Personal Constructs
George H. Kelly established the theory of personal constructs in which he maintained that all people are essentially scientists of their minds, and are attempting to determine what does and does not work. Additionally, people are particularly motivated by both anticipation and predictability. Personal constructs is basically an idea that tries to explain how a person perceives the world and attempts to make predictions so as to have a degree of influence over it (McAdams, 2006). Additionally, every person establishes a methodology of processing data, which may possibly have been inherited from a previous generation, influenced through culture, or learned from one’s own experiences. Personal constructs are related to social perspectives in regard to how personal constructs are established from the methodologies in which a person perceives social situations and its effect on a person’s action in following a social situation (McAdams, 2006). This relationship establishes the way in which a person represents themselves, views people, and behave. Every form of a social event sets a foundation for our perspective and behavior, and it was George H. Kelly who maintained that it all begins when a person is born (McAdams, 2006).
A personal construct essentially predicts how the person will behave in a specific environment or situation. For instance, a person may be overly candid or possibly obnoxious with a person whom s/he is familiar; nonetheless, that same person may be shy with a person in which there is absolutely no familiarity. As such, the person’s personal construct is an influence on the effect of the person’s behavior.
References McAdams, D. (2006). The person: a new introduction to personality psychology. (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
References: McAdams, D. (2006). The person: a new introduction to personality psychology. (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
construct. When an individual is subjected to socialization, they are introduced to the common values, beliefs and cultural norms that are established in society. Despite the ongoing and…
- 208 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
The construct helps predict and control the interpersonal world. The construct affect the way people interact with other and how they perceive the opinion or action of other. People are best understood in terms of their own construct systems. Each person develops his or her own construct system that contains a number of constructs organized into a hierarchy.’ Every person’s construct system is unique, which means that everybody divides up subjective experience in a slightly different way. To know another person’s construct system is to see the world through his or her eyes. Within a given person’s construct system, particular constructs differ from one another with respect to their range of…
- 392 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Portfolio Presentation Megan Libey PSY 490 Dr. Dennis Plunkett Introduction This presentation will go over the various theories that many humans are taught. The theories in the presentation have contributed to the field of psychology over many years, and new ideas, data and collection over materials will make the theories continue to grow with new knowledge that will be learned. The presentation will also touch base on what was important to my learning and how I utilized these in everyday living. Behavioral Theories Stages of Change Behaviorism Conditioning John B. Watson Stages of Change Cognitive Theories…
- 776 Words
- 4 Pages
Powerful Essays -
8. According to social construction, what three main sources of information are most influential in individual perspective development? personal experience, conversations with others, and the media…
- 1063 Words
- 3 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Fundamental Postulate: “A persons processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which he/she anticipates events.” People as scientists…
- 2251 Words
- 10 Pages
Powerful Essays -
“Our paradigms, correct or incorrect, are the sources of our attitudes and behaviors, and ultimately our relationships with others” – Steven R. Covey. Our paradigm is how we see the world; it influences our frame of reference based primarily on our own experiences; we see the world not as it is, but as we are – or are conditioned to see it. Sometimes our paradigms are simply dead wrong; often we feel validated by what other people tell us about ourselves. If we were once told that you are not a good student, good employee or good person, our nature if often to believe those things about ourselves even if they are not true. Humans naturally tend to live out of their memories and social mirrors which make us insecure and vulnerable; instead, Dr. Covey encourages us to change our self-map by looking internally and finding new ways of thinking.…
- 2562 Words
- 11 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Myers, D. G. (2006). Social psychology ninth edition: The self in the social world. New York: McGraw-Hill.…
- 1847 Words
- 8 Pages
Best Essays -
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2009). Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.…
- 1379 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Most constructs are bigeminal. If the word “quiet” was the construct, then its opposite would be “loud”. When using constructs individuals use either one extreme or the other or somewhere in between. Personal constructs are normally very high in accuracy; especially when an individual has developed them about him or her self. In the effort to get to know someone better, listening and talking to the person using his or her constructs will not only make a good impression, but will also help get an accurate idea of who the person truly is (McAdams, 2006). This helps set the foundation on how personal constructs relate to social perspectives.…
- 564 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Social constructionist theory recognises 3 kinds of reality; Experienced reality, symbolic reality and socially constructed reality. Experienced reality is knowledge gained through an individual’s direct experience of the world, this form of reality has a powerful influence on the individual but is limited in scope. The second is symbolic reality where the three sources share their knowledge symbolically where events you did not witness but believe occurred, all the information from the world you believe to be true but did not collect yourself. Consequently, the socially constructed reality Is a mixture of personal and symbolic knowledge and experience which forms our own individual ‘world’.…
- 568 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
B. This perspective stresses the broader social context of behaviour by looking at an individual's social location (employment, income, education, gender, age, and race) and by considering external influences and personal experiences, which are internalized and become part of a person's thinking and motivations. We are then able to see the links between what people do and the social settings that shape their behaviour. C. Wright Mills referred to this approach as revealing the intersection between biography (the individual's experiences) and history (social factors and societal patterns).…
- 2984 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
Our basics assumptions, and our instincts usually serve us well. We can judge the situations and people accordingly, and at most times, correctly. But behaviors in its entirety, is very complex and is based on a myriad of elements within our environment. Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett, authors of “The Power of Situations” conclude that information such as personalities, and backgrounds are trivial. If you walked in a neighborhood that is pleasantly normal one day, and the next day, you decided not to, is it because of the situation? Could it not be because, you felt like taking the bike for a ride instead, or felt lazy? Ross’ and Nisbett’s theory does not take into account that emotions, or personal preferences exist.…
- 437 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
References: Cervone, D. & Pervin, L. A. (2010). Personality: Theory and research (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.…
- 1038 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Even though this tradition lays emphasis on the significance of social interactions and social roles of human beings for the understanding of who one is. These are largely regarded as inter-individual procedures, in relation to how reflected appraisals from other individuals contribute to the true meaning of self. It may also help in fulfilling a general need to belong to a certain group of people. By using the self-categorization theory and social identity theory, we are able to focus on the variety of conditions in which matters of identity and selfhood are impacted by the groups to which human beings belong (Kolak & Martin, 1991). Consequently, psychologists have been able to develop categories of situations where concerns in distinct identity plays a major role, and for that reason, where the social self provides a variety of motives and functions. Using the two theories, psychologists are able to identify each cell in this taxonomy as well as how these matters of self and social identity impose upon a wide variety of behavioral, affective and perceptual…
- 3208 Words
- 13 Pages
Powerful Essays -
However, dismissive and anxious/ambivalent attachment styles are a combination of the two. A dismissive attachment style is very common among people who bully because they view themselves highly and others as beneath them. Anxious/ambivalent attachment style is the most complex of the styles because it results from inconsistent and unpredictable behavior. After our parents, the second most influential group on our self-concepts in our peers. This includes friends, people at work, and romantic partners. Through interacting with our peer group we gain a further direct definition of who we are, according to Wood. When interacting with our peers we start to use social comparison to compare ourselves to others. This concept is often used to measure our talents, abilities, and attractiveness in comparison to other people. There is also, our communication with society, which is the third influence on our identity. Through this, we learn about ourselves in regards to sex, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class, as well as cultural values. For example, if we see someone in an advertisement that we identify with, we may get ideas about how we are supposed to look or…
- 592 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays