fei75766_ch19_610-639.indd 635  02/06/20 01:53 PM
Chapter 19     Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs635
Wealsoratethetheory lowasaguide to action. Kelly’s ideas onpsychotherapy 
arerather innovative andsuggest tothepractitioner some interesting techniques. 
Playing theroleofafictitious person, someone theclient would liketoknow, is
indeed anunusual andpractical approach totherapy. Kelly relied heavily oncom-
monsense inthistherapeutic practice, andwhat worked forhimmight notwork for
someone else.Thatdisparity would bequite acceptable toKelly, however, because 
heviewed therapy asascientific experiment. Thetherapist islikeascientist, using 
imagination totestavariety ofhypotheses: thatis,totryoutnewtechniques andto
explore alternate ways oflooking atthings. Nevertheless, Kelly’s theory offers few
specific suggestions toparents, therapists, researchers, andothers whoaretrying to
understand human behavior.
Fifth, isthetheory internally consistent, withasetofoperationally defined terms? 
Onthefirstpartofthisquestion, personal construct theory rates veryhigh. Kelly 
wasexceptionally careful inchoosing terms andconcepts toexplain hisfundamen -
talpostulate andthe11corollaries. Hislanguage, although frequently difficult, is
bothelegant andprecise. The Psychology of Personal Constructs (Kelly, 1955) contains 
more than1,200 pages, buttheentire theory ispieced together likeafinely woven 
fabric. Kelly seemed tohaveconstantly been aware ofwhat hehadalready saidand
what hewasgoing tosay.
Onthesecond halfofthiscriterion, personal construct theory fallsshort, because 
likemost theorists discussed inthisbook, Kelly didnotdefine histerms operation -
ally.However, hewasexemplary inwriting comprehensive andexacting definitions of
nearly allterms usedinthebasic postulate andsupporting corollaries.
Finally, isthetheory parsimonious? Despite thelength ofKelly’s two-volume 
book, thetheory ofpersonal constructs isexceptionally straightforward andeconomi -
cal.Thebasic theory isstated inonefundamental postulate andthenelaborated by
means of11corollaries. Allother concepts andassumptions canbeeasily related to
thisrelatively simple structure.
 Concept of Humanity
Kelly had an essentially optimistic  view of human nature. He saw people as 
anticipating the future and living their lives in accordance with those antici -
pations. People are capable of changing their personal constructs at any 
time of life, but those changes are seldom easy. Kelly’s modulation corollary 
suggests that constructs are permeable or resilient, meaning that new ele -
ments can be admitted. Not all people, however, have equally permeable 
constructs. Some accept new experiences and restructure their interpreta -
tions accordingly, whereas others possess concrete constructs that are very 
difficult to alter. Nevertheless, Kelly was quite optimistic in his belief that 
therapeutic experiences can help people live more productive lives.
On the dimension of determinism versus free choice, Kelly’s theory leans 
toward free choice. Within our own personal construct system, we are free to Final PDF to printer