Chapter 19 Notes Flashcards
George Kelly’s theory of personal constructs
people anticipate events by the meanings or interpretations they place on those events
These meanings or interpretations are called constructs
behavior is shaped by their gradually expanding interpretation or construction of that world
Neither the past nor the future per se determines our behavior. Rather, our present view of the future shapes our actions.
constructive alternativism
People are not victims of circumstances, because alternative constructions are always available. Kelly called this philosophical position
people strive to make sense out of their continuously changing world
people always have alternative ways of looking at things
what is valid at one time becomes false when construed differently at a later time
(like Adler but added this component)
Freud restructured his seduction theory
in 1955, he published his most important work
The Psychology of Personal Constructs
Kelly’s Philosophical Position
human behavior based on reality and on people’s perception of reality
ways of interpreting and explaining events, hold the key to predicting their behavior
Person as Scientist
A person’s conclusions, like those of any scientist, are not fixed or final. They are open to reconsideration and reformulation
Every theory can be slightly tilted and viewed from a new angle
A personal construct is
one’s way of seeing how things (or people) are alike and yet different from other things (or people)
2 essential components of construct
comparison and the contrast are essential
basic postulate of Kelly’s theory
all psychological processes are
directed by the ways in which we anticipate events
Kelly proposed ___ supporting corollaries for his basic postulate
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construction corollary
people construe or interpret future events according to recurrent themes or replications
individuality corollary
For the philosopher, the lawyer, and the scientist, truth has a different substance, a different meaning
organization corollary
different people organize similar events in a manner that minimizes incompatibilities and inconsistencies
dichotomy corollary
people must be able to see similarities between events, but they must also contrast those events with their opposite pole. either-or manner.
choice corollary
people choose those actions that are most likely to extend their future range of choices
range corollary
The idea of construct contrasts tall with short, not tall with blue, thus limiting its range of convenience
experience corollary
people continually revise their
personal constructs as the result of experience
modulation corollary
some new experiences do not
lead to a revision of personal constructs because they are too concrete or
impermeable.
construct is permeable if new elements can be added to it. Impermeable or concrete constructs do not admit new elements
fragmentation corollary
a man might be protective of his wife, yet encourage her to be more independent. Protection and independence may be incompatible with each other on one level, but on a larger level, both are subsumed under the construct of love
commonality corollary
to the extent that we have had
experiences similar to other people’s experiences, our personal constructs
tend to be similar to the construction systems of those people.
sociality corollary
people are able to communicate with
other people because they can construe other people’s constructions. Not
only do people observe the behavior of another person but they also
interpret what that behavior means to that person.
Abnormal Development
stubbornly cling to outdated personal constructs, fearing validation of any new constructs that would upset their present comfortable view of the world. Such people are similar to incompetent scientists who test unreasonable hypotheses, reject or distort legitimate results, and refuse to amend or abandon old theories that are no longer useful. Kelly (1955) defined a disorder as “any personal construction which is used repeatedly in spite of consistent invalidation”
Psychological disorders are caused neither by childhood experiences nor by future events
Healthy people
validate their personal constructs against their experiences with the real world
Threat
“the awareness of imminent comprehensive change in one’s core structures”
see a therapist as a possible instigator of change, they will view that therapist as a threat
Fear
suddenly confronted with the probability of crashing his car, he will experience fear
threat would be the stigma attached to him if he killed someone because then that is incompatible with his personal construct
Guilt
People feel guilty when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their sense of who
they are.
Psychotherapy
whenever people have difficulty validating their personal constructs, anticipating future events, and controlling their present environment
therapist’s role is to assist them to alter their construct systems in order to improve efficiency in making predictions
fixed-role therapy
acting out a predetermined role and anticipating responses
expand the borders of how you might act
“preposterous interpretations”
offer the Oedipus idea and if it helps, then good
The Rep Test
write a list of 27 different people then they chose 3 at a time and ask how are they similar and how are they different
designed to assess personal constructs
my boss is like my brother
Smoking and Self-Concept
smokers have greater disparity between real and ideal self-concepts as well as lower self-esteem
Personal Constructs and the Big Five
Kelly’s repertory grid approach, conversely, seeks to capture the uniqueness of individuals
List Kelly’s four elements that result in psychological disturbance
threat, fear, anxiety, and guilt
List two criticisms of the Rep Test
Reliability and validity of the instrument are not very high,
and its usefulness depends largely on the skill and experience of the examiner
core role (Kelly)
People’s construction of who they really are; their sense of identity that provides a guide for living
Arlene’s roles as student, employee, and daughter would be considered
peripheral role (Kelly)
Anxiety
“the recognition that the events with which one is
confronted lie outside the range of convenience of one’s construct system”
She had never before negotiated over such a large
amount of money, and therefore this experience was outside the range of her convenience.
As a consequence, she felt anxiety,
research related to the rep test
1) The authors found that the less information someone has about a person, the more likely they will use stereotypic gender schemas to evaluate that person; that is, participants who used gender stereotypes in perceiving strangers tended to have limited perceptions of other people
2) both smokers and non-smokers identified with and valued more highly the traits of non-smokers (such as quiet, studious, etc.) than of smokers. However, the prediction that smokers would have lower self-esteem (greater real versus ideal self disparity) did not hold.
smoking study: rep test is not only a useful tool for assessing self-concept, but it is perhaps a more valid and more individualized tool than standard questionnaire
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