Chapter 19 Kelly: Psychology of Personal Constructs 583two incompatible subsystems. However,
when evidence of the untrustworthiness of
others becomes overwhelming, the person’s
construct system may break down. The
result is a relatively permanent and debili-
tating experience of anxiety.
Guilt
Kelly’s sociality corollary assumes that peo-
ple construe a core role that gives them a
sense of identity within a social environ-
ment. However, if that core role is weakened
or dissolved, a person will develop a feeling
of guilt. Kelly (1970) defined guilt as “the
sense of having lost one’s core role struc-
ture” (p. 27). That is, people feel guilty
when they behave in ways that are inconsis-
tent with their sense of who they are.
People who have never developed a
core role do not feel guilty. They may be
anxious or confused, but without a sense
of personal identity, they do not experi-
ence guilt. For example, a person with an underdeveloped conscience has little or
no integral sense of self and a weak or nonexistent core role structure. Such a
person has no stable guidelines to violate and hence will feel little or no guilt even
for depraved and shameful behavior (Kelly, 1970).
Psychotherapy
Psychological distress exists whenever people have difficulty validating their
personal constructs, anticipating future events, and controlling their present envi-
ronment. When distress becomes unmanageable, they may seek outside help in the
form of psychotherapy.
In Kelly’s view, people should be free to choose those courses of action most
consistent with their prediction of events. In therapy, this approach means that
clients, not the therapist, select the goal. Clients are active participants in the
therapeutic process, and the therapist’s role is to assist them to alter their construct
systems in order to improve efficiency in making predictions.
As a technique for altering the clients’ constructs, Kelly used a procedure
called fixed-role therapy. The purpose of fixed-role therapy is to help clients
change their outlook on life (personal constructs) by acting out a predetermined
role, first within the relative security of the therapeutic setting and then in the
environment beyond therapy where they enact the role continuously over a period
of several weeks. Together with the therapist, clients work out a role, one that
includes attitudes and behaviors not currently part of their core role. In writing the
fixed-role sketch, the client and therapist are careful to include the construction
systems of other people. How will the client’s spouse or parents or boss or friends
Guilt occurs when we behave inconsistently
with a core role we have developed of
ourselves. © Eric Simard/Alamy