George Kelly - Theory of Personal Constructs - Research Paper Example

George Kelly-Theory of Personal Constructs History unveils many and mighty personalities who ever existed on this universe doing wonderful discoveries that are in application up to date. Wise men of the olden days identified particular problems in their societies and developed suitable strategies to explain and solve the problems. This paper will present the revelation of history from the perspectives of George Kelly who developed and shared the theory of personal constructs. To provide in depth clarification and description of George Kelly and his theory of personal constructs, this paper will report on scholarly works of particular writers with regard to George Kelly and his theory.

George Kelly-Theory of Personal ConstructsThere are many problems surrounding human kind in the contemporary world. Most of these problems are not unique with the past. The field of Psychology tackles several of these problems ranging societal, cultural, economical and political aspects. George Kelly, the former teacher of Psychology came up with an identification mechanism and a working platform for solving some of these psychological problems. The Theory of personal construct as developed by George Kelly has assisted in creating solutions to numerous problems faced as well as meeting certain interests.

Most authors have interpreted and applied Kelly’s theory of personal constructs in various fields including business, education, and health among others. Lester, D. (1995).Theories of personality: a systems approach. Bristol, PA: Taylor and Francis Publishing.This is a book authored by Lester David with main intent of scrutinizing the validity of George Kelly’s theory of personal constructs. In the views of Lester (1995), personal constructs is a psychological term, which explicates that psychological processes and general behaviours of people is determined by the way they anticipate events that are just to occur.

To clarify the point, Lester (1995) applies sociological principles whereby he presents a man and his three friends. Lester (1995) indicates that the man in this case may construct certain perceptions about his three friends and conclude that either two or one friend is caring while the other is uncaring. This may not be entirely true, but his interpretation all depends upon the man’s constructs in the mind. In essence, Lester views Kelly’s theory of personal constructs as one that presents two views including construct and contrast.Plank, R. E.

, & Greene, J. N. (1996). Personal construct psychology and personal selling performance. European Journal of Marketing, 30(7), 25-48.This article was written by Plank Richard and Joel Greene. The authors of the article attempt to incorporate Kelly’s theory of personal construct into marketing and selling of products. The authors of this article with reference to the Theory of Personal Constructs suggest that good salesperson has to understand the PCT of individual clients and develop systematic ways to counter the behaviors of the clients.

The authors of this article hold that Kelly’s theory of personal construct is of great use by salespersons as they need PCT to figure out the possible actions from the environment and set advanced strategies to respond and tackle the business environment. Hankinson, G. (2004). The brand images of tourism destinations: A study of the saliency of organic images. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 13(1), 6-14.In this article, Hankinson Graham conducted in depth research and decided to apply George Kelly’s theory of personal constructs to explain the variability in tourists’ attraction destinations.

The author found that historical features, heritage and culture could attract tourists. In the views of the author of the article, the preferences of tourist regarding the appropriate destinations could not be reality, but given Kelly’s argument on the theory of personal constructs one can be accredited the benefit of doubt. As such, the author of the article advices that marketer of tourists sites should use images that specifically reflect and relate to the clients’ expectation and brain constructs.

Applying theory of personal constructs thus explains behaviors of various tourists, which mostly rely on individuals understanding about a given place or destination. The author of article essentially reiterates that marketers always have good opportunities to shape belief of tourists about particular destinations only if they present appropriate image that address and targets particular clients’ desire.Wang, W. (2004). How university students view online study: A PCP perspective. Campus - Wide Information Systems, 21(3), 108-117.

In this article, Wang Wei applied education in illustrating the validity of Kelly’s personal constructs theory by gathering reaction of university students towards online learning. The author of the article realized that various university students presented different and divergent views all based on the manner each construed learning. The results were gathered from the students through the use of questionnaires. From the entire research carried by the author, he arrived to a conclusion that Kelly’s personal construct theory depicts human behaviours relies on the way they perceive and understand their environment.

ReferencesWang, W. (2004). How university students view online study: A PCP perspective. Campus - Wide Information Systems, 21(3), 108-117Plank, R. E., & Greene, J. N. (1996). Personal construct psychology and personal selling performance. European Journal of Marketing, 30(7), 25-48.Hankinson, G. (2004). The brand images of tourism destinations: A study of the saliency of organic images. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 13(1), 6-14.Lester, D. (1995).Theories of personality: a systems approach.

Bristol, PA: Taylor and Francis Publishing.