Miyuki Yamaguchi Espada

Psychology Reflection #6

Question 2

May, 2020

2. Write a reflective paragraph about who treats you with unconditional

positive regard, whether you treat yourself with unconditional positive

regard and whether or not you have conditions of worth, and if you do,

what those conditions are (​Carl Rogers)​.

Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist ​with high self-​worth, meaning that he “​ha[d]

confidence and positive feelings about him or herself, face[ed] challenges in life, accept[ed]

failure and unhappiness at times, and [was] open with people.”

(​https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html​)​ While I may agree with some of the

aforementioned points, I personally do not have a sense of high self-worth, and therefore do

not treat myself with an unconditional positive regard. But despite my lack of personal

respect, many of those around me (friends, community members, etc.) treat me with that very

same unconditional positive regard that I myself cannot bear to believe I deserve.

Unconditional positive regard can be defined as “accepting and respecting others as they are

without judgment or evaluation”.

(​https://study.com/academy/lesson/unconditional-positive-regard-definition-examples-quiz.ht

ml​)​ ​ This is how I strive to treat those around me, as it is my belief that everyone has a story,
and deserves to be heard. I treat my friends this way, and in turn they reciprocate the

sentiment by doing the same.

This concept was extremely fascinating, and after reading a few other articles on this topic, I

realized that I have set many conditions of worth and constantly work towards gaining the

results, although most of them I will never be satisfied with. My main conditions of worth

are:

- High achievement (perfection, 100+%, beyond flawless performance, etc.)

- Usefulness (how helpful I am to a certain person, how often I am there for someone,

how much I agree with someone, etc.)

- Knowledge (academically smart, have a deep understanding of subjects, etc.)

- End results (beyond great results need to be produced whether that be for fundraisers,

events, shows, etc.)

- Stability (stable mental state, schedule, life in general, personality, etc.)

While creating this list, I found it interesting how aware I suddenly became of how my

actions and personality reflect my insecurities and subconscious mind. I also had an urge to

continue digging through my soul and adding more, but stopped myself before doing so.

This truly was a reflection piece, and helped me analyze myself and who I am as a person. I

believe that my awareness of these subjects will be of use in the future.