CHAPTER THIRTEEN
OUTLINE
I.
George Kelly
A.
B.
The Life of Kelly
1.
George Kelly, an only child, was born in Kansas on a farm. His parents were
fundamental in their religion and gave Kelly attention and affection. Kelly homeschooled until he was 13, when he was sent to a high school in Wichita. He
worked as an engineer, as an instructor, and then entered graduate school,
receiving a master’s degree in educational sociology. Kelly also earned a
psychology degree when studying at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He
developed a clinical psychology service for a local Kansas public school system
and established clinics which went from school to school. Kelly used traditional
methods of assessment and therapy as well as his own methods. Kelly’s clients
were capable of discussing concerns rationally, of expressing their intellectual
problems, unlike a mental health population of patients.
2.
Kelly joined the U.S. Navy and served as a psychologist in the Bureau of
Medicine and Surgery in Washington, D.C. Later, Kelly spent 19 years teaching,
refining his personality theory, and conducting research. Kelly was a major force
in the development of the clinical psychology profession.
Personal Construct Theory
1.
C.
Kelly believed people perceive and organize their world of experiences by
formulating hypotheses about the environment and testing them against the reality
of daily life. We observe the events of our life and interpret them in our own way.
This special view, the unique pattern created by each individual, is what Kelly
called our construct system. A construct is a person’s unique way of looking at
life, an intellectual hypothesis devised to explain or interpret events. Over the
course of our lives we develop many constructs, one for almost every type of
person or situation we encounter. We expand and alter, and discard these
constructs periodically as situations change. Our constructs must continually be
revised and be adaptable to change, which is called constructive alternativism
which expresses the view that we are not controlled by our constructs, but are free
to revise or replace them with other alternatives.
Ways of Anticipating Life Events
1.
Kelly’s personal construct theory contains the fundamental postulate, which
states that our psychological processes are directed by the ways in which we
anticipate events. By using the word, processes, Kelly believed that personality
was a flowing, moving process where we anticipate or predict the future by use of
these constructs.
2.
Kelly presented his personality theory with the use of 11 Corollaries. In Kelly’s
viewpoint, no two life events can be reproduced exactly as they occur the first
time. Events can be repeated, but not exactly the same way. This is called the
Construction Corollary.
D.
3.
With Individual Corollaries, Kelly pointed out we are different from one
another. Our constructs constitute the unique interpretation each of us places on
it.
4.
According to Kelly, we organize our individual constructs into a pattern according
to our view of their interrelationships, that is, their similarities and differences.
Kelly called this the Organizational Corollary, where we organize our constructs
into a hierarchy, with some constructs subordinate to others.
5.
The Dichotomy Corollary states that all constructs are bipolar or dichotomous
and our two mutually exclusive alternatives.
6.
With the Choice Corollary, for every situation we must choose the alternative
that works best for us, the one that allows us to anticipate or predict the outcome
of future events. Kelly believed that our choices are made in terms of how well
they allow us to anticipate or predict events, not necessarily in terms of what is
best for us.
7.
The Range Corollary is a range of convenience or applicability to situations or
people. This range of convenience or relevance for a construct is a matter of
personal choice.
8.
Kelly believed constructs differ in their permeability, which means to penetrate or
pass through something. The Modulation Corollary measures how much we
adapt or adjust to new experiences. If we are too rigid or too impermeable, then
we are not capable of being changed, no matter what our experiences tell us.
9.
Kelly believed that within our construct system some individual constructs might
be incompatible, even though they coexist within the overall pattern. This
competition among constructs is called the Fragmentation Corollary. We use
these kinds of constructs so we can tolerate subordinate inconsistencies without
damaging our overall construct system.
10.
The Commonality Corollary describes similarities among people in interpreting
events. People from the same culture may show a resemblance in their behaviors
and characteristics even though they are exposed to different life events.
11.
Kelly’s final construct, the Sociality Corollary defines our interpersonal
relationships. According to Kelly, we must understand how another person thinks
if we are to anticipate how that person will predict events. Construing another
person’s constructs is something we do routinely.
Assessment in Kelly’s Theory
1.
Kelley’s primary assessment technique was the interview. Kelly realized a
person may lie deliberately, but we must respect our client, even if we do not fully
believe them.
2.
Kelly would have his client construct a self-characterization sketch, as if that
person were in a play. They were to write this as a friend who knew them
intimately and very sympathetically. Kelly found this useful for learning how
clients perceive themselves in relation to other people.
E.
3.
Kelly devised the Role Construct Repertory Test (REP) to uncover the
constructs we apply to the important people in our lives. The names are listed and
grouped in sets of those who are most alike and how the next group may differ.
This information is presented in a diagram called a repertory grid. The
assumption of the REP Test is that people construe events in dichotomies,
according to the dichotomy corollary, in terms of like versus unlike or similar
versus dissimilar.
4.
Kelly promoted a form of psychotherapy called fixed role therapy, to help the
clients formulate new constructs and discard old ones; he would ask them to write
a self-characterization sketch describing themselves as the lead character in a play.
Kelly developed fixed role therapy from observing a friend who began playing in
a college dramatic production. This person became more and more like the
character in the play offstage. This example shows the intent of fixed role
therapy: first to play a role and then come to live it.
Research in Kelly’s Theory
1.
Studies using the REP Test have shown that a person’s constructs remain stable
over time. Research has been done to investigate the complexity of a person’s
construct system. Some research has shown a correspondence between one’s
personal characteristics and the ways of construing other people. The REP Test
has been used to study schizophrenics, neurotics, depressives, and persons with
organic brain damage. With the use of the REP Test, the researchers compared
the personal construct systems of repeat patients in psychiatric hospitals with
persons hospitalized for the first time. Researchers have applied the REP Test in
market research to assess the criteria consumers use to evaluate products. This
test has also been used for vocational counseling, employee selection, job
performance evaluation, and evaluation of training programs.
2.
To Kelly, a person’s degree of cognitive complexity can be determined from the
pattern of Xs on the repertory grid. When the Xs are scattered on the grid this
indicates cognitive complexity, defined as the ability to discriminate in the process
of applying personal constructs to other people. People high in cognitive
complexity are able to see variety among people and can easily place a person in
many categories. However, the other extreme is cognitive simplicity, which
applies when the pattern of Xs on the repertory grid is the same or highly similar
for each construct. This person is less capable of perceiving differences when
judging other people. Research has confirmed personality differences in
personality style. In Kelly’s theory, cognitive complexity is the more desirable
and useful cognitive style.