Chapter 18

Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs

Kelly's theory of personal constructs can be seen as a metatheory, or a theory about theories.
It holds that people anticipate events by the meanings or interpretations that they place on those
events. Kelly called these interpretations personal constructs. His philosophical position, called
constructive alternativism, assumes that alternative interpretations are always available to people.
Kelly believed that people construe events according to their personal constructs, rather than
reality. Kelly believed that all our interpretations of the world are subject to revision or
replacement, an assumption he called constructive alternativism. He further stressed that,
because people can construe their world from different angles, observations that are valid at one
time may be false at a later time.

Kelly believed that people look at their world through templates that they create and then
attempt to fit over the realities of the world. He called these templates, or transparent patterns,
personal constructs, which he believed shape behavior. Kelly expressed his theory in one basic
postulate and 11 supporting corollaries. The basic postulate assumes that human behavior is
shaped by the way people anticipate the future. Kelly's many years of clinical experience enabled
him to evolve concepts of abnormal development and psychotherapy, and to develop a Role
Construct Repertory (Rep) Test.

Kelly saw normal people as analogous to competent scientists who test reasonable
hypotheses, objectively view the results, and willingly change their theories when the data warrant
it. Similarly, unhealthy people are like incompetent scientists who test unreasonable hypotheses,
reject or distort legitimate results, and refuse to amend outdated theories. Kelly identified four
common elements in most human disturbances: Threat, or the perception that one's basic
constructs may be drastically changed. Fear, which requires an incidental rather than a
comprehensive, restructuring of one's construct system. Anxiety or the recognition that one cannot
adequately deal with a new situation. Guilt, defined as "the sense of having lost one's core role
structure."

Kelly insisted that clients should set their own goals for therapy and that they should be active
participants in the therapeutic process. He sometimes used a procedure called fixed-role therapy,
in which clients act out a predetermined role for several weeks. By playing the part of a
psychologically healthy person, clients may discover previously hidden aspects of themselves.
The purpose of the Rep Test is to discover ways in which clients construe significant people in
their lives. Clients place names of people they know on a repertory grid in order to identify both
similarities and differences among these people.

Kelly's theory probably is most applicable to relatively normal, intelligent people. Unfortunately,
it pays scant attention to problems of motivation, development, and cultural influences. On the six
criteria of a useful theory, it rates very high on parsimony and internal consistency and about
average on its ability to generate research. However it rates low on its ability to be falsified, to
guide the practitioner, and to organize knowledge. Kelly saw people as anticipating the future and
living their lives in accordance with those anticipations. His concept of elaborative choice
suggests that people increase their range of future choices by the present choices they freely
make. Thus, Kelly's theory rates very high in teleology and high in choice and optimism. In
addition, it receives high ratings for conscious influences and for its emphasis on the uniqueness
of the individual. Finally, personal construct theory is about average on social influences.