fei75766_ch19_610-639.indd 625  02/06/20 01:53 PM
Chapter 19     Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs625
Although Kelly didnotusetraditional labels indescribing psychopathology, he
dididentify fourcommon elements inmost human disturbance: threat, fear,anxiety, 
andguilt.
Threat
People experience threat when theyperceive thatthestability oftheirbasic constructs is
likely tobeshaken. Kelly (1955) defined threat as“the awareness of imminent comprehen -
sive change in one’s core structures” (p.489). Onecanbethreatened byeither people or
events, andsometimes thetwocannot beseparated. Forexample, during psychotherapy, 
clients often feelthreat fromtheprospect ofchange, evenchange forthebetter. Iftheysee
atherapist asapossible instigator ofchange, theywillviewthattherapist asathreat. Cli-
entsfrequently resist change andconstrue theirtherapist’s behavior inanegative fashion. 
Such resistance and“negative transference” aremeans ofreducing threat andmaintaining 
existing personal constructs (Stojnov &Butt,2002).
Fear
ByKelly’s definition, threat involves acomprehensive change inaperson’s corestruc -
tures. Fear, ontheother hand, ismore specific andincidental .Kelly (1955) illustrated 
thedifference between threat andfearwiththefollowing example. Amanmaydrive 
hiscardangerously astheresult ofanger orexuberance. These impulses become threat -
ening when themanrealizes thathemayrunoverachild orbearrested forreckless 
driving andendupasacriminal. Inthiscase,acomprehensive portion ofhisper-
sonal constructs isthreatened. However, ifheissuddenly confronted withtheprob-
ability ofcrashing hiscar,hewillexperience fear.Threat demands acomprehensive 
restructuring—fear, anincidental one.Psychological disturbance results when either 
threat orfearpersistently prevents aperson from feeling secure.
Anxiety
Kelly (1955) defined anxiety as“the recognition that the events with which one is con -
fronted lie outside the range of convenience of one’s construct system” (p.495). People 
arelikely tofeelanxious when theyareexperiencing anewevent. Forexample, when 
Arlene, theengineering student, wasbargaining withtheused-car dealer, shewasnot
surewhat todoorsay.Shehadnever before negotiated oversuchalarge amount of
money, andtherefore thisexperience wasoutside therange ofherconvenience. Asa
consequence, shefeltanxiety, butitwasanormal levelofanxiety anddidnotresult 
inincapacitation.
Pathological anxiety exists when aperson’s incompatible constructs cannolon-
gerbetolerated andtheperson’s construction system breaks down. Recall thatKelly’s 
fragmentation corollary assumes thatpeople canevolve construction subsystems that
areincompatible withoneanother. Forexample, when aperson whohaserected the
rigidconstruction thatallpeople aretrustworthy isblatantly cheated byacolleague, 
thatperson mayforatimetolerate theambiguity ofthetwoincompatible subsystems. 
However, when evidence oftheuntrustworthiness ofothers becomes overwhelming, 
theperson’s construct system maybreak down. Theresult isarelatively permanent 
anddebilitating experience ofanxiety.Final PDF to printer