The Influence Of Individual Differences In Health And Illness by Linas A Bieliauskas

Author:Linas A Bieliauskas [Bieliauskas, Linas A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781000302462
Google: mHCdDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-06-12T04:56:24+00:00

Kelly: Construct Theory

A construct, according to Kelly, is "an identifiable, patterned structure or style of viewing life" (Rychlak, 1973, p. 475)-in other words, the hypotheses we hold about why things are a certain way and what we can expect when we do certain things. On the necessary assumption that these interpretations of reality are subject to revision-an assumption Kelly termed constructive alternativism - we must continually test them and alter those that prove incorrect. Therefore, we live in a world in which we can adjust and change, rather than in a world of frozen, rigid givens. By the same token, according to Kelly, every individual can be considered a scientist who is continually performing experiments on his or her conceptions of reality.

As conceptual structures imposed on subsequent events, constructs are much like controls. There is a tendency in all of us to order life around several controlling constructs, as well as a continual effort to systematize our own personal constructs by minimizing the contradictions between them. Constructs are thus ordinal in nature; that is, some are more important than others. A superordinate construct, (e.g., "I am a religious person") subsumes a subordinate construct (e.g., "I will not steal"). In general, it is more difficult for us to alter superordinate constructs than subordinate ones.

Constructs can also be described as loose or rigid, and we can tighten or loosen them depending on the circumstances. Permeable constructs are those that can take new elements into their organization. Overall, the concept of constructs pertains to how easy or how difficult it is for us to change the way we look at the world and how effectively we can adjust to new elements in our surroundings.

Kelly viewed the self as a core construct that exerts control over what we do and experience. The self is thus a superordinate construct that governs the formation and operation of subordinate constructs. Kelly also saw the self as a role construct. He defined role formation as a process in which the individual construes the construct processes of others, reaches an understanding of how they relate to him or herself, and thus becomes able to engage in interpersonal activity. The roles of nurse and patient are examples of such role constructs. The self is also seen as a core role construct in that it defines one's interpersonal interactions to a greater extent than do occupation constructs.

Kelly further described constructs as bipolar in nature. As you may recall, Jung, who advanced the theory of opposites in the formation of human personality, proposed that all conscious entities with which we identify also have their opposites, which we disavow. Kelly likewise saw bipolarity as an inherent characteristic of constructs, such that when we categorize experiences in a particular way, we also deny alternative constructs. It is this bipolar nature of the self construct that contributes to our understanding of how we are like or different from others.

When a construct is about to change-that is, when it begins to lose its structure-we experience anxiety.

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