Chapter 15

Give an example to illustrate each of the following: (a) Construing an event based on prior experiences. (b) A permeable construct. (c) An impermeable construct. (d) A preemptive or constellatory construct.

Give an example to illustrate each of the following: (a) Two people have a serious disagreement because they use different personal constructs to interpret the same event. (b) Two people have a serious disagreement because they are unable to construe each other's constructs. (c) The amount of time that you spend studying this chapter is influenced by how you construe the material.

According to Kelly, "One cannot call another person a bastard without making bastardy a dimension of his own life also." What does this imply about: (a) Athletes who use "trash talk" to put down their opponents? (b) Politicians who use negative and derogatory commercials to win an election? (c) Anyone who insults someone else?

Kelly contends that we always have the ability to construe events in alternative ways. Is this true of such tragic events as the death of a loved one or the events of September \(11,2001 ?\)

Freud contends that we are capable of repressing intense anger, which remains powerful but unconscious. Kelly argues that there is no such thing as latent or repressed hostility, but only the failure to construe our behavior correctly. Which view do you prefer? Why?

A terrorist blows up a building in a hated foreign country. How might Kelly explain the terrorist's behavior?