Editing Personal construct theory

{{Short description|Theory of personality and cognition}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2009}}
Within [[personality psychology]], '''personal construct theory''' ('''PCT''') or '''personal construct psychology''' ('''PCP''') is a theory of [[personality]] and [[cognition]] developed by the [[United States|American]] [[psychologist]] [[George Kelly (psychologist)|George Kelly]] in the 1950s.<ref name=PCT>For example: {{harvnb|Kelly|1991}} (first published 1955); {{harvnb|Kelly|Maher|1969}}; {{harvnb|Bannister|1970}}; {{harvnb|Bannister|Fransella|1986}} (first published 1971)</ref> The theory addresses the psychological reasons for actions.<ref>Horley, "Issues in forensic psychotherapy", in {{harvnb|Winter|Viney|2005|p=227}}</ref> Kelly proposed that individuals can be psychologically evaluated according to similarity–dissimilarity poles, which he called '''personal constructs''' ([[Schema (psychology)|schema]]s, or ways of seeing the world).<ref name=PCT/> The theory is considered by some psychologists as forerunner to theories of [[cognitive therapy]].{{sfn|Millon|2004|p=395}}

From the theory, Kelly derived a [[psychotherapy]] approach, as well as a technique called ''the [[repertory grid]] interview'', that helped his patients to analyze their own personal constructs with minimal intervention or interpretation by the therapist.<ref>For example: {{harvnb|Fransella|Bell|Bannister|2004}} (first published 1977); {{harvnb|Jankowicz|2004}}; {{harvnb|Caputi|Viney|Walker|Crittenden|2011}}</ref> The repertory grid was later adapted for various uses within organizations, including [[decision-making]] and interpretation of other people's [[world-view]]s.<ref>For example: {{harvnb|Stewart|Stewart|Fonda|1981}}; {{harvnb|Gaines|Shaw|1993}}; {{harvnb|Bradshaw|Ford|Adams-Webber|Boose|1993}}; {{harvnb|Simpson|Large|O'Brien|2004}}; {{harvnb|Carrillat|Riggle|Locander|Gebhardt|2009}}</ref> The [[UK Council for Psychotherapy]], a regulatory body, classifies PCP therapy within the experiential subset of the [[Constructivism (psychological school)|constructivist]] school.

== Principles ==
A main tenet of PCP theory is that a person's unique psychological processes are channeled by the way they anticipate events. Kelly believed that anticipation and prediction are the main drivers of our mind. "Every man is, in his own particular way, a scientist", said Kelly: people are constantly building up and refining theories and models about how the world works so that they can anticipate future events. People start doing this at birth (for example, a child discovers that if they start to cry, their mother will come to them) and continue refining their theories as they grow up.

Kelly proposed that every construct is bipolar, specifying how two things are similar to each other (lying on the same pole) and different from a third thing, and they can be expanded with new ideas. (More recent researchers have suggested that constructs need not be bipolar.<ref>For example: {{harvnb|Riemann|1990}}; {{harvnb|Yorke|2001}}</ref>) People build theories—often stereotypes—about other people and also try to control them or impose on others their own theories so as to be better able to predict others' actions. All these theories are built up from a system of constructs. A construct has two extreme points, such as "happy–sad," and people tend to place items at either extreme or at some point in between. People's minds, said Kelly, are filled up with these constructs at a low level of awareness.

A given person, set of persons, any event, or circumstance can be characterized fairly precisely by the set of constructs applied to it and by the position of the thing within the range of each construct. For example, Fred may feel as though he is not happy or sad (an example of a construct); he feels as though he is between the two. However, he feels he is more clever than he is stupid (another example of a construct).  A baby may have a preverbal construct of what behaviors may cause their mother to come to them. Constructs can be applied to anything people put their attention to, and constructs also strongly influence what people fix their attention on. People can construe reality by constructing different constructs. Hence, determining a person's system of constructs would go a long way towards understanding them, especially the person's essential constructs that represent their very strong and unchangeable beliefs and their self-construal.

Kelly did not use the concept of [[the unconscious]]; instead, he proposed the notion of "levels of awareness" to explain why people did what they did.{{sfn|Fransella|2005|p=11}} He identified "construing" as the highest level and "preverbal" as the lowest level of awareness.{{sfn|Fransella|2005|p=11}}

Some psychologists have suggested that PCT is not a psychological theory but a [[metatheory]] because it is a theory about theories.{{sfn|Fransella|2003|p=8}}

== Therapy approach ==
Kelly believed in a non-invasive or non-directive approach to [[psychotherapy]]. Rather than having the therapist interpret the person's [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]], which would amount to imposing the doctor's constructs on the patient, the therapist should just act as a facilitator of the patient finding their own constructs. The patient's behavior is then mainly explained as ways to selectively observe the world, act upon it and update the construct system in such a way as to increase predictability. To help the patient find their constructs, Kelly developed the repertory grid interview technique.

Kelly explicitly stated that each individual's task in understanding their personal psychology is to put in order the facts of their own experience. Then the individual, like the scientist, is to test the accuracy of that constructed knowledge by performing those actions the constructs suggest. If the results of their actions are in line with what the knowledge predicted, then they have done a good job of finding the order in their personal experience. If not, then they can modify the construct: their interpretations or their predictions or both. This method of discovering and correcting constructs is roughly analogous to the general [[scientific method]] that is applied in various ways by modern sciences to discover truths about the universe.

== The repertory grid ==
{{Main|Repertory grid}}
The repertory grid serves as part of various assessment methods to elicit and examine an individual's repertoire of personal constructs. There are different formats such as card sorts, verbally administered group format, and the [[repertory grid]] technique.{{sfn|Horley|2008|pp=58–65}}

The repertory grid itself is a [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix]] where the rows represent constructs found, the columns represent the elements, and cells indicate with a number the position of each element within each construct. There is software available to produce several reports and graphs from these grids.

To build a repertory grid for a patient, Kelly might first ask the patient to select about seven elements (although there are no fixed rules for the number of elements{{sfn|Fransella|Bell|Bannister|2004|p=27}}) whose nature might depend on whatever the patient or therapist are trying to discover.{{sfn|Fransella|Bell|Bannister|2004|p=27}} For instance, "Two specific friends, two work-mates, two people you dislike, your mother and yourself", or something of that sort. Then, three of the elements would be selected at random, and then the therapist would ask: "In relation to&nbsp;... (whatever is of interest), in which way are two of these people alike but different from the third?" The answer is sure to indicate one of the extreme points of one of the patient's constructs. He might say for instance that Fred and Sarah are very communicative whereas John isn't. Further questioning would reveal the other end of the construct (say, introvert) and the positions of the three characters between extremes. Repeating the procedure with different sets of three elements ends up revealing several constructs the patient might not have been fully aware of.

In the book ''Personal Construct Methodology'', researchers [[Brian R. Gaines]] and Mildred L.G. Shaw noted that they "have also found [[concept map]]ping and [[semantic network]] tools to be complementary to repertory grid tools and generally use both in most studies" but that they "see less use of network representations in PCP studies than is appropriate".<ref>Gaines & Shaw, [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.414.1037&rep=rep1&type=pdf "Computer-aided constructivism"], in {{harvnb|Caputi|Viney|Walker|Crittenden|2011|pp=183–222}}</ref> They encouraged practitioners to use semantic network techniques in addition to the repertory grid.<ref>On constructivist [[multimethodology]] see also, for example: {{harvnb|Bradshaw|Ford|Adams-Webber|Boose|1993}}</ref>

=== Organizational applications ===
PCP has always been a minority interest among psychologists. During the last 30 years, it has gradually gained adherents in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Italy and Spain. While its chief fields of application remain clinical and educational psychology, there is an increasing interest in its applications to [[organizational development]], employee training and development, job analysis, job description and evaluation. The [[repertory grid]] is often used in the qualitative phase of market research, to identify the ways in which consumers construe products and services.

== See also ==
* [[Cognitive analytic therapy]]
* {{section link|Decisional balance sheet|ABC model}}
* [[Idios kosmos]]
* [[Post-rationalist cognitive therapy]]
* [[Schema therapy]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
<!-- References are in reverse chronological order (most recent first) -->
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Caputi |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Viney |editor2-first=Linda L. |editor3-last=Walker |editor3-first=Beverly M. |editor4-last=Crittenden |editor4-first=Nadia |date=2011 |title=Personal construct methodology |location=Malden, MA |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9780470770870 |oclc=730906380 |doi=10.1002/9781119953616 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Carrillat |first1=François A. |last2=Riggle |first2=Robert J. |last3=Locander |first3=William B. |last4=Gebhardt |first4=Gary F. |last5=Lee |first5=James M. |date=2009 |title=Cognitive segmentation: modeling the structure and content of customers' thoughts |journal=Psychology and Marketing |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=479–506 |doi=10.1002/mar.20284 }}
* {{cite book |last=Horley |first=James |date=2008 |title=Sexual offenders: personal construct theory and deviant sexual behaviour |location=New York |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781583917350 |oclc=176648827 |doi=10.4324/9780203929810 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Fransella |editor-first=Fay |date=2005 |title=The essential practitioner's handbook of personal construct psychology |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470013236 |oclc=694910981 }} This is a concise (abridged) paperback version of {{harvtxt|Fransella|2003}}.
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Winter |editor1-first=David A. |editor2-last=Viney |editor2-first=Linda L. |date=2005 |title=Personal construct psychotherapy: advances in theory, practice, and research |location=London; Philadelphia |publisher=Whurr Publishers |isbn=9781861563941 |oclc=57485437 |doi=10.1002/9780470713686 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Simpson |first1=Barbara |last2=Large |first2=Bob |last3=O'Brien |first3=Matthew |date=January 2004 |title=Bridging difference through dialogue: a constructivist perspective |journal=Journal of Constructivist Psychology |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=45–59 |doi=10.1080/10720530490250697 |s2cid=145716959 }}
* {{cite book |last=Jankowicz |first=Devi |date=2004 |title=The easy guide to repertory grids |location=Chichester, UK; Hoboken, NJ |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470854044 |oclc=51984819 }}
* {{cite book |last=Millon |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodore Millon |year=2004 |title=Masters of the mind: exploring the story of mental illness from ancient times to the new millennium |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9780471469858 |oclc=54460256 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Fransella |editor-first=Fay |date=2003 |title=International handbook of personal construct psychology |location=Chichester, UK |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470847275 |oclc=51178396 |doi=10.1002/0470013370 }}
* <!-- no inline citations, but it was added to the article in a way that suggests its a source -->{{cite book |editor1-last=Neimeyer |editor1-first=Greg J. |editor2-last=Neimeyer |editor2-first=Robert A. |date=2002 |title=Advances in personal construct psychology: new directions and perspectives |location=Wesport, CT |publisher=[[Praeger Publishing]] |isbn=978-0275972943 |oclc=50434439 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Yorke |first=Mantz |date=April 2001 |title=Bipolarity... or not?: some conceptual problems relating to bipolar rating scales |journal=[[British Educational Research Journal]] |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=171–186 |doi=10.1080/01411920120037126 |jstor=1501708 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Jeffrey M. |author-link1=Jeffrey M. Bradshaw |last2=Ford |first2=Kenneth M. |last3=Adams-Webber |first3=Jack R. |last4=Boose |first4=John H. |date=1993 |chapter=Beyond the repertory grid: new approaches to constructivist knowledge acquisition tool development |editor1-last=Ford |editor1-first=Kenneth M. |editor2-last=Bradshaw |editor2-first=Jeffrey M. |editor2-link=Jeffrey M. Bradshaw |title=Knowledge acquisition as modeling |location=New York |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |pages=287–333 |isbn=978-0471593683 |oclc=26851198 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gaines |first1=Brian R. |author-link1=Brian R. Gaines |last2=Shaw |first2=Mildred L. G. |date=March 1993 |title=Knowledge acquisition tools based on personal construct psychology |journal=The Knowledge Engineering Review |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=49–85 |doi=10.1017/S0269888900000060 |citeseerx=10.1.1.33.2205 |s2cid=18126815 }}
* <!-- no inline citations, but it was added to the article in a way that suggests its a source -->{{cite book |last1=Fransella |first1=Fay |last2=Dalton |first2=Peggy |date=2000 |orig-year=1990 |title=Personal construct counselling in action |edition=2nd |location=London; Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |isbn=978-0761966142 |oclc=44502510 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Riemann |first=Rainer |date=April 1990 |title=The bipolarity of personal constructs |journal=International Journal of Personal Construct Psychology |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=149–165 |doi=10.1080/10720539008412806 |url=https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/download/1776140/2312073 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Valerie |last2=Stewart |first2=Andrew |last3=Fonda |first3=Nickie |date=1981 |title=Business applications of repertory grid |location=London; New York |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |isbn=978-0070845497 |oclc=8061567 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Fransella |first1=Fay |last2=Bell |first2=Richard |last3=Bannister |first3=Donald |date=2004 |orig-year=1977 |title=A manual for repertory grid technique |edition=2nd |location=Chichester, UK; Hoboken, NJ |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470854907 |oclc=52587457 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Bannister |first1=Donald |last2=Fransella |first2=Fay |date=1986 |orig-year=1971 |title=Inquiring man: the psychology of personal constructs |edition=3rd |location=London; Dover, NH |publisher=[[Croom Helm]] |isbn=978-0709939504 |oclc=12583609 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Bannister |editor-first=Donald |date=1970 |title=Perspectives in personal construct theory |location=London; New York |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0120779604 |oclc=131128 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=George |author-link1=George Kelly (psychologist) |last2=Maher |first2=Brendan A. |date=1969 |title=Clinical psychology and personality: the selected papers of George Kelly |location=New York |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0471563563 |oclc=6272 |url=https://archive.org/details/clinicalpsycholo0000kell }}
* {{cite book |last=Kelly |first=George |author-link=George Kelly (psychologist) |date=1991 |orig-year=1955 |title=The psychology of personal constructs |location=London; New York |publisher=Routledge in association with the Centre for Personal Construct Psychology |isbn=978-0415037990 |oclc=21760190 }} Originally published as: {{cite book |last=Kelly |first=George |author-link=George Kelly (psychologist) |date=1955 |title=The psychology of personal constructs |url=https://archive.org/details/psychologyofpers02kell |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |oclc=217761}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
<!-- References are in reverse chronological order (most recent first) -->
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Winter |editor1-first=David A. |editor2-last=Reed |editor2-first=Nick |date=2016 |title=The Wiley handbook of personal construct psychology |location=Chichester, UK; Malden, MA |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9781118508312 |oclc=913829512 |doi=10.1002/9781118508275 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Salla |first1=Marta |last2=Feixas |first2=Guillem |last3=Ballén |first3=Cristina |last4=Muñoz |first4=Dámaris |last5=Compañ |first5=Victoria |date=January 2015 |title=The couple's grid: a tool for assessing interpersonal construction in couples |journal=Journal of Constructivist Psychology |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=53–66 |doi=10.1080/10720537.2013.859110 |s2cid=144443174 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Winter |first1=David A. |last2=Procter |first2=Harry |date=2014 |chapter=Formulation in personal and relational construct psychology: seeing the world through clients' eyes |editor1-last=Johnstone |editor1-first=Lucy |editor2-last=Dallos |editor2-first=Rudi |title=Formulation in psychology and psychotherapy: making sense of people's problems |edition=2nd |location=London; New York |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=145–172 |isbn=9780415682305 |oclc=894506578 }}
<!-- 2000s -->
* {{cite book |last=Neimeyer |first=Robert A. |date=2009 |title=Constructivist psychotherapy: distinctive features |series=The CBT distinctive features series |location=Hove, East Sussex; New York |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9780415442336 |oclc=237402656 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gabalda |first1=Isabel Caro |last2=Neimeyer |first2=Robert A. |last3=Newman |first3=Cory F. |date=December 2009 |title=Theory and practice in the cognitive psychotherapies: convergence and divergence |journal=Journal of Constructivist Psychology |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=65–83 |doi=10.1080/10720530903400996 |s2cid=144796068 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Leitner |editor1-first=Larry M. |editor2-last=Thomas |editor2-first=Jill C. |date=2009 |title=Personal constructivism: theory and applications |location=New York |publisher=[[Pace University Press]] |isbn=978-0944473948 |oclc=434613248 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Winter |first=David A. |date=September 2008 |title=Cognitive behaviour therapy: from rationalism to constructivism? |journal=European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=221–229 |doi=10.1080/13642530802337959 |s2cid=145611174 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Stein |first=Miriam |date=June 2007 |title=Nonverbal techniques in personal construct psychotherapy |journal=Journal of Constructivist Psychology |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=103–124 |doi=10.1080/10720530601074689 |s2cid=144225266 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Caputi |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Foster |editor2-first=Heather |editor3-last=Viney |editor3-first=Linda L. |date=2006 |title=Personal construct psychology: new ideas |location=Chichester, UK; Hoboken, NJ |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470019436 |oclc=694910981 |doi=10.1002/9780470713044 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Milton |first1=Nick R. |last2=Clarke |first2=David |last3=Shadbolt |first3=Nigel |author-link3=Nigel Shadbolt |date=December 2006 |title=Knowledge engineering and psychology: towards a closer relationship |journal=International Journal of Human–Computer Studies |volume=64 |issue=12 |pages=1214–1229 |doi=10.1016/j.ijhcs.2006.08.001 |url=http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/ddc/general/vb/Personal_knowledge.pdf }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Raskin |editor1-first=Jonathan D. |editor2-last=Bridges |editor2-first=Sara K. |date=2002 |title=Studies in meaning: exploring constructivist psychology |location=New York |publisher=[[Pace University Press]] |isbn=978-0944473573 |oclc=48390934 }}
<!-- 1990s -->
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Neimeyer |editor1-first=Robert A. |editor2-last=Mahoney |editor2-first=Michael J. |date=1995 |title=Constructivism in psychotherapy |location=Washington, DC |publisher=[[American Psychological Association]] |isbn=978-1557982797 |oclc=31518985 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Epting |first1=Franz R. |last2=Probert |first2=James S. |last3=Pittman |first3=Stephen D. |date=January 1993 |title=Alternative strategies for construct elicitation: experimenting with experience |journal=International Journal of Personal Construct Psychology |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=79–98 |doi=10.1080/08936039308404333 }}
* {{cite book |last=Winter |first=David A. |date=1992 |title=Personal construct psychology in clinical practice: theory, research, and applications |location=London; New York |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0415005272 |oclc=23082076 }}
<!-- 1980s -->
* {{cite journal |last=Soldz |first=Stephen |date=October 1988 |title=Constructivist tendencies in recent psychoanalysis |journal=International Journal of Personal Construct Psychology |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=329–347 |doi=10.1080/10720538808412783 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mahoney |first1=Michael J. |last2=Lyddon |first2=William J. |date=April 1988 |title=Recent developments in cognitive approaches to counseling and psychotherapy |journal=[[The Counseling Psychologist]] |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=190–234 |doi=10.1177/0011000088162001 |s2cid=145762685 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Fransella |editor1-first=Fay |editor2-last=Thomas |editor2-first=Laurie F. |date=1988 |title=Experimenting with personal construct psychology |location=London; New York |publisher=[[Routledge & Kegan Paul]] |isbn=978-0710210623 |oclc=15855887 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Epting |editor1-first=Franz R. |editor2-last=Landfield |editor2-first=Alvin W. |date=1985 |title=Anticipating personal construct psychology |location=Lincoln |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |isbn=978-0803228627 |oclc=11290933 |url=https://archive.org/details/anticipatingpers00epti }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Bannister |editor-first=Donald |date=1985 |title=Issues and approaches in personal construct theory |location=London; Orlando, FL |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0120779802 |oclc=10996166 |url=https://archive.org/details/issuesapproaches0000unse }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Epting |editor1-first=Franz R. |editor2-last=Neimeyer |editor2-first=Robert A. |date=1984 |title=Personal meanings of death: applications of personal construct theory to clinical practice |series=Series in death education, aging, and health care |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Hemisphere Pub. Corp. |isbn=978-0891163633 |oclc=9557799 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Reason |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Rowan |editor2-first=John |date=1981 |title=Human inquiry: a sourcebook of new paradigm research |location=Chichester, UK; New York |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0471279358 |oclc=7206012 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gaines |first1=Brian R. |author-link1=Brian R. Gaines |last2=Shaw |first2=Mildred L. G. |date=July 1980 |title=New directions in the analysis and interactive elicitation of personal construct systems |journal=International Journal of Man-Machine Studies |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=81–116 |doi=10.1016/S0020-7373(80)80038-1 |citeseerx=10.1.1.414.3762 }}
<!-- 1970s -->
* {{cite book |editor-last=Fransella |editor-first=Fay |date=1978 |title=Personal construct psychology, 1977 |series=Second International Congress on Personal Construct Theory |location=London; New York |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0122654602 |oclc=5674889 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/personalconstruc0000inte }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Bannister |editor-first=Donald |date=1977 |title=New perspectives in personal construct theory |location=London; New York |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0120779406 |oclc=10274182 }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.pcp-net.de/info/centre.html |title=The PCP Portal |website=www.pcp-net.de}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.centrepcp.co.uk/ |title=Centre for Personal Construct Psychology |website=www.centrepcp.co.uk}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Constructivism (psychological school)]]
[[Category:Personality theories]]