State the fundamental postulate of personal construct theory. List and briefly describe the 11 corollaries of the personal construct theory which help in anticipating life events

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANS: Kelly's personal construct theory is presented in a scientific format, organized into a fundamental postulate and 11 corollaries.
The fundamental postulate states that our psychological processes are directed by the ways in which we anticipate events.
The corollaries of the personal construct theory and their arguments are as follows:
1. The construction corollary: Because repeated events are similar, we can predict or anticipate how we will experience such an event in the future.
2. The individuality corollary: People perceive events in different ways.
3. The organization corollary: We arrange our constructs in patterns, according to our view of their similarities and differences.
4. The dichotomy corollary: Constructs are bipolar; for example, if we have an opinion about honesty, that idea must also include the concept of dishonesty.
5. The choice corollary: We choose the alternative for each construct that works best for us, the one that allows us to predict the outcome of anticipated events.
6. The range corollary: Our constructs may apply to many situations or people, or they may be limited to a single person or situation.
7. The experience corollary: We continually test our constructs against life's experiences to make sure they remain useful.
8. The modulation corollary: We may modify our constructs as a function of new experiences.
9. The fragmentation corollary: We may sometimes have contradictory or inconsistent subordinate constructs within our overall construct system.
10. The commonality corollary: Although our individual constructs are unique to us, people in compatible groups or cultures may hold similar constructs.
11. The sociality corollary: We try to understand how other people think and predict what they will do, and we modify our behavior accordingly.