fei75766_ch19_610-639.indd 627  02/06/20 01:53 PM
Chapter 19     Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs627
Theclient isnottrying tobeanother person butismerely playing thepartofsomeone 
whoisworth knowing. Theroleshould notbetaken tooseriously; itisonlyanact,
something thatcanbealtered asevidence warrants.
Fixed-role therapy isnotaimed atsolving specific problems orrepairing obso -
leteconstructs. Itisacreative process thatallows clients togradually discover previ -
ously hidden aspects ofthemselves. Intheearly stages, clients areintroduced only
toperipheral roles; butthen, aftertheyhavehadtimetobecome comfortable with
minor changes inpersonality structure, theytryoutnewcoreroles thatpermit more 
profound personality change (Kelly, 1955).
Prior todeveloping thefixed-role approach, Kelly (1969a) stumbled onan
unusual procedure thatstrongly resembles fixed-role therapy. After becoming uncom -
fortable withFreudian techniques, hedecided toofferhisclients “preposterous inter-
pretations” fortheircomplaints. Some werefar-fetched Freudian interpretations, but
nevertheless, most clients accepted these “explanations” andusedthem asguides to
future action. Forexample, Kelly might tellaclient thatstrict toilet training hascaused 
himtoconstrue hislifeinadogmatically rigidfashion butthatheneed notcontinue 
toseethings inthisway.ToKelly’s surprise, many ofhisclients began tofunction bet-
ter!Thekeytochange wasthesame aswithfixed-role therapy—clients must begin to
interpret theirlivesfrom adifferent perspective andseethemselves inadifferent role.
The Rep Test
Another procedure usedbyKelly, bothinside andoutside therapy, wastheRole Con -
struct Repertory (Rep) test. Thepurpose oftheReptestistodiscover ways inwhich 
people construe significant people intheirlives.
With theReptest,aperson isgiven aRoleTitlelistandasked todesignate peo-
plewhofittheroletitles bywriting theirnames onacard. Forexample, for“ateacher 
youliked,” theperson must supply aparticular name. Thenumber ofroletitles can
vary, butKelly (1955) listed 24ononeversion (seeTable 19.1forafewexamples of
roles). Kelly’s RepTesthasbeen usedincountless different contexts andmany vari-
ations oftheoriginal testhaveevolved. Oneexample isseeninthetopFigure 19.2. 
Theexperimenter provides certain roles andthetest-taker orrater provides the
specific names fortheroles. Roles include yourself, yourmother, father, spouse/
partner, etc.Inthiscase, there are15different roles. 
Themajor goalofthetestinvolves developing theconstructs aperson hasabout 
theimportant people intheirlifebyasking theperson (rater) tochoose anythree 
• Ateacher (whom youliked)
• Ateacher (whom youdisliked)
• Husband orboyfriend
• Agirl(with whom yougotalong wellinhighschool)
• Sister (nearest toyouinage)TABLE 19.1
Example Roles in the Rep TestFinal PDF to printer