George Kelly: Personal Construct Theory Discussion.

According to the psychologist George Kelly, a person’s view of reality is largely dependent on
the person’s personality. Furthermore, a person’s personality is made up several constructs of the
mind about how the world functions. As result, each person tends to behave like a scientist: the
person may want to comprehend the surrounding environment, make forecasts concerning events
that will happen in the aftertime, and even come up with models to make meaning of the
occurrences.
Since theses constructs of the mind are largely personal—their basis being a person’s unique
experiences and observations subject to personal prejudices, arguments and wars—to a
significant extent—consequence because of the difference in how people construe the various
events that happen around them.
When personal confrontations result from this fundamental differences in personal constructs,
the following strategies may be employed to reduce, or even, resolve the conflict:
1. Accommodating: sometimes, it is prudent to subordinate our own interests with the
interests of the other party in the confrontation. This strategy involves a little of sacrifice
whereby, instead of powering your own way to defend your stand or even win an
argument, you let the other party have their way. This strategy involves constructive
alternativisim, whereby one party agrees to revise and/or replace his/her personal
constructs with alternatives as may be required.
2. Competing: this is typically a contradictory strategy to accommodating. Strong heads
may usually resolve to powering their way to defend their stand and win an argument. If
both parties are strong heads, then the argument may escalate to fierce confrontations and
even war as the involved parties try to outdo each other.
3. Avoiding the confrontation: one can decide to refute the existence of a conflict or, in
some cases, chose to completely withdraw from it. Either way, the confrontation is
avoided. However, the aftermath of this strategy is a strained relationship between the
parties involved as there exists unsettled issues in their hearts.
4. Collaborating to find the best solution: this is the opposite of avoidance of a
confrontation, and arguably the most constructive way of handling arguments. People
with strong cognitive complexities usually adopt this strategy whereby they engage and
work together to come up with a solution to the conflict.
5. Compromising: this involves agreeing on a middle ground which involves settling for
partly acceptable solution.