George Kelly
Personal Construct Theory
Preview of theory
The theory is cognitive, in that it emphasizes the person’s thoughts
and focuses on the person’s 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 Kelly’s 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 Piaget’s 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 person’s dichotomy must be understood to anticipate
change. Otherwise the change appears illogical. (livelinessexhaustion, 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 person’s identity. They are
superordinate constructs and are stabilizing elements within the
personality, slower to change.
 Peripheral constructs are less comprehensive and not central to
one’s 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. It’s
called a mutual construction failure. Therapy involves role
relationships, as the therapist tries to understand the client’s
construct system. We do it casually with friends & lovers.
The Role Construct Repertory (REP) Test was devised by Kelly to
identify a person’s 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 partner’s
infidelity prayed consistently for God to change the partner’s heart and
return home. When he did not, she felt like “God’s red-headed stepchild”,
the one He didn’t 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 one’s 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 (Bandura’s reciprocal determinism.) People differ
in effectiveness most often because they don’t 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
don’t 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 client’s constructs requires the therapist to
understand the client’s 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 person’s 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 person’s 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.