The Carl Rogers Humanist Personality Theory emphasizes the importance of the tendency towards self-realization in the formation of the self-concept. According to Rogers, the potential of the human individual is unique, and it develops in a unique way depending on the personality of each one.
According to Carl Rogers (1959), people want to feel, experience, and behave in ways that are consistent with self-image. The closer the self-image and the ideal self, the more consistent and congruent people are and the more value they believe they have.
Together with Abraham Maslow, Rogers focused on the growth potential of healthy individuals and contributed enormously through the Humanist Theory of Personality to the understanding of the self (the “self” or “I”, in Spanish).
Both Rogers' and Maslow's theories focus on individual choices, and neither holds that biology is deterministic. Both emphasized the free will and self-determination that each individual has to become the best person they can become..
Humanistic psychology emphasized the active role of the individual in shaping his internal and external world. Rogers advanced in this field underlining that humans are active and creative beings, who live in the present and respond subjectively to the perceptions, relationships and encounters that are currently taking place..
He coined the term "tendency to update", which refers to the basic instinct that people have to reach their maximum capacity. Through person-centered counseling or therapy and scientific research, Rogers formed his theory of personality development..
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"The organism has a basic tendency and effort to update, maintain and enrich the experiences of the organism itself" (Rogers, 1951, p. 487).
Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of psychoanalysis and behaviorism and claimed that we behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation: "Since no one else knows how we perceive, we are the most expert on ourselves.".
Carl Rogers believed that human beings have a basic motive, which is the tendency to self-actualize. Like a flower that grows to its full potential if conditions are right, but is limited by environmental constraints, people also flourish and reach their full potential if the conditions around them are good enough..
However, contrary to flowers, the potential of the human individual is unique, and we are destined to develop in different ways depending on our personality..
Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative, and that they become destructive only when poor self-concept (the image we have of ourselves) or external limitations invalidate the process of reaching potential..
According to Carl Rogers, for a person to achieve self-actualization, he must be in a state of congruence. This means that self-actualization occurs when the person's "ideal self" (who they would like to become) is congruent with their actual behaviors..
Rogers describes the individual who is updating as a fully functional person. The main determinant of whether or not we will become up-to-date people are childhood experiences.
Rogers claimed that all people could achieve their goals and desires in life. When they did, self-actualization had taken place. People who are capable of self-actualization, which do not constitute the totality of humans, are called "fully functional people".
This means that the person has contact with the here and now, his subjective experiences and his feelings, and that he is in continuous growth and change..
Rogers saw the fully functional person as an ideal that many people fall short of. It is not correct to think of this as the completion of life's itinerary; it is a process of change.
Rogers identified five characteristics of the fully functional person:
These people accept both positive and negative emotions. Negative emotions are not denied, but examined (instead of resorting to self defense mechanisms). If a person cannot open to his own feelings, he cannot open himself to the actualization of the self..
This consists of being in contact with the different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudice and preconceptions. It includes being able to fully live and appreciate the present, not always looking at the past or the future, since the former is gone and the latter does not even exist..
This does not mean that we should not learn from what happened to us in the past or that we should not plan things for the future. We simply must recognize that the present is what we have.
You have to pay attention and trust your feelings, instincts and gut reactions. We must trust ourselves and do what we think is right and that comes naturally. By this, Rogers refers to the confidence we must have in our own self, essential to be in contact with self-actualization..
Creative thinking and risk taking are hallmarks of people's lives. This includes the ability to adjust and change seeking new experiences..
A fully functional person, in contact with their own actualization, feels the natural impulse to contribute to the actualization of those around them.
This can be done through creativity in the arts and sciences, through parental love, or simply by getting to do the best of your job..
Fully functional people are satisfied with their lives, as they experience them with a true sense of freedom.
Rogers affirms that the fully functioning person recognizes free will in their actions and takes responsibility for the opportunities that are given to them..
For Rogers, fully functional people are well adjusted, well balanced, and interesting to meet. Often these people achieve great things in society.
Similar to Freud's reference to the soul, Rogers identified the self-concept as the framework on which the personality develops.
All people have the purpose of seeking congruence (balance) in three areas of their lives. This balance is achieved with self-actualization. These three areas are self-esteem, self-image or image of yourself, and the ideal self..
“I believe that the good life is not a fixed state. It is not, from my point of view, a state of virtue or satisfaction, nirvana or happiness. It is not a condition in which the individual is adjusted or updated. The good life is a process, not a state. It is an address, not a destination. The direction is one that has been selected by the entire organism, one in which there is psychological freedom to move in any direction ”Rogers, 1961
Self-actualization is impossible if these three images, especially the self-image and the ideal self, do not overlap.
This is called an incongruous vision of oneself and, in this case, the role of the therapist would be to transform this vision into a more congruent one, adjusting the perception that the person has of the image of himself and his self-esteem, as well as building a more realistic ideal self so that it can be achieved more easily.
The process of self-actualization will lead to an increasing overlap between these areas and will contribute to the satisfaction of the person with his life..
According to Carl Rogers' schemes, each of the three areas has specific tasks. Until a person achieves self-actualization, the three areas will remain out of balance as to how they relate to the world..
Rogers emphasized the fact that when it comes to self-actualization, each person's personality is unique; there are very few personalities made with the same pattern. Rogers also brought to the therapeutic discussion the idea of a holistic view of people..
Carl Rogers put his experiences related to adult therapy into practice in the educational process, developing the concept of student-centered teaching. Rogers developed the following five hypotheses regarding this type of education:
This is a result of his theory of personality, which states that everyone exists in an ever-changing world in which he or she is the center. Each person reacts and responds based on their perception and experience.
The central belief in this hypothesis is that what the student does is more important than what the teacher does. Thus, the background and experiences of the student are essential in how and what they learn. Each student processes what they learn differently.
2- "A person learns significantly only those things that are perceived as related to the maintenance or enrichment of the structure of the self" (Rogers, 1951)
Thus, relevance to the student is essential for learning. Student experiences become the center of the educational course.
If the content or presentation of a new learning is inconsistent with the information already possessed, the student will learn it if he is open to considering concepts that conflict with those he has already learned..
This is vital for learning. In this way, encouraging students to be open-minded helps to engage them in learning. It is also important, for these reasons, that the new information is relevant and related to existing experiences..
If students believe that they are being forced to learn concepts, they may feel uncomfortable.
If there is a threatening environment in the classroom, it creates a barrier to learning. Thus, an open and friendly environment in which trust is built is essential in classrooms..
The fear of retaliation for not agreeing with a concept should be eliminated. A supportive classroom environment helps alleviate fears and encourages students to explore new concepts and beliefs that vary from what they bring to the classroom..
Likewise, new information may make students' self-concepts feel threatened, but the less vulnerable they feel, the more likely they are to open up to the learning process..
The instructor should be open to learning from students and working to connect students to the learning material.
Frequent interaction with students helps to achieve this goal. The instructor should be a mentor who guides rather than an expert who counts. This is imperative for non-forced, student-centered, and threat-free learning..
Carl Rogers' theories have received much criticism, both positive and negative. To begin with, related to his person-centered therapy, his conception of human nature as tending towards goodness and health is criticized.
Also, in the same way as Maslow's theories, Rogers's were criticized for their lack of empirical evidence. The holistic view of humanism allows a lot of variation but does not identify variables that are constant enough to be investigated with precision..
Psychologists have also argued that such an extreme emphasis on the subjective experience of the individual can overlook the impact of society on the development of the individual..
Some critics claim that the fully functional person Rogers speaks of is a product of Western culture. In other cultures, such as Eastern cultures, the achievement of goals by groups is valued much more than the achievement by a single person.
Despite the criticism it received, Carl Rogers' personality theory and its therapeutic methodology continue to gain adherents and have become one of the most influential currents in the history of psychology..
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