George Kelly - Personal Construct Theory- Princy Hannah

George A. Kelly
Theory Of Personal Constructs
Princy Hannah

LIFE OF KELLY
Birth: Perth, Kansas April 28, 1905
Parents: Theodore Vincent Kelly and Elf Leda Merriam
Kelly
Education: Kelly got his early education from his
parents
Schooling: At 13, he went to high school in Wichita
Degree:
 In 1926 he earned a bachelor degree in Mathematics
and Physics from Park College in Parkville,
Missouri
 Master’s degree in educational sociology from
University of Kansas
 In 1931 he was awarded his PhD for dissertation in
the area of speech and reading disabilities.

Profession:
 During World War II Kelly worked as an aviation
psychologist
 In 1946 he became professor of psychology and director
of clinical psychology at Ohio State University
During this period he produced his cognitive theory, he
travelled worldwide and lectured in many universities.
Kelly died in 1967

His Explanation Of Personality
According to George Kelly, personality is
composed of the various mental
constructs through which each person
views reality.

Basic Concepts Of Kelly’s
Cognitive Theory

An intellectual hypothesis which we devise
and use to interpret, explain, give meaning
to or predict life events.
Personal Construct

Constructive Alternativism
The assumption that all people are capable of
changing or replacing our present interpretation
of events. We are not controlled by our
constructs but we are free to revise and replace
them with other alternatives.

Each Individual As Scientist
Attempts to predict and control events
Formulate hypothesis about the environment
and test them against the reality of daily life
Observe the events of our life (the facts and
data of our experiences)
Interpret them in our own way

Fundamental Postulate
“A person’s processes are
psychologically channelized by the
ways in which he anticipates
events”.

Corollaries Of Personal
Construct Theory

Construction Corollary
A person anticipates events by
construing their replications.
 Repetition and similarity
 Predictability and anticipation

Individuality Corollary
Persons differ from each other in their
construction of events.
 Differences in interpretation
 On their own experiences

Organization Corollary
Each person characteristically evolves, for his
convenience in anticipating events, a
construction system embracing ordinal
relationships between constructs.
 Interrelated nature of constructs
 Subjective definition of similarities and differences
 Hierarchy and priorities (super ordinates)

Dichotomy Corollary
A person’s construction system is
composed of a finite number of
dichotomous constructs.
 Mutually exclusive alternatives
 Dichotomy

Choice Corollary
A person chooses for himself that alternative in a
dichotomized construct through which he
anticipates the greater possibility for extension
and definition of his system.
 Freedom of choice
 Switching between poles

Range Corollary
A construct is convenient for the
anticipation of a finite range of events
only.
 Range of convenience
 Spectrum of events
 Limits of constructs

Experience Corollary
A person’s construction system varies
as he successively construes the
replications of events.
 Exposure
 Generation of hypothesis and testing it
 Reformulation

Modulation Corollary
The variation in a person’s construction
system is limited by the permeability of the
constructs within whose range of
convenience the variants lie.
 Adaptations
 Permeability

Fragmentation Corollary
A person may successively employ a variety
of construction subsystems which are
inferentially incompatible with each other.
 Competition among constructs
 Inconsistency

Commonality Corollary
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 those of the other
person.
 Similarity of individuals in interpreting events
 Factors influencing

Sociality Corollary
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.
 Influence of interpersonal relationships
 Anticipation

Criticisms
1)Phenomenological
2)Disregarding the role of emotions
3)Introspection

Decision making
C-P-C Cycle
Circumspection
Pre-emption
Control

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