Kellys Personality Theory

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Kellys Personality Theory

• Presented by Curtis M. Kularski

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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

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George Kelly

• Phenomenologist observer of conscious
  experience
• Person as a whole, Not component parts
• More to cognition than Stimulus -gt Response
• Existential Theory Now and Future, Not Past
• Not a behaviorist

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Rural Clinical Service

• Encouraged self-treatment
• Opposed Freuds 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

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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

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Fundamental PostulateConstructive Alternativism

• No one needs to paint himself into a corner
• People are free to create their own construction
  systems
• Persons ability is not limited by biographical
  factors
• Interpretation of events more important than the
  actual events
• Kelly expanded his construction theories with
  eleven corollaries.

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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 persons 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

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Corollaries 6 - 11

• Range
• A construct is convenient for the anticipation
  of a finite range of events only
• Modulation
• The variation in a persons 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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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Evaluation of Theory

• Reasonable extension of Freuds 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

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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 lthttp//webspace.ship.edu/c
  gboer/kelly.htmlgt.
• Desai, Hemant. "George Kelly." Personal Construct
  Psychology. 17 Apr. 2009 lthttp//ksi.cpsc.ucalgary
  .ca/PCP/Kelly.htmlgt.