What is Personal Constructs?

Within Kelly's personal construct theory, which is an approach
to understanding conscious experience, personal constructs are ways in
which people make sense of their world. Constructs are bipolar, e.g. friendly - cold; or interesting - boring, and personal in that different people use different constructs.

An individual's pattern of constructs is uncovered using a repertory grid, which can also show the relationships
between the constructs used. A client is asked to think of specific
people who play a role in their personal life, e.g. father, boss, best
friend; these are known as elements. Different combinations of
three of these elements are then selected, and the client is asked to
say how any two are alike and the third is different. This is repeated
as long as the client is able to produce different constructs. Finally,
each element is given a numerical value for each construct. Where
similar values are given to elements across different constructs, it
suggests that these different constructs are being used in similar ways.

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