Editing Carl Rogers (section)

== Theory ==
Rogers's theory of the self is considered [[humanistic psychology|humanistic]], [[Existential psychology|existential]], and [[phenomenology (psychology)|phenomenological]].<ref>Dagmar Pescitelli, [http://pandc.ca/?cat=carl_rogers&page=rogerian_theory ''An Analysis of Carl Rogers' Theory of Personality''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113223639/http://pandc.ca/?cat=carl_rogers&page=rogerian_theory |date=2017-01-13 }}</ref> It is based directly on the "[[phenomenal field theory|phenomenal field]]" personality theory of Combs and Snygg (1949).<ref>Snygg, Donald and Combs, Arthur W. (1949), ''Individual Behavior: A New Frame of Reference for Psychology''. New York, Harper & Brothers. [http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/snygg&combs.html Article on Snygg and Combs' "Phenomenal Field" Theory]</ref> Rogers's elaboration of his theory is extensive. He wrote 16 books and many more journal articles about it. Prochaska and Norcross (2003) states Rogers "consistently stood for an empirical evaluation of psychotherapy. He and his followers have demonstrated a humanistic approach to conducting therapy and a scientific approach to evaluating therapy need not be incompatible."

=== Nineteen propositions ===
Rogers's theory (as of 1951) was based on 19 propositions:<ref name="r53">{{cite book |title=Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications and theory.|first=Carl |last=Rogers |year=1951 |publisher=Constable |location=London |isbn=978-1-84119-840-8}}</ref>
# All individuals (organisms) exist in a continually changing world of experience (phenomenal field) of which they are the center.
# The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and perceived. This perceptual field is "reality" for the individual.
# The organism reacts as an organized whole to this phenomenal field.
# A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the self.
# As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of evaluative interaction with others, the structure of the self is formed—an organized, fluid but consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the "I" or the "me", together with values attached to these concepts.
# The organism has one basic tendency and striving—to actualize, maintain and enhance the experiencing organism.
# The best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the individual.
# Behavior is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experienced, in the field as perceived.
# Emotion accompanies, and in general facilitates, such goal directed behavior, the kind of emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behavior for the maintenance and enhancement of the organism.
# The values attached to experiences, and the values that are a part of the self-structure, in some instances, are values experienced directly by the organism, and in some instances are values introjected or taken over from others, but perceived in distorted fashion, as if they had been experienced directly.
# As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either (a) symbolized, perceived and organized into some relation to the self, (b) ignored because there is no perceived relationship to the self structure, or (c) denied symbolization or given distorted symbolization because the experience is inconsistent with the structure of the self.
# Most of the ways of behaving that the organism adopts are those that are consistent with the concept of self.
# In some instances, behavior may be brought about by organic experiences and needs that have not been symbolized. Such behavior may be inconsistent with the structure of the self, but in such instances the individual does not "own" the behavior.
# Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that all the sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be, assimilated on a symbolic level into a consistent relationship with the concept of self.
# Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies awareness of significant sensory and visceral experiences, which consequently are not symbolized and organized into the gestalt of the self structure. When this situation exists, there is a basic or potential psychological tension.
# Any experience that is inconsistent with the organization of the structure of the self may be perceived as a threat, and the more of these perceptions there are, the more rigidly the self structure is organized to maintain itself.
# Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of threat to the self structure, experiences inconsistent with it may be perceived and examined, and the structure of self revised to assimilate and include such experiences.
# When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and integrated system all his sensory and visceral experiences, he is necessarily more understanding of others and more accepting of others as separate individuals.
# As the individual perceives and accepts into his self structure more of his organic experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value system—based extensively on introjections which have been distortedly symbolized—with a continuing organismic valuing process.

In relation to No. 17, Rogers is known for practicing "[[unconditional positive regard]]", which is defined as accepting a person "without negative judgment of .... [a person's] basic worth".<ref>Barry, P. (2002). Mental Health and Mental Illness. (7th ed.) New York: Lippincott.</ref>

=== Development of the personality ===
With regard to development, Rogers described principles rather than stages. The main issue is the development of a self-concept and the progress from an undifferentiated self to being fully differentiated.

{{blockquote|'''Self Concept''' ... the organized consistent conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of the characteristics of 'I' or 'me' and the perceptions of the relationships of the 'I' or 'me' to others and to various aspects of life, together with the values attached to these perceptions. It is a gestalt which is available to awareness though not necessarily in awareness. It is a fluid and changing gestalt, a process, but at any given moment it is a specific entity. (Rogers, 1959)<ref name="r59">{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Carl.|editor=S. Koch|title= Psychology: A study of a science. Vol. 3: Formulations of the person and the social context.|year=1959|publisher=McGraw Hill|location=New York|chapter=A theory of therapy, personality relationships as developed in the client-centered framework.}}</ref>}}

In the development of the self-concept, he saw conditional and unconditional positive regard as key. Those raised in an environment of unconditional positive regard have the opportunity to fully actualize themselves. Those raised in an environment of conditional positive regard feel worthy only if they match conditions (what Rogers describes as ''conditions of worth'') that others have laid down for them.

=== Fully functioning person ===
Optimal development, as referred to in proposition 14, results in a certain process rather than static state. Rogers calls this ''the good life'', where the organism continually aims to fulfill its potential. He listed the characteristics of a fully functioning person (Rogers 1961):<ref name="r61">{{cite book |title=On becoming a person: A therapist's view of psychotherapy |first=Carl |last=Rogers |year=1961 |publisher=Constable |location=London |isbn=978-1-84529-057-3}}</ref>
# A growing openness to experience: they move away from defensiveness and have no need for subception (a perceptual defense that involves unconsciously applying strategies to prevent a troubling stimulus from entering consciousness).
# An increasingly existential lifestyle: living each moment fully, not distorting the moment to fit personality or self-concept but allowing personality and self-concept to emanate from the experience. This results in excitement, daring, adaptability, tolerance, spontaneity, and lack of rigidity, and suggests a foundation of trust. "To open one's spirit to what is going on now, and discover in that present process whatever structure it appears to have" (Rogers 1961).<ref name="r61" />
# Increasing organismic trust: they trust their own judgment and ability to choose behavior appropriate for each moment. They do not rely on existing codes and social norms but trust that as they are open to experiences they will be able to trust their own sense of right and wrong.
# Freedom of choice: not being shackled by the restrictions that influence an incongruent individual, they are able to make a wider range of choices more fluently. They believe they play a role in determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for it.
# Creativity: it follows that they will feel freer to be creative. They will also be more creative in the way they adapt to their circumstances without feeling a need to conform.
# Reliability and constructiveness: they can be trusted to act constructively. An individual who is open to all their needs will be able to maintain a balance between them. Even aggressive needs will be matched and balanced by intrinsic goodness in congruent individuals.
# A rich full life: Rogers describes the life of the fully functioning individual as rich, full and exciting, and suggests that they experience joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage more intensely. His description of ''the good life'':{{blockquote|This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. (Rogers 1961)<ref name="r61" />}}

=== Incongruity ===
Rogers identified the "[[real self]]" as the aspect of a person that is founded in the actualizing tendency, follows organismic values and needs, and receives positive regard from others and self. On the other hand, to the extent that society is out of sync with the actualizing tendency and people are forced to live with conditions of worth that are out of step with organismic valuing, receiving only conditional positive regard and self-regard, Rogers said that people develop instead an "ideal self". By ''ideal'', he was suggesting something not real, something always out of reach, a standard people cannot meet. This gap between the real self and the ideal self, the "I am" and the "I should", Rogers called ''incongruity''.

=== Psychopathology ===
Rogers described the concepts of ''congruence'' and ''incongruence'' as important in his theory. In proposition #6, he refers to the actualizing tendency. At the same time, he recognized the need for ''positive regard''. In a fully congruent person, realizing their potential is not at the expense of experiencing positive regard. They are able to lead authentic and genuine lives. Incongruent individuals, in their pursuit of positive regard, lead lives that include falsity and do not realize their potential. Conditions put on them by those around them make it necessary for them to forgo their genuine, authentic lives to meet with others' approval. They live lives that are not true to themselves.

Rogers suggested that the incongruent individual, who is always on the defensive and cannot be open to all experiences, is not functioning ideally and may even be malfunctioning. They work hard at maintaining and protecting their self-concept{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}. Because their lives are not authentic, this is difficult, and they are under constant threat. They deploy ''defense mechanisms'' to achieve this. He describes two mechanisms: ''distortion'' and ''denial''. Distortion occurs when the individual perceives a threat to their self-concept. They distort the perception until it fits their self-concept. This defensive behavior reduces the consciousness of the threat but not the threat itself. And so, as the threats mount, the work of protecting the self-concept becomes more difficult and the individual becomes more defensive and rigid in their self-structure. If the incongruity is immoderate this process may lead the individual to a state that would typically be described as neurotic. Their functioning becomes precarious and psychologically vulnerable. If the situation worsens it is possible that the defenses cease to function altogether and the individual becomes aware of the incongruity of their situation. Their personality becomes disorganised and bizarre; irrational behavior, associated with earlier denied aspects of self, may erupt uncontrollably.