Psychology 3051 Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality Lecture 17.

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Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality

Lecture 17

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Lecture 17

Questions That Will Be Answered In Today’s Lecture

Phenomenological Perspective on Personality, continued

5. According to Rogers’ person-centered theory, what is a fully functioning person?

6. How does a person become fully functioning?

7. What therapeutic approach did Rogers develop to help people become fully functioning?

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According to Rogers’ person-centered theory, what

is a fully functioning person?

• Rogers believed that humans are driven by one “master motive,” which he referred to as the actualizing

tendency. Rogers maintained that the actualizing tendency subsumes all other motives:

“There is one central source of energy in the human organism … and it is perhaps best

conceptualized as a tendency toward fulfillment, toward actualization, toward the maintenance and enhancement of the organism.” (Rogers, 1963)

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• Rogers described the “fully functioning person” (FFP) as an individual who is engaged in the process of self-actualization. This individual need not be fully self-actualized. However, s/he must be in the process of fulfilling personal potentials and capacities.

• Rogers (1961) maintained that the fully functioning state is “a direction, not a destination.”

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How does a person become fully functioning?

• Rogers believed that humans have an innate need to be accepted and receive love and affection from others. He referred to this need as the need for

positive regard.

• Rogers theorized that, in order to become fully functioning, an individual must receive unconditional

positive regard—that is, s/he must be given acceptance, affection, or love freely, without contingencies or conditions.

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• E.g. of unconditional positive regard: A father who is scolding his daughter for misbehaving may say “What you did was bad and I don’t want you to do that again. Although your behaviour was bad, you are not bad and I still love you.”

• Rogers argued that an individual who receives unconditional positive regard in the formative years

develops unconditional positive self-regard—that is, an ability to view him- or herself favorably under all

conditions.

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• An individual with unconditional positive self-regard is able to accept diverse experiences, trust his or her own judgments, and act in accordance with his or her own desires and wishes.

• Accordingly, the individual with unconditional positive self-regard develops the attributes necessary to engage in self-actualization and be fully functioning.

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• Rogers believed that an individual cannot become fully functioning if s/he receives conditional positive regard—that is, if s/he is given acceptance, affection, or love only under certain conditions.

• Rogers referred to the conditions put forth by significant others for earning positive regard as conditions of worth.

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• E.g. of conditional positive regard: A mother who is talking to her son about his academic performance may say “Show me you’re a good boy and get

straight ‘A’s on your next report card.”

• Rogers argued that an individual who experiences a multitude of conditions of worth in the formative years develops conditional positive self-regard—that is, an inability to view him- or herself favorably under all conditions.

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• An individual with conditional positive self-regard is often preoccupied with pleasing others. As a result, s/he tends to distort personal experiences, disregard his or her own judgments, and act in accordance with the desires and wishes of others.

• Accordingly, the individual with conditional positive self-regard develops attributes that prevent him or her from engaging in self-actualization and becoming fully

functioning.

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What therapeutic approach did Rogers develop to

help people become fully functioning?

• Rogers suggested that most people encounter incongruities or discrepancies between their self-concept and their experience.

• These incongruities, he maintained, produce anxiety—that is, they produce “uneasiness or tension whose cause is unknown” (Rogers, 1959).

• In an effort to minimize or eliminate this anxiety, people try to reduce the incongruities that they encounter between their self-concept and their experience.

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• The FFP reduces incongruities by incorporating new experiences into his or her self-concept.

• In contrast, the individual who is not fully functioning reduces incongruities by employing defense

mechanisms.

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• Rogers developed a therapeutic approach to help people who are not fully functioning and who, therefore, employ defense mechanisms: Client-centered therapy.

• Client-centered therapy has also been referred to as nondirective therapy because the therapist does not attempt to interpret the patient’s problem or provide the patient with a specific course of action.

• Instead, the therapist attempts to create an environment in which the patient can solve his or her own problem.

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• Rogers maintained that a therapist must satisfy 3 conditions in order to create an environment in which a patient can solve his or her own problem:

1. The therapist must exhibit genuineness in his or her relationship with the patient. Rogers referred to

such genuineness as therapist congruence.

Rogers wrote the following about therapist congruence:

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“I have found that it does not help … to act as though I were something that I am not …. It does not help to act calm and pleasant when actually I am angry and critical. It does not help to act as though I were permissive when I am really feeling that I would like to set limits …. It does not help to act as though I were acceptant of another person when underneath that exterior I feel rejection.” (Rogers, 1995)

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2. The therapist must express unconditional positive regard for the patient—that is, the therapist must ensure that the patient is aware that his or her positive regard is not contingent upon any conditions of worth.

3. The therapist must display empathetic understanding of the patient—that is, the therapist must attempt to understand the patient’s internal frame of reference. Empathetic understanding is communicated to the patient by restating the feelings and contents of his or her statements.

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E.g.,

Patient: I just don’t know which classes to take next year. I wish someone could make those decisions for me.

Therapist: You are looking for someone to tell you what to do.

Patient: Yes, but I know that’s impossible. Nobody can decide what’s right for me if even I don’t have a clue.

Therapist: You find it exasperating that you are having so much trouble deciding on a class schedule.

Patient: Well, none of my friends have this much trouble making decisions.

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Therapist: You feel that your situation is not normal; it’s not like the experiences of your friends.

Patient: Yeah, and it makes me mad. I should just be able to pick four or five courses and stick with my decision, but I can’t seem to. I know it’s silly.

Therapist: You think it is a trivial thing, yet it makes you angry that you cannot seem to make the decision.

Patient: Well, you know, it really is trivial, isn’t it? I know I can always change classes if they don’t work out. I guess I just need to try them out.

Therapist: You see some options, that you can get out of a class if it isn’t right for you.

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• Rogers identified 7 stages that characterize the process of therapeutic change:

1. The patient is unwilling to communicate about him- or herself, refuses to own his or her feelings, and is rigid and resistant to change.

2. The patient is able to discuss external events and other people. However, the patient continues to

refuse to own his or her feelings.

3. The patient is able to discuss his or her feelings but only in the past or future tense. S/he avoids

discussing present feelings.

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5. The patient is able to express feelings in the present, without hesitation. The patient begins to trust his

or her own judgments and make new discoveries about him- or herself.

4. The patient begins to express feelings in the present. However, s/he does so with hesitation, distrust, and

fear. The patient begins to recognize incongruities between his or her self-concept and experience.

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7. The patient is able to generalize in-therapy experiences to the world beyond the therapeutic setting. At this stage, the patient becomes fully functioning.

6. The patient is able to allow into awareness those experiences that were previously denied or distorted. The patient begins to develop unconditional positive

self-regard. At this stage, a “physiological loosening” is observed.

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Questions That Were Answered In Today’s Lecture

Phenomenological Perspective on Personality, continued

5. According to Rogers’ person-centered theory, what is a fully functioning person?

6. How does a person become fully functioning?

7. What therapeutic approach did Rogers develop to help people become fully functioning?