Diya Aggarwal

Psychology of Personality

CYP 5

1. Principles for living: In his 1961 book, Rogers included a chapter called “This is me.”
Pretty cool idea. The first principle listed in the textbook is “In my relationships with persons,
I have found that it does not help, in the long run, to act as though I were something that I
were not.” What does Rogers mean by that? Give an example from your own life. Do you
agree? Disagree? Do you have a name for this principle?

Answer

I feel like in my opinion what Rogers means by this is that people cannot remain fake and try
to portray their personalities in ways they thought they could be. For instance, if one of my
friend’s initially showed herself to be a very caring individual and later I get to know that she
is completely the opposite with the actions that she does then it means her natural, innate
tendencies did eventually come out which is contrary to how she portrayed. Yes, I agree that
it takes place. This principle could be connected to the whole idea of congruence,
genuineness and realness of individuals which was given by Rogers.

2. Theoretical orientation: What is the phenomenological approach? Phenomena of the

mind, Rogers! Does it assume, like Freud, that humans are animals driven by sex and
aggression? No, self and world Does it focus on unconscious processes? Not really Describe,
in your own words, some major elements in your own phenomenological field.

Answer

Such an approach is a form of qualitative enquiry that emphasizes experiential, lived aspects
of a particular construct that is, how the phenomenon is experienced at the time that it occurs,
rather than what is thought about this experience or the meaning ascribed to it subsequently. I
think like Freud believes, humans tend to have the sex instinct and the death instinct which
drives them towards aggressive tendencies etc. I think it focuses on unconscious, since most
of the experiences of the approach may not be determined in conscious times and may be
based on the childhood trauma, situations etc. I believe phenomenological field would be
analysing the situations at hand along with taking qualitative decisions that would help
subjective understanding of the world.
3. Structure: What are the two main structural elements in Rogers’ theory? IDEAL AND
ACTUAL SELF Name, describe, and discuss their relationship. Specifically, what happens
when they are incongruent?

Answer

The two main elements of Rogers' Theory of Unitary Human Beings: (1) Man is a cohesive
whole with his own integrity who exhibits traits that go beyond and beyond the sum of his
components. (2) The environment and people are constantly exchanging matter and energy.
According to Rogers, a client may access their own potential if the three fundamental criteria
were met: empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. When the relationship is
incongruent then the genuineness takes a toll which makes the setup redundant with no trust,
or positive regard for another person. This takes place by changing the actual self, by
changing motivations.

4. Measurement: Name and briefly describe two ways that Rogers measured his concepts.

Answer

Q SORT

ACL

SCHWARTZ VALUE CIRCUMPLEX

5. Motivation. What is the central human motive in Rogers’ theory? What does it mean, how
does it work, what elements are required?

Answer

According to Rogers, the tendency of self-actualization which is to fulfil one’s highest

potential and achieve highest level of being is the central motive. More so, that all people
possess an inherent need to grow and achieve their potential. It is about receiving
unconditional positive regard and pursuing growth helps a person move toward greater
congruence. 
6. Maintaining congruence: Do people behave in ways to maintain and confirm
the perceptions they have of themselves? Is there any evidence?

Answer

I agree with Rogers about how we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are
consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be, our ideal-self. The
closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are
and the higher our sense of self-worth. A lot of evidence could potentially be found when we
take up situations like for instance, someone should not be breaking out with a laughter at a
funeral to maintain congruence.

7. Development: Rogers argued that humans need warmth, liking, respect, and acceptance

from others. What is this need called? Why is it important? Why is it important that it is
unconditional? What happens when it is conditional? In terms of parenting, what do parents
of well-adjusted kids do?

Answer

This need is the unconditional positive regard that is present where we need to feel valued,
respected, treated with affection and loved. It is important for us to reach the highest level of
our potential, self-actualization. It needs to be unconditional so that there are no conditions
attached to the positive regard that should be offered to all human beings. When it becomes
conditional, there is more aversion towards the idea of valuing others and their ideas,
opinions. I think high warmth, high control type parenting results in the most well-adjusted
children in long term since they are more in control of their emotions, are mature as well. 

Make sure to review (you do not need to write out an answer but it sure won’t hurt):

According to Rogers, persons (or “organisms”) have a fundamental tendency to maintain,

express, and enhance themselves and to fulfil their potential. What is that tendency called?
What else do you know about it? Can you list 2 research findings?

Answer
The human organism, according to Rogers, has an underlying "actualizing tendency" that
seeks to develop all capacities in ways that maintain or enhance the organism and advance it
toward autonomy. According to Carl Rogers, in order to reach self-actualization, a person
must be in a condition of congruence. It is an innate capacity to make choices that helped
individuals achieve this self-fulfilment. Research is still working on the tendencies being
hidden or latent, since it may not naturally come to everyone. Also, that not everyone has the
social environment to express themselves in ways they should imagine to be.