efine who I am and the way I use these constructs across differing situations constitutes my personality.
Given the foregoing, it can be noted that understanding personality can be translated to understanding constructs. Specifically, in order to understand anyone's personality, one must understand how the person thinks or constructs life in terms of the constructs used, the events subsumed under these constructs, the ways in which these constructs function, and the way sin which they are organized in relation to one another to form a system of thought and perception.
All cognitive-behavioral theories of motivation (e.g. Ellis, 1962; Beck, 1963, 1970) including those of George A. Kelly (1955) center around internal rather than merely external processes. Perhaps Kelly (1958) stated it best when he noted that:
Motivational theories can be divided into two types, push theories and pull theories. Under push theories, we find such terms as drive, motive, or even stimulus. Pull theories use such constructs as purpose, value, or need. (Kelly, 1958, p. 50)
Cognitive models are pull theories based on the premise that the way an individual perceives, anticipates the future, and/or evaluates an event--rather than the event itself--has the greatest impact on the individual's behavior. This is why cognitive models such as those of Kelly (1955, 1958) hold that modifying thoughts and feelings is central to motivating people to change their behavior.
In terms of the extent to which the past, present and future affect behavior, the more modern cognitive-behavioral theories of Ellis (1991), Beck (1991) and Meichenbaum (1985) offer what I consider to be the most complete insights. In general, these authors hold that the past is a component in the development of one's general schema (underlying assumptions causing them to label and interpret a situation).
To the extent that the schema is flexible and fact-based (as opposed t...