An Introduction to Personal Construct Psychology Helen Jones

An Introduction to Personal Construct Psychology Helen Jones 1 11/24/2020

Introduction A brief overview of the key features of George Kelly’s work – The Psychology of Personal Constructs (Norton, 1955 l A theory that helps people to make sense of their personal perspectives and values and to understand other people’s points of view l 2 11/24/2020

Constructive Alternativism Basic Postulate: “A person’s processes are psychologically channelised by the ways in which (s)he anticipates events”. l The person as scientist l All behaviour is an experiment l Validation or invalidation are equally useful l 3 11/24/2020

Four Points of View Listen to yourself – so that you can suspend your views l Listen to others, in their own terms l Listen to, and check out, the implications of the words you hear l Take responsibility for predicted outcomes l 4 11/24/2020

Self Reflexivity A theory of personality which is not applicable to the person practising it is not likely to apply to relate well to others either! l It is PERSONAL l 5 11/24/2020

The credulous approach l The credulous approach implies a belief in what the other person says is true for them and viable for them. l The approach implies work on the part of the listener to suspend his or her own personal perspectives in order to understand theories of the other person 6 11/24/2020

Some assumptions behind Kelly’s theory of personality There is an integral universe l No one person has direct access to it l Each individual has a unique personal construct system which makes total sense to that individual l We share some common understandings l 7 11/24/2020

Assumptions - continued We tend to see the world through sets of filters – seeing some things as alike and thereby different from others l We differ in the ways we make discriminations l All our ways of seeing things are linked internally in a hierarchical fashion l 8 11/24/2020

More assumptions…. We communicate with others only when we begin to understand their value systems as well as our own l Our core beliefs are few and highly resistant to change l Organisations have their core structures as do individuals – understanding this helps l 9 11/24/2020

Creativity and Decision Making l Kelly describes creativity as the constant weaving between LOOSENING (vague thoughts and ideas) and TIGHTENING (making things happen) l A human tragedy is to live only one, or other, of these aspects of the cycle 10 11/24/2020

Decision Making Kelly describes this as the CPC Cycle l We CIRCUMSPECT (C) (collect data/information) l We PREEMPT (P) (make decisions) anticipating that the outcome will allow us l CHOICE/CONTROL(C) over our immediate and longer term futures l 11 11/24/2020

PCP and emotion – transitional constructs Kelly suggests that we are “nothing but” a bundle of constructs rolling along in time and space l So emotion is not separate from thinking – it is more the awareness of the need to reconstrue – a heightened awareness of one’s own construct system * Kelly chooses to use the term “transition” – a change of gear l 12 11/24/2020

Kelly’s Emotional vocabulary Guilt – is a dislodgement of the self from one’s core constructs l Threat – is an awareness of an imminent change in one’s core constructs l Anxiety – is an awareness that one does not immediately have the constructs available to deal with a particular situation l 13 11/24/2020

More emotional vocabulary l Aggression ( more akin to assertiveness these days) is an active elaboration of a person’s perceptual field – doing things in a consciously different way l Hostility (more like cooking the books) is an attempt to extort evidence in favour of a social prediction which has not worked 14 11/24/2020

Further references “The Psychology of Personal Constructs” – George Kelly, latest edition 18/12/00 Wiley, 1991 l A Psychology for Living – Peggy Dalton and Gavin Dunnett, Wiley, 1992 • Inquiring Man – Don Bannister and Fay Fransella, Penguin, 1971 l 15 11/24/2020