George Kelly, Theory of Personal Constructs - Research Paper Example

? George Kelly-Theory of Personal Constructs and number Submitted Introduction Majority of psychologist in the historic times were intrigued by the behavior of individuals, prompting them to investigate why people behaved the way they did. An important theorist is George Kelly theory of personal constructs who emulated the constructs the people held and thus influenced their take on life events. This will be achieved by describing the biography of George Kelly and how he inspired the development of the theory of personal constructs. Consequently, the empirical methodologies of the theory and the contribution of the theory to the field will be emulated. Subsequently, a critical evaluation of the theory as pertains to different professionals will be described. A personal response as to how the theory of personal constructs influence my personal life will be outlined. All this will be aimed at addressing the thesis statement; relevance of George Kelly’s theory of personal constructs in society today (Boeree, 2006). Biography of the Theorist Richard Kelly was born at a farm in Kansas on 28, April 1905 as an only child to Theodore and Kelly. His mother had been a school teacher while his father had retired to farming from being a Presbyterian minister. He was able to access best education at the time and has been documented to have attended one room schools till when he attained the age of thirteen years that he was sent to a boarding school in Wichita. George Kelly has been described as directionless since having cleared his high school; he was interested in many things but did not exactly know which career path to follow. He studied his Bachelors at Park College where he graduate with a bachelor’s degree in math and physics in 1926 and thereafter perused his masters at University of Kansas and graduated with a masters in Sociology (Boeree, 2006). Following his academic excellence, he moved to Minnesota where he taught citizenship to immigrant classes. Consequently, he taught public speaking to bankers and also to labor organizations. He later shifted to Iowa where he was a drama coach and teacher at a junior college. It was during this time that he garnered admission to University of Edinburgh and was awarded a bachelors degree in educational psychology. He went to the State University of Iowa where he graduated with a PHD in psychology in 1931. The year 1931 was the beginning of his role in psychological theories and he developed the theory of personal constructs (Boeree, 2006). He started tutoring at Fort Hays Kansas State College where he taught psychological psychology. This came at a time when depression and dust bowl had taken a toll on the farmers in Kansas. George Kelly was keen to note the sorrow and the pain that the families were experiencing and thus made a decision to be humanitarian with his life. This led to George Kelly commencing clinical services in the rural areas where the farmers were faced with the challenge of depression. It was a humanitarian activity on the basis that most of the clients he attended to were poor. This meant that George in the company of his students had to travel to where the farmers were so as to effectively attend to them. During this time, every psychologist used the standard Freudian strategy in the management of the patients. This was achieved through conducting a free association with the patients as they lay on the couch and upon perceiving aggressive and sexual needs in the patients that would cause the depression; he relayed this information to the patients. Though the Freudian methodology seemed bizarre and bearing in mind the culture of the community, he expected at how readily they accepted the conclusions arrived at by him. This intrigued him and he discovered that this was so since the patients had their confidence in him and also in his profession (Boeree, 2006). However, George Kelly was not so certain about the effectiveness of the Freudian association since he found that at times the explanations were ambiguous especially bearing in mind the livelihood of the Kansas farming families. With time, George Kelly realized that even though he made up and explanation, the patients listened to him with the same keenness and responded at the same slow rate as the rest of the other patients. It was at this point that he gained an insight that what mattered to the people was that someone would come up with an explanation of what was happening with their lives. It did not matter if the explanation was right or wrong, what mattered was that there was an individual who would perceive order in the conflict in their lives “chaos” and especially if this individual had authority. It was more believable to the patient’s especially if the order outlined came from out of their own culture, and their own lives. These insights are what prompted George Kelly to develop his theory of personal constructs (Boeree, 2006). George Kelly called this philosophy constructive alternativism which is the prospect that even though there is only one reality, individuals perceive reality independently from each other or what he described as alternative construction. Kelly avowed that each individual ha his or her own construction and that some constructions are better than other constructions. This led to the depressed families believing that the physician’s construction was better than their own. However, Kelly avowed that there is no construction that is complete since bearing in mind the complexity of the world, it is just impossible for an individual to have a completely perfect perspective about anything. He avowed that no individual’s perspective should be ignored since this perspective serves as the vital reality to that person and hence has value as pertains to the place and time to that person. With an insight into the biography of George Kelly and how his theory of personal construct was developed, this paper will now explain the theorist’s important contribution as well as its empirical research methodologies (Boeree, 2006). A Detailed Explanation of the Theorist's Most Important Contribution to the Field (What They Are Best Known For) and Description of Their Empirical Research Methodologies Man as a scientist is the main empirical research methodology employed by the theory of personal construct. Kelly viewed man as a scientist since every individual at every time of his or her life, is always attempting to make sense of the world around him. When an individual comes up with the theories that he or she purports to explain the things happening to him or her, the individual goes ahead to test the hypothesis of this theories. This is described as the behavioral experience of individuals’ hence testing the conviction of the hypothesis that an individual holds about life and events. Kelly emphasizes that the theory of personal constructs does not merely exploit scientific findings. The theory of personal construct goes ahead in applying the scientific methodology basis to assess the position of psychotherapy in assessing the personal constructs of individuals (Slater, 2010). The theory of personal constructs is relevant in the society today since Kelly attempted to inculcate the human emotions, motivations, learning and experiences into his theory. He aimed at evaluating how people experience events; process these events and how this processing affects their behavior patterns. Through understanding of the theory of personal constructs the individual will be in a position to interpret the world around him or her and hence understand his or her behavior. George emphasized that by people interacting with each other, they were able to share their personal experiences and thus able to construct the experience of the other person. Through this, the people in the society will be able to accept each other and their constructs and rather than criticizing them, understand the origin of their constructs and their view of life (Slater, 2010). Repertory grid is an empirical methodological design that was employed by Kelly in bid of enhancing the relevance of his theory of personal constructs. George uses this method to illustrate how the theoretical thinking of an individual can be implemented into the practical needs of a psychotherapist hence aid in the management of an individual. This served as Kelly’s action initiative of the theory of personal construct. Based on the phenomenological research activity the essence of the repertory grids was to serve as technology conversation. This is emulated as a framework that is built around constructs and elements on a topic of interest and upon conducting an interview with this individual; it is easy to know how this person thinks. This aided in describing the individual and this theory has been used to diagnose schizophrenics (Slater, 2010). Following the use of the theory of personal constructs in mental health, it has effectively been applied in other fields emphasizing its relevance in the society. This has led to the involvement of the theory of personal construct in job analysis when recruiting employees. This is since it serves as a basis of selection for the purpose of employment, induction training, and consequently evaluating the performance of individuals with reference to their genders. This theory has also been used in survivors of sexual abuse so as to examine their relationship with other people. The theory of personal construct has also been effectively implemented in the field of tourism and hospitality hence understands the trend of the products and the individuals. This can serve as a basis of strategic planning by the tourism industry so as to prevail at a more competitive edge compared to other sectors that do not employ the theory of personal construct. This emphasizes the relevance of the theory of personal constructs since it aids in understanding the people who are the greatest asset of the tourism industry (Hankinson, 2004). Critical evaluation of the theory form industry professionals George Kelly theory of personal constructs though being relevant in appreciating the different constructs of individuals, it has not yet gone escaped criticism. To begin with, the theory is being criticized in its lack of ability to be constant. Personal constructs are subject to change when evaluated at different times and by different people. Critics view this lack of certainty as a loop hole of this theory since it cannot be held constant despite the time used. This means that there is no fixed personal construct since the individual has the capability of expressing different constructs at different times. A theory having been tested should be attributed to certainty yet the personal construct theory changes with emotion, age, time and development (Lester, 1995). Moreover, Georges’ theory of personal constructs has been criticized as despite being visionary, it lays too much emphasis on detail. This is attributed to the fact that every individuals’ construct is upheld by the theory are everyone is regarded as being right as per his or her construct. This to critics is too much detail since most theories address a specific aspect of an individual. However, Georges’ theory addresses all aspects of an individual hence constructs can be derived from people, places, or events. To George detail is a concept that appreciates the diversity that exists in carrying out activities and viewing life. In contrast, critics vie the detail exhibited in the theory of personal constructs as complex and lacks certainty since everyone’s construct should be respected and appreciated despite the possibility that it is wrong and far- fetched (Plank & Green, 1996). Personal Response to the Theory of Personal Constructs In my opinion, the theory of personal construct by George Kelly is relevant in the society today since it plays a significant role in understanding each other. To begin with, this theory appreciates that each individual hence his or her own constructs based on people, events or places. As defined by Kelly, an individual is a scientist meaning throughout life, an individual tries to understand what is happening around him or her. This theory enables me as an individual to make the world more predictable since I am able to adjust how to respond to similar situations. This is since by building constructs as pertains to people, individuals and events, I am able to appreciate the opinion that people hold as pertains to events. Moreover, I am able to appreciate that change leads to growth of constructs and that this is a gradual process that takes time. This enables me to deal with different constructs at different times. Subsequently, gaining knowledge on the theory of personal constructs influences my life positively since I am in a position to influence my perceptions and expectations concerning various constructs in life. Also, this theory has impacted positively in my world since it has given me an insight on what is important in life, that should be prioritized as pertains to the constructs I create. Since I would want people to understand and accept my truth as a result of the constructs I have built, I have also learnt to accept the constructs of other people. This has made me not to be judgmental and has inculcated a spirit of collegiality with people of diverse calibers. In my opinion, Kelly’s’ theory of personal construct is relevant since it sires an understanding and respectful community as pertains to diverse opinions hence cohesion among individuals (Slater, 2010). Conclusion It is evident that George Kelly is an important theorist and his theory of personal constructs is relevant in the society today. With reference to the evolution of this theory, Kelly’s desire to challenge the Freudianism psychological construct made him realize that personal constructs of an individual exist. There are various methodological approaches that have been implemented by the theory of personal construct. This is the empirical evaluation that man is a scientist, consequently repertory grid, and use in job analysis and tourism industry is important concept of the theory of personal construct. However, the theory of personal construct has been criticized since some professions perceive it as labile since the constructs change with time. Moreover, the theory has been criticized on the basis that it emphasizes too much on detail. However, Kelly took an initiative in clarifying his theory and the purpose of the constructs and their influence on behavior. It is therefore evident that the theory of personal constructs plays a dire role in psychology, tourism, business, procurement, and also in relations between people. This therefore makes it viable to conclude that the theory of personal construct is relevant to the society today. References Boeree, C., (2006), George Kelly 1905-1967, Personality Theories, Retrieved on 8 February 2010 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/kelly.html Hankinson, G. (2004). The brand images of tourism destinations: A study of the saliency of organic images. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 13(1), 6-14. Lester, D. (1995).Theories of personality: a systems approach. Bristol, PA: Taylor and Francis Publishing Plank, R. E., & Greene, J. N. (1996). Personal construct psychology and personal selling performance. European Journal of Marketing, 30(7), 25-48. Slater, A. (2010). Understanding individual membership at heritage sites. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 4(1), 44-56 Read More