentation corollary helps us to understand inconsistency in people- people may access subsystems that are incompatible with one another. Only certain environmental triggers will access such incompatible beliefs. (Person who calls himself an active Christian carrying on an affair and lying about it over a period of time. Only if the affair is found out and challenged must he consider his conflicting beliefs and move one direction or the other.)

4) The range corollary is the idea that a construct applies only to some events, not all. People act very differently with different people. The range of convenience is the range to which a construct applies. This includes all the range within the dichotomous poles- villain to saint. The social embeddedness of construing efforts- we construe events within a social context. 1) The individuality corollary- individual differences are the source of differences in construing events. 2) The commonality corollary- there is similarity among individuals in construing events. This is due to similar past experiences and common interpretations. 3) The sociality corollary- in order to have a relationship with another person, one must understand his construction processes- what makes him tick. Similarity is not necessary, but understanding is. If neither person can understand the construction processes of the other, a social process is not possible. This can extend from individuals to cultures. Its called a mutual construction failure. Therapy involves role relationships, as the therapist tries to understand the clients construct system. We do it casually with friends & lovers. The Role Construct Repertory (REP) Test was devised by Kelly to identify a persons constructs. These test results provide counselors with qualitative impressions of clients, as well as actual change in response to therapy. Cognitive Complexity is shown by the number of different constructs a person uses in describing people. More complex people are able to view social behavior from several different dimensions and show greater flexibility, less judgment. This also allows for greater adaptation to life challenges. The healthier person is complex, but also can integrate constructs. Integrative complexity is developed as people think about the challenges of negative life events and try to make sense out of these events. Not everyone who experiences negative life events makes positive sense out of them or develops positively as a result. Personality change may occur as life events move in unanticipated directions. Suffering the loss of a partner through death or divorce, the loss

of a child- forces adaptation and changes in meaning- construct shifts. (A client who desperately wanted her marriage to survive her partners infidelity prayed consistently for God to change the partners heart and return home. When he did not, she felt like Gods red-headed stepchild, the one He didnt respond to or care about. This was a dramatic shift in her beliefs about God and her own preciousness as she had believed up to that point. Her personality became more angry, introverted, and she abandoned her church. If a loss cannot be integrated, the person can descend into mental illness. Life events need to be understood, even if they are treacherous. Emotions related to change- personality change leads to strong emotions. 1) Threat is the awareness of imminent change to ones core structures. As we abandon these core structures, we experience guilt. Threat can be caused by life changes, even the anticipation of death. Threat produces anxiety. Even therapy that leads to changes in core constructs feels like threat. They are desired, yet feel so unsettling that they are experienced as threat. Different situations produce different experiences of threat. Anxiety occurs when we recognize that we are confronted by events outside the range of our construct system. Anxiety is a sign that our construct system is inadequate and we need some change. 2) Hostility occurs as we try to force a construct system to predict effectively. We feel angry that our beliefs and techniques are not producing the result we desire. Effective action: the C-P-C Cycle is a three step process leading to effective action. We engage this cycle to make a decision. 1) Circumspection occurs in the beginning when we explore constructs that may be useful in the situation. We consider what belief will be most effective, applicable, etc. 2) Preemption is when we choose a construct. 3) Control is when we take action. Our acts are not impulsive, they have been consciously chosen with the idea of effectiveness in mind. It is in action that we test our constructs. So our construct is either confirmed or disconfirmed. We revise accordingly (Banduras reciprocal determinism.) People differ in effectiveness most often because they dont spend enough time in circumspection.

 Loosening and Tightening Constructs: The Creativity Cycle is the process of developing new constructs- especially in therapy, which is a creative process, according to Kelly. The first stage involves loosening constructs- brainstorming, applying constructs in ways that dont always make sense- fantasizing, dream reporting, silence. Then one variation of a construct is selected and tightened and applied in action. Only when it is tried and validated is the cycle complete. Therapy according to Kelly uses a variety of techniques with the aim of helping the client improve his construct system. Therapy is typically brief. Understanding the clients constructs requires the therapist to understand the clients constructs in his or her own terms. People are disturbed because they employ faulty constructs. Exploring and changing constructs is where the REP test comes into explore the persons construct system. Tightening constructs includes time binding or word binding. That happened a long time ago and does not happen any more (time binding). Or, That is really exploitation, not love (word binding) Constructs are developed to become more complex, more hierarchically organized. Therapeutic role-playing can contribute to changes in constructs. Fixed-role therapy is when a client experiments with new constructs by role-playing a fictitious personality devised by the therapist. Hopefully the role is one that extends more positive constructs and the person will move in the direction of the role. This role development is a collaborative effort which includes the client in an effort of experimentation to facilitate self-directed change. Constructs in context: Personal stories are narratives the person develops in therapy. They describe the persons constructs, even carrying the quality of personal myth. Research findings Clinical populations have been seen to have faulty constructs. Schizophrenics show impaired perceptions of themselves and others. Hypertensive men hold constructs about dependency that prevent them from turning to others for help that may reduce stress. Other research includes biofeedback therapy and hypnosis, as well as identity development.