A Theory of Personality: The Psychology of Personal Constructs (Norton Library

by George Kelly

"A genuine new departure and a spirited contribution to the psychology of personality." ―Jerome S. Bruner This original theory of personality is based on the concept that there are many workable ways by which individuals can construct their world. George Kelly's starting point and basic premise is that people's processes are psychologically channeled by the ways they anticipate events rather than by the ways they react to them. We develop new means of overcoming obstacles; we are, therefore, neither prisoners of our environment nor victims of our past.

In Dr. Kelly's groundbreaking theory, the patterns of our make-up, which he calls constructs, are the key to changing old patters. Each person anticipates events differently, and Dr. Kelly shows how we can begin to understand each person's unique constructs. In this way, a person is enabled to create alternative constructions―finding a sense of meaning in life, regaining control over his or her environment, and establishing new roads to mental health. This volume consists of the first three chapters of Kelly's two-volume work The Psychology of Personal Constructs .

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Research

202 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 1963

About the author

George Kelly (born George Alexander Kelly; April 28, 1905–March 6, 1967) was an American psychologist, therapist, educator and personality theorist. He is considered the father of cognitive clinical psychology and is best known for his theory of personality, personal construct psychology.

Reviews

[Chris Dietzel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really disappointing in terms of the author's approach to conveying ideas. It is written with an extremely scholarly / academic methodology that strips away any interesting context from it and makes it inaccessible to average readers. I've read quite a few books on personality types, approaches to psychology, etc. and found many of them informative and interesting. I found this so thoroughly bogged down by definitions and scientific jargon that I started skimming 1/3 of the way through.

[SJC · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I were to place this text on a stove over low heat and let it simmer, reducing it to a few descriptive sentences, it would result in a thick, gelatinous liquid that describes humans' attempts to construct their realities through predictive processing. Kelly is remarkably meticulous in how he presents his theory, going to great lengths to define every term leading up to his postulate, such as spending 10 pages on what makes a theory a ‘theory’, the word ‘process’, and the word ‘postulate’. Building up to his presentation, he leaves the reader without a doubt that every word he has chosen to describe his theory of personal constructs is carefully considered and weighed. This is a theory of predictive processing, a Bayesian theory, before this language was adopted into Neuroscience. I sense he is anticipating this; he is searching for words to describe a phenomenon he has observed, but does not yet have concrete language to define it, as it is the 1950’s. I had a continuous inner dialogue while reading this, wondering what Kelly would have thought of the Free Energy Principle, whether he considered neuroscience in his understanding or if it stemmed purely from human observation. Kelly proposes that a person is a kinetic being, a form in continuous motion, composed of dynamic, flexible networks of pathways that are never fixed. You would be disappointed to read this text with the interest of learning about trait models such as the Big Five, or a conversation on psychometrics, for which it would appear some reviews have demoted stars for this reason. Kelly does not expand on any of our more common trait labels like neuroticism or extroversion. He refers to the density distributions as ‘individual corollary.” He is more preoccupied with describing these tendencies as systems within personal constructs. In realising your reality is built from constructs (or mental models), this allows for therapeutic potential, as you can reconstruct those that no longer serve you. This is an inspiring and dense text, anticipating something before its time.

[Valac · Rating 3 out of 5]

relatively speaking, constructs are a compelling topic of conversation [hence one of my research topics], but the book is rather dense. not to mention the examples are kind of dragged on from page to page

[James Rye · Rating 2 out of 5]

The broad concept is interesting. I found the detail tedious.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book in helping one to begin improving how to approach and understand other individuals. This books helps you to see how we each reconstruct (view) our world via our own building blocks that we have gained over our lifetimes. If we disagree with someone, or we are having a difficult time teaching someone, then we can start to understand where that individual is coming from and how they are viewing the problem. Once we understand the individual, then we can begin to communicate with a common understanding.

[Jfish938 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive (if somewhat technical) walkthrough of Kelly's ground-breaking and original ideas on how to understand human meaning-making.

[Hears Remark · Rating 4 out of 5]

In times like these, where personal world views become the anchor of personal security, it is helpful to think twice about how we make sense of the world. Kelly puts the way we make sense of the world in terms of a scientist testing his hypotheses invites the reader to explore their own hypotheses about how they think the worls works like.

The result is a well structured book that explains the concept of psychological constructivism clearly and logically. Layman readers will trip over the terminology at times, but it is not too specialized not to still be understood.

Those who are avid readers and interested in concepts of personality and identity might also want to take a look at Dan P. McAdams' papers about Narrative Identity. My criticism of the ideas (as a layman) was the view of the subject as an actively testing and questioning scientist. McAdams describes the subject as a mere protagonist and gives more space to how people relate to their own constructs.

[Mark Everglade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic book about peripheral and core constructs in the human mind by one of Mead's students. His focus on expectation is very Mead, and anyone coming out of sociological symbolic interactionism will love it. The writing is entertaining as well, and not dry.

The only failure of the book is that its core tenants, its main ideas, are never summarized or brought out in an obvious enough way to get through to the casual reader. A truly in-depth study of the book will reveal so much about why people think and act the way they do, why we can never discuss politics and religion, why racism is so hard to beat, but a lot of his greatest insights only come through years of studying psychology and applying his methodology.

The casual reader will get an average psych book that's straightforward to read - but the dedicated student will find an absolute masterpiece that will impact the way they live, and think.

[Kyle Farris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply philosophical, this book explores a fascinating approach to personality that is worth exploring. I found another authority regarded this as a seminal work, and I understand why. Kelly offers constructive alternativism as the foundation for his psychology of personal constructs. If you are into personality psychology, this is really good. It is helpful to get a good primer on psychodynamic theory before reading. One might be lost in some of the nuance otherwise. Kelly makes allusions to other theories and thinkers throughout. Probably a book I'd return to in a few years.

5-Star: Everyone should read this.
4-Star: Everyone in this specific field should read this.
3-Star: This was a decent read for the specific field, but there are better options.
2-Star: It got me to the end of the book, so there is that.
1-Star: It was bad enough that I didn't finish it.

[purl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to have the chance to create a presentation on this theory of personality, and I must say, I quite enjoyed studying about it, and it gave me the opportunity to give out real life examples. Although, I must admit that it's not my favorite theory, sometimes I find some of the constructs to be a bit confusing. I think part of the reason for my confusion is that I tend to get carried away when reading about the theory, and everything starts to get a little blurry. Nonetheless, it was still an enlightening experience, and to be able to present examples of how people behave in the context within my country was great!

[Renetta Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a really hard read, though I think I have the gist of it I am sure I will have to return to it at some point. I would like to find other books, perhaps that have more accessible language for me. I am not sure how well I have grasped the thinking in the book at the moment. A tough read if you are not used to psychological jargon.

[Stephen Antczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting idea, the psychology of personal constructs as it relates to personality. Was a little too rooted in the clinical/therapeutic tradition for my taste, though.

[Ben Carter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have just begun reading this book and so far I have hated it. It is repetitive, full of logical errors, and unsubstantiated philosophical asserts presented as "facts." I am hoping it gets better because right now it is a rambling mess.

[A L e X a N D e R · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is on par with Robby the Robot writing love sonnets. The ideas, however, are thought-provoking.