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Kelly's Personality Theory

George Kelly developed personal construct theory, which viewed people as scientists who create personal constructs to anticipate and interpret events. Kelly believed constructs are dichotomous labels people use to make sense of their experiences. His fundamental postulate of constructive alternativism stated people freely create their own interpretations and are not limited by past factors. Kelly developed 11 corollaries about how people form and use constructs. He emphasized cognition over past events and advocated people treating themselves through changing constructs. Personal construct theory viewed psychotherapy as helping people become better scientists of their own lives.

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182 views14 pages

Kelly's Personality Theory

George Kelly developed personal construct theory, which viewed people as scientists who create personal constructs to anticipate and interpret events. Kelly believed constructs are dichotomous labels people use to make sense of their experiences. His fundamental postulate of constructive alternativism stated people freely create their own interpretations and are not limited by past factors. Kelly developed 11 corollaries about how people form and use constructs. He emphasized cognition over past events and advocated people treating themselves through changing constructs. Personal construct theory viewed psychotherapy as helping people become better scientists of their own lives.

Uploaded by

mhahmadi
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Kelly’s Personality

Theory
Presented by: Curtis M. Kularski
George Kelly
April 28, 1905 – March 6, 1967
Born in Kansas
Undergraduate degree in Physics/Math
from Park College
PhD from State University of Iowa
Professor of Psychology at Ohio State
President of American Board of Examiners
in Professional Psychology, 1951-1953
George Kelly
“Phenomenologist” – observer of conscious
experience
Person as a whole, Not component parts
More to cognition than
“Stimulus -> Response”
Existential Theory – Now and Future, Not Past
Not a behaviorist
Rural Clinical Service
Encouraged self-treatment
Opposed Freud’s “professional analysis” policy
Helped patients treat themselves
Made house calls
Kelly and his students assisted stranded families in
dust bowl
Free treatment to people unable to afford his
services
People as Scientists
All People tend to:

Use present to clarify life and remove uncertainty
 Use personal constructs to anticipate events
 Interpret his or her personal experiences
Kelly believed there was no valid division between
scientist and non-scientist
Personal constructs are usually verbal labels
associated with events
Fundamental Postulate
Constructive Alternativism
“No one needs to paint himself into a corner”
People are free to create their own construction
systems
Person’s ability is not limited by biographical factors
Interpretation of events more important than the
actual events

Kelly expanded his construction theories with eleven


corollaries.
Corollaries 1 - 5
Construction

“A person anticipates events by constructing their replications”
Individuality
 “Persons differ from each other in their construction of events”
Organization

“Each person characteristically evolves, for his convenience in
anticipating events”
Dichotomy

“A person’s construction system is composed of a finite number
of dichotomous constructs”
Choice

“A person chooses for himself that alternative in a dichotomized
construct through which he anticipates greater possibilities for
extension and definition of his system”
Corollaries 6 - 11
Range
 “A construct is convenient for the anticipation of a finite range of events
only”
Modulation
 “The variation in a person’s construction system is limited by the
permeability of the constructs within whose range of convenience the
variants lie”
Fragmentation
 “A person may successfully employ a variety of construction subsystems
which are inferentially incompatible with each other”
Commonality
 “To the extent that one person employs a construction of experience
which is similar to that employed by another, his psychological processes
are similar to the other person”
Sociality
 “To the extent that one person construes the construction processes of
another, he may play a role in a social process involving the other person”
Circumspection, Preemption, Control
Circumspection

Trial and error of constructs in thinking about a new
situation
Preemption
 Person selects from existing constructs to find one
best suited to present situation
Control

Select and use a pole of the dichotomous constructed
selected in “preemption”.
Creative Construction
Loosened Construction
 The beginning of creative construction is removing the
constrictive construction system
Tightened Construction
 After loose construction, it is necessary to tighten the
construction back into the scope of reality
Test

The construction is tested for validity in a subsequent
experience.

Pass? Add to construct system.
 Fail? Discard and try again.
Theory Overview
People control their own life
All people are scientists, and construct situational
theories, which can be validated
Psychotherapy makes people better scientists
Situations use an existing construct or require the
creation of a new construct
Uniqueness about Kelly
No psychologist elitism with patients
Acknowledged intelligence of the common man
Eliminated the past from the theory
Use of situational templates, called constructs
Strong use of cognition
Validation replaced reinforcement and reward
Evaluation of Theory
Reasonable extension of Freud’s psychoanalytical
theories
Quantitative data available from Role Construct
Repertory Test
No venue for predicting behavior
Did not address why people creative different constructs
in the same situation
Potentially unrealistic view of all humans as scientists
Ignored unconscious, learning, motivation and
personality development
References
Hergenhahn, Br, and Matthew Olson.
An Introduction to Theories of
Personality (7th Edition). Alexandria,
VA: Prentice Hall, 2006.

Boeree, George C.. "George Kelly."


Personality Theories. 19 Apr. 2009
<http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/kelly
.html>.

Desai, Hemant. "George Kelly."


Personal Construct Psychology. 17
Apr. 2009
<http://ksi.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/PCP/Kelly.
html>.

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