Back to the roots:
George Kelly in Hindsight
Gudbjörg Vilhjálmsdóttir, associate professor
in school and career guidance
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My experience with Kelly’s theory
• How do young
people screen
occupational
information?
• Personal construct
theory is a
systematic theoretical framework
AND also very
practical
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George Kelly 1905 - 1967
• Ahead of his time:
Predecessor of
constructivism and
cognitive behavioral
theory
• The Psychology of
Personal Constructs
(1955)
• An unpopular professor
• Re-discovery of Kelly
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Basics of the theory
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Metaphor of Man-as-scientist (and Woman-as-scientist!)
Constructive alternativism – we continuously construe our
surrounding reality
Anticipation – we are always trying to anticipate /foresee what
will happen ≠ response
If the construct, when tested, anticipates the right outcome the
hypothesis holds and thus the personal theory or construct
system about surrounding phenomena holds.
Man/woman is always looking for personal theories that can
better differentiate and anticipate events in the world.
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Construing theories vs. constructs
• http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/kelly.html
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Fundamental postulate:
Constructive alternativism
• According to this principle, reality does not
reveal itself to us directly, but rather is subject
to as many different constructions as we are
able to invent.
• All of our present interpretations of the
universe are subject to revision or
replacement
» Kelly, G. (1963, p.15)
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A very formal theory:
• Fundamental postulate: A person’s processes
are psychologically channelized by the ways
in which he anticipates events.
• 11 corollaries
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11 Corollaries
1. Construction corollary
2. Dichotomy corollary
3. Range corollary
4. Modulation corollary
5. Organisation corollary
6. Fragmentation corollary
7. Experience corollary
8. Choice corollary
9. Individuality corollary
10. Commonality corollary
11. Sociality corollary
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Personal construct
• The pattern of man’s construction are called
constructs; and, since each person sets up
his own network of pathways leading into the
future, the concern of the psychologist is the
study of personal constructs.
» Kelly, 1955 (vol.2, p. 4)
• To understand someone else is to
understand his personal construct system
» Duck, 1983
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What is a personal construct?
• A construct is defined not as an event,
but how we construe the event. Thus a
construct is the meaning we give to our
surrounding reality.
• We create an image of reality and then
we respond to this image.
• Personal constructs are then tested
against reality.
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Personal construct = Meaning
• To construe is to make sense of something
• A construct is not a concept
• A construct is always binary: pleasant - rude
(insert as opposed to in place of the dash).
• A construct always represents a contrast, and
you need to spell out the contrast before you
can be sure of the meaning intended in the
whole construct
• Words ≠ meaning
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Vocational / career counseling
based on Kelly
• Vocation is “one of the principal means by
which one’s life role is given clarity and
meaning” (Kelly, 1955, p. 751). I am .......... (occupation)
• Personal construct counselors make
meaning of vocational behavior and
comprehend careers by examining the
personal constructs that agents use to
channel their anticipations for and
interpretations of the role that work plays in
their lives (Savickas, 1997, p.152).
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Repertory grid technique
• Kelly’s ingeneous method of exploring
constructs and construct systems.
• Currently used by about 25 thousand
researchers (Neimeyer, 1999).
• Use in career counselling: Choose three
occupations that you have been thinking
about as a future occupations. In what way
are two of them alike and different from the
third? (Exploration of vocational constructs).
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References
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Cochran, L. (1997). Career counseling. A narrative approach. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Duck, S. (1983). Sociality and cognition in personal construct theory. In J.R. Adams-Webber and J.C
Mancuso (eds.). Applications of Personal Construct Theory. Toronto: Academic Press.
Dunnet, G. (1988). Working with people: clinical uses of personal construct psychology. London: Routledge.
Fransella, F. & Bell, R. (2004). A manual for repertory grid technique (2nd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Jankowicz, D. (2004). The easy guide to repertory grids. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Kelly, G. A. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton.
Kelly, G. A. (1963). A theory of personality: The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton.
Landfield, A. W. (1977). Interpretive man: The enlarged self-image. Nebraska symposium on motivation,
1976. Lincoln, NA: University of Nebraska Press.
Neimeyer, G.J. (ed.). (1993). Casebook of Constructivist Assessment. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Savickas, M.L. (1997). Constructivist career counseling: Models and methods. In Advances in personal
construct psychology. (p. 149−182). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Scheer, J. W. & Catina, A. E. (1996). Empirical constructivism in Europe. The personal construct approach.
Stuttgart, Psychosozial-Verlag.
Sharf, R.S. (2002). Applying Career Development Theory to Counseling. (3. útg.). Pacific Grove, CA:
Brooks/Cole.
Spokane, A. (1992). Personal constructs and careers: A reaction. Journal of Career Development. 18, 229–
236.
Super, D. E. (1990). A Life-Span, Life-Space Approach to Career Development. In D. Brown & L. Brooks
(Eds.), Career choice and development. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
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