ED010203

MODULE Two: PERSONALITY

Chapter: 7
Chapter name: HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE-
ROGER

Presented By: SURYALEKHA. S

M. Ed Ist Year(II semester)
Titus II Teachers College
Tiruvalla
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
CARL ROGERS-
SELF THEORY
 HUMANISTIC APPROACH
• Humanistic approach to personality is the contribution of the
humanistic school of psychology.
• It originated as a revolt against the school of psycho-analysis.
• Humanism believes in the goodness of man & reposes optimistic
confidences in man’s positive nature.
• It believes that self-actualization helps to shape the behaviour of an
individual.
• It is other wise known as the 3rd force in psychology. (The other two
being behaviourism & psychoanalysis)
 CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANISTIC THEORIES

1. They emphasizes personal responsibilities. That is our fate is mostly in our

hands.
2. They generally focus on the present. The early childhood experiences
influence us, but these do not shape our entire personality.
3. They stress the importance of personal growth. People wish to progress
toward bigger goals such as becoming the best they can be.
4. According to humanists, man has a free will and a freedom of choice, &
the conscious experiences of a person are most important in determining
his personality.
 KEY PROPONENTS OF HUMANISM

❖ Carl Rogers
❖ Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers’ important works
❖ Curt Lewin • Client Centred Therapy.
❖ Goldstein • On Becoming a Person.
❖ John Holt • A Way of Being
❖ Malcolm Knowles • Persons or Science.
 Carl Rogers’ Self Theory
➢ Carl Ransom Rogers was an American Psychologist.
➢ He propounded a new theory of personality in 1947,
based on his “Client Centred Therapy” (1951).
➢ According to him, ‘Dynamics of personality is the
power for Self actualization.”
➢ Self actualization is the self- fulfilment or desire to
become all that one is capable of.
➢ He stressed the importance of an individual’s self for
determining the process of his growth, development ,
& appropriate adjustment to his environment.
➢ An important tool in human self-actualization is the
development of an image of oneself , or the self
concept.
 Carl Rogers’ Self Theory
Personality Structure:
▪ According to Carl Rogers, in personality structure,
the personality is a function of the interaction
between two systems- The Organism & The Self.
▪ The Organism : The centre of all experiences
occurring within an individual at a particular time .
▪ The Self : The totality of ideas, feelings, & attitudes
the individual has about himself (self-concept).
▪ The self is the accepted conscious part of experience
and central agency regulating a person’s behaviour.
 Carl Rogers’ Self Theory
The Self

Real Self Ideal Self

The self as it Is the self one

really is as a would like to
result of one’s be
experience
 The Real and The Ideal Self
✓ The real and the ideal self are two important components of the
self-concept.
✓ The real self is one’s actual perception of characteristics, traits
and abilities that form the basis of the striving for self-
actualization.
✓ Ideal self is the perception of what one should be or would like
to be.
✓ Rogers believed that when the real self & the ideal self are very
close or similar to each other, people feel competent and
capable.
✓ When there is a mismatch between the real & the ideal self,
anxiety & neurotic behaviour can be the result.
✓ When one has a realistic view of the real self & the ideal self is
something that is actually attainable, there is not a problem of
mismatch.
 Conditional & Unconditional Positive Regards
❑Rogers defined positive regard as warmth,
affection, love and respect that comes from the
significant others (parents, friends & teachers) in
people’s experiences.
❑Unconditional positive regard love, affection, &
respect with no strings attached is necessary for
people to be able explore fully all that they can
achieve become.
❑According to Rogers, a person who is in the process
of self-actualization , actively exploring potentials
and abilities and experiencing a match between
real & ideal selves is a fully functioning person.
❖According to Carl Rogers, each individual passes
through different experiences in his life. The area in
which the experiences are taking place is known as
Phenomenal field (phenomenological field).
❖The organism and the self acting in the phenomenal
field.
❖The totality of both the conscious & the unconscious
experiences constitute the phenomenological field of
an individual.
 Personality Dynamics
✓ The way in which people behave & react to each other
in a particular situation.
✓ The organism continually strives to develop & expand
the self.
✓ The basic force motivating the organism is Self-
actualization.
✓ The normal personality development depends on the
congruence (resemblance)among different components
of personality- Organism, Real self, Ideal self, and the
External reality.
✓ An individual’s personality development depends upon
the union & harmony between the image of his self &
the organism(experience).
 Poorly Adjusted Personality Well Adjusted Personality
(Little overlap b/w experience & Self concept). ( Much overlap b/w experience & self concept)

The Self (Self- concept)

The Organism (Experience)

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF CARL ROGERS SELF THEORY
✓It advocates child –centered teaching-learning process.
✓It helps to develop self-actualization tendency. It helps a
person to achieve autonomy, self-sufficiency, & personal
growth.
✓It promoted experiential learning: Learning by doing &
reflection by doing
✓A teacher should understand the individuality of the
learner.
✓A teacher should organize teaching-learning process
according to needs, interest & abilities of the learner.
✓A teacher should be as a guide only & students should
be given chance to develop according to their own pace.
 Criticisms on Humanistic Perspectives
➢Humanistic view completely ignores the negative
aspects of human nature.
➢It could not effectively explain the development of
Sociopathic personalities who have no conscience or
moral nature.
➢It is very difficult to test scientifically. Little research
support exists for this view point , which is almost of a
philosophical view of human behaviour rather than
psychological explanation.
SURYALEKHA. S
M. Ed Ist Year(II semester)