Critical Evaluation Of Carl Rogers' Theory Of Self-Concept

Critical evaluate of this contention in relation to the work of CARL ROGERS?

The Works of Carl Rogers is considered as one of most influential humanistic psychology research in the line of developing a personality theory emphasizing the significance of actualizing own self to shape personalities of human beings. Rogers believes that people regularly react to any stimulus associated with a subjective type of reality which falls in a phenomenal area and these changes as continuous happening. Across time persons may develop self-concepts, depending on feedback from reality. In developing self-concept a positive regard may be key for success. This is unconditional and may be the environment which can be free of preconceived notion of values. Conditional type of positive regards may be full of situations of worth and must be achieved as considered for successful. Humans develop ideal self as well as real self on conditional status. The close match of person’s real self with an ideal type of self what is known as congruity as a concept. Rogers believes that persons who are fully functioning may get a better life, mainly in the environment where the person constantly aims for fulfilling the potentials as well as and allows the personality in emanating from previous experience. As Maslow’s principle, Roger theory is criticized as well for lacking empirical level research evidence

The theory about the self was propounded by Carl Rogers and considered as humanistic in nature and existential as well as phenomenological regarding practice. This theory dwells on mainly upon the theory by Combs et al. (1949) popularly known as phenomenal field on personality. The elaboration of Carl Rogers' theory is often realized to be extensive in nature. These illustrations are discussed in many books and journals illuminating the issues in various research works.  It is considered for empirical evaluation in psychotherapy by Prochaska and Norcross in their 2003 writing.

The theory propounds Nineteen type of propositions in explaining the issues. All the individuals may persist in continuously changed the world of experiences which is called phenomenal field, and they remain at center. The organisms react to this field since it is experienced as well as perceived here. The perceptual field is real for individuals. The individuals act as an organized process to the phenomenal fields. These portions of total perceptual fields gradually become differentiated to be self. As the result of this interaction with an environment, particularly from the result of evaluation interaction with other, the structures of the self are formed and organized, fluid as consistent conceptual pattern perceptions in characteristics as well as relationships of the word ‘me’ with word ‘I’, together as values attached with concepts. Organisms have the basic tendency in actualizing, maintaining and enhancing the experiencing organism. The vantage point for understanding behavior is mainly from the internal frame of reference of the individuals. Behaviors are basically the goal direct attempts of individuals to satisfy the need as experienced regarding fields as perceived.

Theoretical Concepts

The particular type of emotions which would accompany as well as facilitate these goal behaviours relates to perceived type of significance of behavior for maintenance as well enhancements of the organisms. The value attached with experience, and make part of self-guided structures. In certain instances, they are not only experienced directly with the persons, get interjected and taken from others, but also perceived in distort fashion, in the form of experience as directed by them. Experiences when occuring in lives of individuals, they may symbolize, perceive and organize into certain relations to the self, or ignore since there may be no such perceived relationships to these structures. They even deny symbolizations or distorted type of symbolizations since the experiences are not consistent with structures round their own self. Many of ways people behave which are taken up by organisms are those that may be consistent often with the self-concepts.  On certain instance, behaviors may be developed by the organic level experience and need that are not symbolized at all. Such kind of behaviors may not be consistent with self’s structure although in certain instances this may not be taken up by individuals. Psychological level adjustments may exist when the concept around self would be that all kind of visceral as well as sensory level experience of organisms may or not get assimilated over symbolic levels onto any consistent relationships in self’s concept. Psychological level maladjustments exist even when organisms would deny awareness of a significant magnitude of sensory or visceral related experience that may not be consequently organized or symbolized onto gestalt around the self-level structure. Whenever the situations exist, there may be any potential psychological tensions. The experience not consistent with self’s structure regarding organization can get perceived to be threats, and more these sort of perceptions are there, more the rigid self-level structures would be organized in maintaining themselves. Under specific situations which involve a primarily absence of threats to self-level structures, experience not consistent with them may get examined and perceived thereby revising the structure of self in assimilating and including this experience. Whenever individuals perceive and accept one integrated and consistent system, all the sensory as well as visceral level experience get better understanding about other people, and hence would be more of accepting others to form a separate type of individual’s altogether. Whenever individuals perceive or accept about own’s self-level structures more of organic level experience, the person would find that himself will replace own’s present level value system extensively. This is over introjection and again gets distortedly in a more symbolized and continuing way to form organism level valuing processes.

Empirical Support for Rogers' Theory

Again Carl Rogers is known to practice an unconditional type of regards which are positive in nature. That can be defined to be accepting persons without any negative type judgments. On development aspect rather than the stages, Rogers illustrates principles surrounding them. Principal issues are developments of own self-level concepts and progress from undifferentiated type of self for getting differentiated to a full extent. The Self as a concept is considered as organized and consistent concept gestalt which is composed out of a perception of characteristics around me and I, also as the thinking about a relationship between me and ‘I’ with others. This added with varying life aspects, again with values attached across these types of perceptions. This is the gestalt available for awareness even if not always regarding awareness. This is also fluid as well as changing gestalt process, at given moments it may be a specific type of entity altogether. In developing self-level concepts, Rogers find conditional as well as unconditional positive type of regards to be important. They raised environment on unconditional type of positive regards with an opportunity to actualize fully. Those raised in an environment of conditional type regards may feel worthy when they can match condition (which Carl described as condition of worthiness) which may be lay down by others. Optimal type developments, referred as a proposition, end with certain processes than the static stage. Rogers described this to be better lives, where organisms continually aim in fulfilling its potentials. Carl lists the characteristics in fully functioning persons growing open to experiences – then they would move from defensive and with no needs for subsections (any perceptual defensive involving unconsciously.

The concept of freedom of choices, which are not shackled at any restriction, influences an individual who is incongruent. They can be capable of making wider ranges of choice in a fluent manner. It is a common belief that one plays the role to determine their behavior thereby feeling responsible towards his nature. The concept of creativity follows that; one would feel free to act as a creative person. Then the person can be much creative in a way one would adapt towards own situation without any feeling for need for confrontation. The concepts of constructiveness, as well as reliability, flows the trust to act in a constructive way. Any individual who would be open towards all the need can be capable of maintaining balance among the persons. Even the aggressive type of necessities can match and thereby get balanced with an intrinsic type of goodness at a context of congruence. The rich and fuller life concept is described as life of individual which is functioning fully to be rich, exciting and full thereby suggesting their experience of pain, joy, heartbreak, love, courage and fear vary intensely. The description about good life by Rogers is the process about this as convinced at person’s level. It also involves growing and stretching of becoming much of person’s potentiality. These encompass courage that comes to a person. This would mean launching somebody to a fuller extent to stream of life. Carl Rogers identifies real own self as aspects of persons’ being which got founded in actualizing type of tendency, also that follows an organismic type of valuing, the needs as well as receives the positive type of regards and such regard of self. It is the concept of you that goes all well then the same follows. In other side, up to the level that the society can be synchronous with actualizing tendencies, and person is forced for living with situation of worthy which would be out of steps with organismic type value, receiving only situational positive type regards and own self regards, one develops instead an ideal type of self. In terms of ideal Carl Rogers suggest that it may not be real, sometime it may be outside of one’s reach, and the standards one may not meet at all. The gaps between real self at one hand and ideal self on other in the form of one is and one should can be called to be incongruity concept. Carl Rogers describes the concept of congruence and concept of incongruence to be significant ideas across his theories. In next proposition, Rogers would refer to actualizing type tendencies. Also Rogers recognizes the needs for positive type of regards. In case of person who is fully congruent realize their potentials not in the cost of feeling the positive regards. They could be capable for leading lives which are more authentic and more genuine in nature. The incongruent type of individual, in his pursuit of positive type regards, leads lives including falseness without realizing the potential. The condition put on these by people surrounding them may make this necessary to be forgone genuine ones, authentic life meeting with approval from other. They also continue lives which may not always true towards themselves, who those are inside or out.

Critiques and Limitations

Carl Rogers suggests about incongruent type of persons that are mostly on the defensive type of actions without opening towards all the experiences and do not function ideally even malfunctioning often. They would work harder to maintain or protect the self-level concepts. Since their lives may not be authentic it is problematic, this is under threats constantly. They may deploy defensive mechanism for achieving this objective. Rogers described multiple mechanisms such as denial and distortions. Distortions occur when individuals perceive threats to the self-level concepts. They may distort perceptions until this fits with self-level concepts. The defensive behaviors reduce consciousness of threats without the threats themselves. And hence, with threat mounting, the protecting of self-level concepts becomes much difficult with individual becoming much rigid and defensive in the own self-level structures. When incongruence’s are immoderate, the processes lead individuals in a state of typically neurotic in nature. The functioning becomes precarious as well as vulnerable psychologically. When situations worsen it could be possible that defenses stop functioning and individuals become aware about incongruence of situations. The personality gets bizarre and disorganized; irrational in behaviors, associated in previously denied points of own self, can uncontrollably erupt.

The works of Carl Rogers is seen as one of most influential humanistic psychology research in the line of developing a personality theory emphasizing significance of actualizing own self to shape personalities of human beings. Rogers believes that human-beings constantly react to stimulus associated with subjective type of reality which falls in phenomenal area and these changes as continuous happening. Across time persons may develop self-concept depending on feedback from reality. In developing self-concept a positive regard may be key. The positive regard which is Unconditional may be the environment which may be free of preconceived notion of values. Conditional type of positive regards may be full of situations of worth and must be achieved as considered for successful. Humans develop ideal self as well as real self on conditional status. Close match of person’s real self with ideal self is known as congruity. Rogers believes that fully functioning people may achieve better life, in which he constantly aim for fulfilling the potential and allow their personalities to emanate from their experiences. As Maslow theories, Roger theory is criticized for lack of empirical evidences in research. The theory about the self propounded by Carl Rogers is considered as humanistic in nature and existential as well as phenomenological in terms of practice. This theory dwells on mainly upon the theory by Combs et al (1949) popularly known as phenomenal field type of personality. The elaboration of Carl Rogers' theory is often realized to be extensive in nature. These elaborations have been discussed across books and journals illuminating the issues in various researches.  It has been considered as stood consistently for empirical evaluation in psychotherapy by Prochaska and Norcross in their 2003 writing.

Ethical and Philosophical Implications

The theory propounds Nineteen type of propositions in explain the issues. All the individuals or organisms may persist in continuously changed world of experiences which is called phenomenal field and they remain at center. The organisms react to this field since it is experienced as well as perceived here. The perceptual field is real for individuals. The organisms react as an organized process to the phenomenal fields. The portion making the total of the perceptual level fields slowly become differentiated to be self. Consequently interactions with environment mainly from resulting interaction with other, structures of the self is constructed and built fluid as consistent patterns of perception in characteristic as well as relationships around I and me together as values that are attached with given concept. Organisms have basic tendency in actualizing, maintaining and enhancing the organisms that experience these. The vantage points to understand such behavior mainly come from the internal framework of references around the individuals. Behaviors are is mainly goals direct attempts across organisms to satisfy needs as experienced on fields as perceived.

Emotions accompany, and generally facilitate, these goal behaviors, kind of emotions being relate to perceived type of significance of behavior for maintenance as well enhancements of the organisms. The value attached with experience, and the value that make part of self-guided structures, in certain instances, are value experienced by directly  the organisms, and on certain instance is values that are taken and interjected from other and also perceived across distort fashion, in the form of experienced as directly by them. Experiences when occur in lives of the individuals, they may either, symbolize, perceive and organize into certain relations to the self, ignore as  there may be no such perceived relationships to this self-level structures, deny symbolizations or distorted type of symbolization since the experiences are not consistent along self’s as such. Many of ways of things are behave which are often adopted at the level of organisms are those ones that may be consistently found with the concept surround the self.  On certain instance, behaviors can be developed by the organic needs as well as experience those are not symbolized as such. These behaviors may not be consistent with structure around own self however at certain instance the behaviors are not necessarily owned at individual level. Psychological level adjustments exist at a time where concept around the self could be whole of visceral as well as sensory experience that organisms would have or would not have  are assimilated at symbolic ground in terms of consistent type relationship with self as a concept. Psychology level maladjustments exist whenever the organisms deny awareness about significant visceral as well as sensory experience that are consequently not at all organized nor symbolized on to gestalt around the structure of the self. Whenever the situations exist all the time there could be a some sort of basic as well as potential psychology level tensions. Experiences that are not consistent across organizations of self’s structure could be perceived to be threats thereby much of such perception are more rigidly organized for self’s structure in maintaining itself fully. In specific condition which involves primarily without the threat to self’s structures as well as  experiences that are not consistent at these can be examined as well as perceived, and the structure of self revised to assimilate and include such experiences. When individuals perceive and accept into ones that are consistent or integrated into systems, all the visceral and sensory experience, then the person could necessarily become more of understanding about the others around him there becoming better accepting about others to be separate individual altogether. While individuals perceive and accept on to these self-based structures much of person’s organic level experience, he would find to be replacing owns present level value systems fully on the introjections that is distortedly often and symbolize with continuing organisms valuing processes.

A critical evaluation of the contention behind CARL ROGERS’ works present a number of important issues. In addition to this Rogers too is known for practice of unconditional type positive regards, which are defined to be accepting persons without any negative type of judgments. The discussions on all these points illuminate the research as well understanding to a great extent. This also contributes greater knowledge world in a great way. This discussion hence is a very significant one for a number of reasons.

Reference:

1. Aron, L., 1996, ‘A meeting of minds: Mutuality in psychoanalysis’. The Analytic Press: Hillsdale NJ and London.

2. Block, J., 2008, ‘Issues for DSM-V: Internet addiction’, American Journal of Psychiatry, vol.165, pp.306-307.

3. Brown, S., 2009, ‘Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul’. New York: Avery.

4. Haidt, J., 2007, ‘The Happiness Hypothesis: Putting Ancient Wisdom to the Test of Modern Science’, Arrow Books Ltd. ISBN: 0099478897.

5. Rogers, C. R.,1951, ‘Client-centered therapy’, Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

6. Rogers, C. R., 1957, ‘ The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change’, Journal of Consulting Psychology, vol. 21, pp. 95–103.

7. Rogers, CR, 1965, ‘A humanistic conception of man’. In R Farson (ed) Science and Human Affairs (pp. 18–31). Palo Alto: Science and Behavior Books.

8. Rogers 2015, ‘Humanistic Theory of Personality. Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 20 Aug. 2015. Retrieved 31 Jan. 2016 from

9. Block, J. 2008, ‘Issues for DSM-V: Internet addiction’, American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 165, pp.306-307.

10. Brown, S., 2009, ‘Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul’, New York: Avery.

11. Haidt, J., 2007, ‘The Happiness Hypothesis: Putting Ancient Wisdom to the Test of Modern Science’, Arrow Books Ltd. ISBN: 0099478897.

12. Rogers, C. R., 1951. Client-centered therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

13. Rogers, C. R. 1957, The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 95–103.

14. Rogers, CR, 1965 ‘A humanistic conception of man’. In R Farson (ed) Science and Human Affairs (pp. 18–31). Palo Alto: Science and Behavior Books.