Chapter 19 Notes

Question 1

George Kelly’s theory of personal constructs

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

constructive alternativism

Answer 2

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

Question 3

in 1955, he published his most important work

Answer 3

The Psychology of Personal Constructs

Question 4

Kelly’s Philosophical Position

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Person as Scientist

Answer 5

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

Question 6

A personal construct is

Answer 6

one’s way of seeing how things (or people) are alike and yet different from other things (or people)

Question 7

2 essential components of construct

Answer 7

comparison and the contrast are essential

Question 8

basic postulate of Kelly’s theory

Answer 8

all psychological processes are

directed by the ways in which we anticipate events

Question 9

Kelly proposed ___ supporting corollaries for his basic postulate

Answer 9

11

Question 10

construction corollary

Answer 10

people construe or interpret future events according to recurrent themes or replications

Question 11

individuality corollary

Answer 11

For the philosopher, the lawyer, and the scientist, truth has a different substance, a different meaning

Question 12

organization corollary

Answer 12

different people organize similar events in a manner that minimizes incompatibilities and inconsistencies

Question 13

dichotomy corollary

Answer 13

people must be able to see similarities between events, but they must also contrast those events with their opposite pole. either-or manner.

Question 14

choice corollary

Answer 14

people choose those actions that are most likely to extend their future range of choices

Question 15

range corollary

Answer 15

The idea of construct contrasts tall with short, not tall with blue, thus limiting its range of convenience

Question 16

experience corollary

Answer 16

people continually revise their

personal constructs as the result of experience

Question 17

modulation corollary

Answer 17

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

Question 18

fragmentation corollary

Answer 18

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

Question 19

commonality corollary

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

sociality corollary

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Abnormal Development

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Healthy people

Answer 22

validate their personal constructs against their experiences with the real world

Question 23

Threat

Answer 23

“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

Question 24

Fear

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Guilt

Answer 25

People feel guilty when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their sense of who
they are.

Question 26

Psychotherapy

Answer 26

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

Question 27

fixed-role therapy

Answer 27

acting out a predetermined role and anticipating responses

expand the borders of how you might act

Question 28

“preposterous interpretations”

Answer 28

offer the Oedipus idea and if it helps, then good

Question 29

The Rep Test

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Smoking and Self-Concept

Answer 30

smokers have greater disparity between real and ideal self-concepts as well as lower self-esteem

Question 31

Personal Constructs and the Big Five

Answer 31

Kelly’s repertory grid approach, conversely, seeks to capture the uniqueness of individuals

Question 32

List Kelly’s four elements that result in psychological disturbance

Answer 32

threat, fear, anxiety, and guilt

Question 33

List two criticisms of the Rep Test

Answer 33

Reliability and validity of the instrument are not very high,
and its usefulness depends largely on the skill and experience of the examiner

Question 34

core role (Kelly)

Answer 34

People’s construction of who they really are; their sense of identity that provides a guide for living

Question 35

Arlene’s roles as student, employee, and daughter would be considered

Answer 35

peripheral role (Kelly)

Question 36

Anxiety

Answer 36

“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,

Question 37

research related to the rep test

Answer 37

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
inventories