Definition
A person’s processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which he anticipates events (Kelly 1955, p. 46).
Introduction
George A. Kelly’s (1955) personal construct theory (PCT) is a theory of personality mainly devoted to clinical diagnosis and psychotherapy. Its assumptive structure rests on a philosophical position called by Kelly constructive alternativism – “all of our present interpretations of the universe are subject to revision or replacement” (p. 15) – and on the fundamental postulate, meant as a tentative statement so basic in its nature that it antecedes everything said in the system it supports. The theory is then elaborated by means of 11 corollaries.
Terms
An analysis of the words chosen by Kelly for enunciating the fundamental postulate will help to grasp its far-ranging implications.
PCT has the individual person“rather than any part of the person, any group of persons, or any particular process manifested in the person’s behavior” as its object...
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References
Chiari, G. (2009). The issue of the unity and specificity of psychology from the viewpoint of a constructivist epistemology. Humana.Mente, 11, 81–95. Retrieved from http://www.humanamente.eu/PDF/Issue11_Paper_Chiari.pdf.
Chiari, G. (2013). Emotion in personal construct theory: A controversial question. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 26, 249–261.
Kelly, G. A. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs (Vol. 2). New York: Norton.
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Chiari, G. (2020). Fundamental Postulate (Kelly). In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_977
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_977
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