Name: Geal Carmel V.

Lim
Offer code: Psych 245 6089

Applications of Personal Construct Theory

Abnormal Development
A person’s construction system exists in the present—not the past or future. Psychological
disorders, therefore, also exist in the present; they are caused neither by childhood
experiences nor by future events.

 Psychologically healthy people validate their personal constructs against their

experiences with the real world. not only anticipate events but are also able to make
satisfactory adjustments when things do not turn out as they expected.

 Unhealthy people, on the other hand, stubbornly cling to outdated personal constructs,
fearing validation of any new constructs that would upset their present comfortable view
of the world.

Kelly (1955) defifined a disorder as “any personal construction which is used repeatedly in
spite of consistent invalidation” like everyone else, possess a complex construction system.
Their personal constructs, however, often fail the test of permeability in one of two ways:
They may be too impermeable or they may be too flexible. In the first instance, new
experiences do not penetrate the construction system, so the person fails to adjust to the real
world. A construction system that is too loose or flexible leads to disorganization, an
inconsistent pattern of behavior, and a transient set of values.

Four common elements in most human disturbance

1. Threat- The awareness of imminent comprehensive change in one’s core structures. One
can be threatened by either people or events. People experience threat when they perceive that
the stability of their basic constructs is likely to be shaken. Thus, resistance to change and
“negative transference” are means of reducing threat and maintaining existing personal
constructs.
2. Fear- defined as an awareness that an incidental change is imminent in your core constructs,
is much less interesting. Since the change in one’s core constructs is small, people typically
handle fear without recourse to psychotherapy.
3. Guilt- Guilt is defined as an experience that accompanies your perception that you have
become dislodged from your core role. Your core role is the subsystem of constructs that
enables you to predict and describe your behavior. It gives you a sense of identity. It is the
result of invalidating your core constructs, that is, finding out that you are not the kind of
person whom you thought you were.
4. Anxiety - is experienced when your construction system no longer applies to the situation
that confronts you. You cannot construe (make sense of) what is happening. Finding yourself
in any new situation leads to some anxiety. If you have developed a sound construction
system, you will eventually make sense of the situation and make effective choices as to how
to respond. If you do this, your construction grows in its range of applicability.