The organismic valuing process

In Carl Rogers’s theory of personality, the organismic valuing process refers to evaluating subjective
experiences to determine their possible impact on self-improvement. The concept is rooted in humanistic
psychology and Rogers’ client-centered therapy.

Essentially, Rogers proposed that people possess an innate tendency to evaluate their lives and experiences
based on their own internal, subjective frame of reference.

The organismic valuing process is this ongoing internal mechanism that people use to evaluate the meaning
and significance of the experiences they have in their lives.

Understanding the Organismic Valuing Process

Organismic Valuing Process: When an individual feels that an activity is valuable worth doing, it is worth doing
and my total organismic sensing of a situation is more trustworthy. According to Rogers, it is one of several
aspects of personality development and self-actualization.

According to Rogers, the underlying motive that drives behavior is the need for self-actualization. In other
words, we are always striving to become the best possible versions of ourselves that we can be.

The actualizing tendency motivates us toward self-actualization, but it is the organismic valuing process that
helps guide this actualizing tendency.

As we approach an experience or event, we consider both the short-term and long-term potential it has to aid
us in our quest toward reaching our full potential.

Rogers believed that when presented with two different alternatives, people who are emotionally healthy and
self-aware will always choose the option that best promotes the actualizing tendency.

Effects of the Organismic Valuing Process

When you evaluate different experiences, the organismic valuing process influences whether you view them
positively or negatively. Those that have the potential to enhance the self are viewed in a positive way. Those
that post a threat or are inconsistent with how a person views themselves will be judged negatively.

If you are at a party and decide to stop drinking, friends might pressure you to keep drinking in order to “have
fun.” While this pressure might lead to short-social acceptance, the evaluation of the organismic valuing
principle might cause you to place more weight on the long-term risks associated with getting drunk such as
being arrested for drunk driving on your way home from the party.

Rogers fundamentally believed that people are capable of assessing both their inner situation and external
influences and making choices that are the most beneficial to the self.

Key Things to Know About the Organismic Valuing Process

Some of the key components of the organismic valuing process:

It Is Innate

The organismic valuing process is biological and inherent in each person. Rogers believed this is a fundamental
aspect of human nature that leads people to assess and value their experiences.

It is Subjective

The valuing process is highly subjective. How it functions in each individual is influenced by their personal
history, perceptions, feelings, and personality. In other words, the things that are valuable to you may not be
the same for others.

It is Internal and Ongoing

The organismic valuing process occurs internally, often unconsciously. It is also continuous, happening
constantly as dynamic events unfold around us.

Congruence Plays a Role

The organismic valuing process involves valuing events and determining how they relate to self-concept.
Experiences and events that are aligned with a person’s sense of self are more likely to be seen as more
meaningful. When these experiences are incongruent, they are valued less positively or may even contribute to
feelings of cognitive dissonance.

Organismic Valuing Process in Therapy

According to Rogers, it is important to create an environment that encourages poeple to fully utilize the
organismic valuing process. In psychotherapy, this includes:

Helping people better understand their internal evaluations of their experiences

Encouraging self-discovery

Fostering greater authenticity

Promoting self-actualization

Facilitating personal growth

When people utilize the organismic valuing process to align their experiences and behaviors with their values,
they are able to live more authentic, fulfilling lives. Staying in tune with this process can help people better
understand their values, needs, goals, and desires.

MAIN ASSERTIONS OF THE ORGANISMIC VALUING PROCESS THEORY OF GROWTH

The OVP is a holistic growth theory that encompasses motivation-based theories of well-being (i.e., goal
pursuits and self-determination), explains how the emotional and cognitive process of growth unfolds as an
embodied “moment of movement,” and describes how this process is crucially affected by socioenvironmental
conditions as well as changes in one’s way of relating to the outside world (Rogers, 1959, 1961, 1964). As
discussed by Rogers (1961, 1964) and summarized by Proctor et al. (2015), the OVP theory captures the way in
which an individual gains a different way of relating both to the self and outer social world, and how the social
context can nurture or stifle this process. In the following passages, the OVP theory of growth is briefly
summarized by discussing its seven main assertions.

I. The Actualizing Tendency

The actualizing tendency refers to an active push for the organism to improve itself via better organization,
fulfillment of its potential, and growth. Psychologically, the actualizing tendency manifests as greater personal
growth—initially, as a greater understanding and connection with the self (Rogers, 1959, 1961, 1964).

According to the OVP theory, all organisms (individuals) are naturally motivated toward growth, both physically
and psychologically (Rogers, 1961, 1964). Such psychological growth, however, does not merely encompass
learning cognitive skills but also growth toward greater well-being (becoming “fully functioning” in Rogers’
terms).

II. Conditions for Growth: A Psychologically Safe Atmosphere of Unconditional Positive Regard, Empathy,
and Congruence

Rogers (1959) named the necessary and sufficient conditions for a person to start engaging with their
organismic growth process:

1. first, congruence, or genuineness—the growth-facilitating atmosphere is one in which there is a

transparency of experience and expression, genuine presence.

2. The second condition is unconditional positive regard, or the sense of appreciating the other as the whole
of who they are—appreciation for one’s intrinsic worth.
3. The third condition is empathic understanding, namely, the ability to reflect someone else’s inner
experience, to attentively listen and see the world from that other’s frame of reference, and to feel seen and
heard (Rogers, 1961).

SOME IMPLICATIONS FROM THE ROGERIAN ORGANISMIC VALUING THEORY FOR POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
AND INTERVENTION
Theoretical Implications

Adopting a theory of growth grounded in the OVP theory would have several important theoretical
implications. First, the OVP is a theory of the process of personal growth and well-being, which would be a
fruitful basis for further empirical explorations of this process. Personal growth has not yet been discussed
comprehensively within positive psychology nor studied empirically, since it is a complex unfolding process
requiring a holistic dynamic paradigm where the individual is regarded as a complex system that functions and
develops as a totality through the convergence of subsystems at different levels (Magnusson, 1985, 1998).

Second, the OVP considers well-being as an unfolding process characterized by constant change and
reinvention—while there are tentative personal growth stages, it fundamentally suggests that the well-being
process is ongoing and open.

Third, a theory of personal growth based on the OVP would be embedded in a view of the person as being an
active agent motivated to grow, become more complex, more closely connect with and express their authentic
self, and better fulfill their own potential. In other words, the theory sees the person as proactive. This
proactivity is the default of the individual unless this growth process is stifled by the environment.

Fourth, the theory would suggest that the psychosocial environment is exceedingly important for nurturing (or
stifling) the growth of this agentic person. More specifically, the natural organic growth process is either
nourished by an environment that offers the fulfillment of their basic psychological needs or stifled by a lack of
these needs (Rogers, 1961, 1980). Furthermore, each relationship can be defined as growth enhancing or
stifling, which would call for a common social responsibility.

Practical Implications

Rogerian growth theory can also inform therapeutic and educational interventions aimed at promoting the
personal growth process. First, in order to enhance the growth process, the basic psychological conditions of
unconditionalcare, authenticity, and acceptance must be present in order to override any defensive responses.

As discussed by Wilmots and colleagues (2020), a positive therapeutic relationship is essential for the
alleviation of problems such as depression. In a school context, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs,
which would ensure a psychologically safe school atmosphere through an autonomy-supportive teaching style
(see Núnez and León, 2015), is related to student motivation and well-being (Núnez and León, 2015; Liu et al.,
2017) and might provide a growth-promoting atmosphere in the classroom.

Positive psychology therapeutic interventions can be useful for the elicitation of the growth process. The
actualizing tendency is something that the individual needs to gain a connection to themselves (i.e., to be able
to attune to their inner communications). Mindfulness, both in the form of mindfulness meditation and
cognitive mindfulness through open conversation (see Langer, 1989; Langer and Moldoveanu, 2000), can be an
effective way of doing this. Through mindfulness, one can learn to connect to the bottom–up processing of the
body and mind and focus on the present moment (Adair and Fredrickson, 2015). In cognitive mindfulness, one
may learn to better understand one’s cognitive processes and gain insight into the ways in which one
represents reality and the self (Saarinen and Lehti, 2014).