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Rogers Reviewer
Rogers Reviewer
Chapter 10
Rogers: Person-Centered Theory
Learning Objectives
After reading Chapter10, you should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
List and describe Rogers' necessary and sufficient conditions for psychological
growth.
6.
Discuss the concept of the person of tomorrow and its implications for future
humanity.
7.
8.
9.
10.
I.
II.
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III.
Person-Centered Theory
Rogers carefully crafted his person-centered theory of personality to meet his
own demands for a structural model that could explain and predict outcomes
of client-centered therapy. However, the theory has implications far beyond
the therapeutic setting.
A. Basic Assumptions
Person-centered theory rests on two basic assumptions: (1) the formative
tendency that states that all matter, both organic and inorganic, tends to evolve
from simpler to more complex forms and (2) an actualizing tendency, which
suggests that all living things, including humans, tend to move toward
completion, or fulfillment of potentials. However, in order for people (or
plants and animals) to become actualized, certain identifiable conditions must
be present. For a person, these conditions include a relationship with another
person who is genuine, or congruent, and who demonstrates complete
acceptance and empathy for that person.
B. The Self and Self-Actualization
A sense of self or personal identity begins to emerge during infancy, and once
established, it allows a person to strive toward self-actualization, which is a
subsystem of the actualization tendency and refers to the tendency to actualize
the self as perceived in awareness. The self has two subsystems: (1) the selfconcept, which includes all those aspects of one's identity that are perceived in
awareness, and (2) the ideal self, or our view of our self as we would like to be
or aspire to be. Once formed, the self concept tends to resist change, and gaps
between it and the ideal self result in incongruence and various levels of
psychopathology.
C. Awareness
People are aware of both their self-concept and their ideal self, although
awareness need not be accurate. For example, people may have an inflated
view of their ideal self but only a vague sense of their self-concept. Rogers
saw people as having experiences on three levels of awareness: (1) those that
are symbolized below the threshold of awareness and are ignored, denied, or
not allowed into the self-concept; (2) those that are distorted or reshaped to fit
it into an existing self-concept; and (3) those that are consistent with the selfconcept and thus are accurately symbolized and freely admitted to the selfstructure. Any experience not consistent with the self-concepteven positive
experienceswill be distorted or denied.
D. Needs
The two basic human needs are maintenance and enhancement, but people also
need positive regard and self-regard. Maintenance needs include those for
food, air, and safety, but they also include our tendency to resist change and to
maintain our self-concept as it is. Enhancement needs include needs to grow
and to realize one's full human potential. As awareness of self emerges, an
infant begins to receive positive regard from another person, that is, to be
loved or accepted. People naturally value those experiences that satisfy their
needs for positive regard, but unfortunately, this value sometimes becomes
more powerful than the reward they receive for meeting their organismic
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IV.
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V.
VI.
the client knows that another person has entered into his or her world of
feelings without prejudice, projection, or evaluation.
B. Process
Rogers saw the process of therapeutic change as taking place in seven stages:
(1) clients are unwilling to communicate anything about themselves; (2) they
discuss only external events and other people; (3) they begin to talk about
themselves, but still as an object; (4) they discuss strong emotions that they
have felt in the past; (5) they begin to express present feelings; (6) they freely
allow into awareness those experiences that were previously denied or
distorted; and (7) they experience irreversible change and growth.
C. Outcomes
When client-centered therapy is successful, clients become more congruent,
less defensive, more open to experience, and more realistic. The gap between
their ideal self and their true self narrows and as a consequence, clients
experience less physiological and psychological tension. Finally, clients'
interpersonal relationships improve because they are more accepting of self and
others.
The Person of Tomorrow
If people receive the three necessary and sufficient conditions for psychological
health person, then they will grow toward becoming the "fully functioning
person" or the "person of tomorrow." Rogers listed seven characteristics of the
person of tomorrow. First, persons of tomorrow would be more adaptable and
more flexible in their thinking. Second, they would be open to their
experiences, accurately symbolizing them in awareness rather than denying or
distorting them. Persons of tomorrow would listen to themselves and hear
their joy, anger, discouragement, fear, and tenderness. A third characteristic
would be a tendency to live fully in the moment, experiencing a constant state
of fluidity and change. They would see each experience with a new freshness
and appreciate it fully in the present moment. Rogers (1961) referred to this
tendency to live in the moment as existential living. Fourth, persons of
tomorrow would remain confident of their own ability to experience
harmonious relations with others. They would feel no need to be liked or loved
by everyone, because they would know that they are unconditionally prized and
accepted by someone. Fifth, they would be more integrated, more whole, with
no artificial boundary between conscious processes and unconscious ones.
Because they would be able to accurately symbolize all their experiences in
awareness, they would see clearly the difference between what is and what
should be. Sixth, persons of tomorrow would have a basic trust of human
nature. They would experience anger, frustration, depression, and other
negative emotions, but they would be able to express rather than repress these
feelings.
Finally, because persons of tomorrow are open to all their
experiences, they would enjoy a greater richness in life than do other people.
They would live in the present and thus participate more richly in the ongoing
moment.
Philosophy of Science
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Rogers agreed with Maslow that scientists must care about the phenomena
they study and that psychologists should limit their objectivity and precision to
their methodology, not to the creation of hypotheses or to the communication
of research findings.
VII. The Chicago Studies
When he taught at the University of Chicago and again at the University of
Wisconsin, Rogers along with colleagues and graduate students conducted an
experimental investigation on the effectiveness of psychotherapy. These
studies, though now old, remain as some of the best designed and most
sophisticated of all such investigations.
A. Hypotheses
This study at the University of Chicago tested four broad hypotheses. As a
consequence of therapy (1) clients will become more aware of their feelings
and experiences, (2) the gap between the real self and the ideal self will lessen;
(3) clients' behavior will become more socialized; and (4) clients will become
both more self-accepting and more accepting of others.
B. Method
Participants were adults who sought therapy at the University of Chicago
counseling center. Experimenters asked half of them to wait 60 days before
receiving therapy while beginning therapy with the other half. In addition, they
tested a control group of "normals" who were matched with the therapy group.
This control group was also divided into a wait group and a non-wait group.
C. Findings
Rogers and his associates found that the therapy groupbut not the wait
groupshowed a lessening of the gap between real self and ideal self. They
also found that clients who improved during therapy showed changes in social
behavior, as reported by their friends.
D. Summary of Results
Although client-centered therapy was successful in changing clients, it was not
successful in bringing them to the level of the fully functioning persons or even
to the level of "normal" psychological health.
VIII. Related Research
More recently, other researchers have investigated Rogers' facilitative
conditions both outside therapy and within therapy.
A. Self-Ideal, Congruence, and Mental Health: SelfDiscrepancy Theory
In the 1980s, E. Tory Higgins developed a version of Rogers'
model called self-discrepancy theory. Higgins hypothesized
that individuals with high levels of self-discrepancy were
most likely to experience high levels of negative affect in
their lives, such as anxiety and depression. Ann Phillips and
Paul Silvia (2005) predicted that the negative emotion
experienced from either real-ideal or real-ought discrepancies
would be greatest when people are more self-aware or selffocused. Their hypothesis was supported by their findings
Feist, Theories of Personality, 8e
Guide-10 | 5
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IX.
X.
Test Items
Fill-in-the-Blanks
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
To Rogers, the real self and the __________________ self are the same concept.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
All of us, Rogers said, have a need for ______________________, that is, a
feeling of self-confidence and self-worth.
12.
13.
The need for _______________________ would include the need for food,
sleep, and the tendency to resist change.
14.
15.
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16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
The issues of freedom and control of human behavior were at the heart of a
series of debates between Rogers and ________________________.
True-False
______1. Carl Rogers' parents were teachers, and they encouraged him to become a
teacher.
_____ 2.
______3.
______4.
______5.
After receiving his PhD, Rogers spent more than 10 years in clinical
practice, mostly isolated from the academic community, and this isolation
helped him develop an approach to therapy that was unique.
______6.
______7.
______8.
______9.
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_____10.
Rogers believed that healthy people adjust their organismic self in order to
make it congruent with their ideal self.
_____11.
_____12.
_____13.
_____14.
Rogers held that healthy people evaluate their experience from the
viewpoint of significant others.
_____15.
_____16.
_____17.
_____18.
_____19.
_____20.
Multiple Choice
_____ 1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
______2.
a
b.
c.
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d.
______3.
a.
b.
c.
d.
______4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
______5.
a.
b.
c.
d.
______6.
a.
b.
c.
d.
______7.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Inner tension arises, Rogers said, when a conflict exists between the
self-actualization tendency and the organismic self.
emotion and cognition.
the values of others and one's own values.
the formative tendency and the actualization tendency.
______8.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____9.
Taylor's parents praise her whenever her behavior meets with their
standards. However, they punish Taylor when her behavior fails to meet
with their approval. From this information it appears that Taylor is
experiencing
low self-esteem.
conditions of worth.
disorganization.
a.
b.
c.
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d.
_____10.
a.
b.
c.
d.
high self-esteem.
Tyler has a negative view of himself. To increase his self-concept, his
parents and teachers continually praise and compliment him. Rogers
believed that such praise and compliments are most likely to
enhance Tyler's self-esteem.
reinforce Tyler's negative behavior.
be easily accepted into Tyler's self-concept.
be distorted by Tyler.
_____11.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____12.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____13.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____14.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
_____15.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____16.
a.
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b.
c.
d.
_____17.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____18.
a.
b.
c.
d.
others' expectations.
the shattered self-concept.
the actualizing tendency.
Rogers hypothesized that empathy, unconditional positive regard, and
congruence are
necessary and sufficient conditions for therapy.
necessary but not sufficient conditions for therapy.
sufficient but not necessary conditions for therapy.
neither necessary nor sufficient for therapy.
In the Chicago studies,
clients who received no therapy experienced the same level of growth as
did the clients in the therapy group.
clients who received no therapy received no psychological growth.
Carl Rogers was the sole therapist.
all the therapist were graduate students.
_____19.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Clients are better able to listen to themselves when the therapist possesses
sympathy for them.
empathy for them.
conditions of worth toward them.
a professional attitude toward them.
_____20.
a.
b.
c.
d.
_____21.
a.
b.
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1. Compare Rogers' concepts of the formative tendency and the actualizing tendency.
2.
4. List and briefly explain the "necessary and sufficient" conditions for psychological
growth.
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6. Discuss implications for the future if Rogers' view of the person of tomorrow is
realized.
Answers
Fill-in-the-Blanks
True-False
1.
minister
2.
client-centered
3.
formative
4.
actualization
5.
congruence
6.
organismic
7.
ideal
8.
self-concept
9.
incongruence
10.
distort
11.
self-regard
12.
conditions
13.
maintenance
14.
enhancement
15.
vulnerable
16.
congruent
17.
positive regard
18.
empathy
19.
existential
20.
control (freedom)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Multiple Choice
F
T
F
T
T
T
T
T
T
F
T
T
T
F
F
T
F
T
T
F
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
c
a
b
d
d
c
a
d
b
d
d
a
b
d
c
c
a
b
b
c
c
a
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