THEORY OF A FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON ( CARL ROGERS).

 

Humanism

•      The humanistic approach in psychology developed as a rebellion against behaviorist and psychodynamic psychology.

•      Thus humanistic approach is  treated as “third force”.

•      focuses on the human freedom, dignity, and potential.

•      central assumption -people act with intentionality and values.(not consequences / constructing meaning )

•      study the person as a whole, especially as an individual grows and develops over the lifespan.

•      study of the self, motivation, and goals are areas of particular interest.

•       learning through watching the behavior of others and what results from that behavior. learning does not have to involve a behavior change. Learning comes about as a result of observation

Carl Ransom Rogers 

Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology.Rogers is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research and was honored for his pioneering research with the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions by the American Psychological Association in 1956.

 

THEORY OF A FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON ( CARL ROGERS). 

"The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing organism” (Rogers, 1951).

Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to self-actualize - i.e. to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-beingness' we can.  Like a flower that will grow to its full potential if the conditions are right, but which is constrained by its environment, so people will flourish and reach their potential if their environment is good enough.

However, unlike a flower, the potential of the individual human is unique, and we are meant to develop in different ways according to our personality.  Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative.  They become destructive only when a poor self-concept or external constraints override the valuing process.  Carl Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence.

This means that self-actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e. who they would like to be) is congruent with their actual behavior (self-image).  Rogers describes an individual who is actualizing as a fully functioning person. The main determinant of whether we will become self-actualized is childhood experience.

Main Points of Carl Rogers Person Centered Theory

1.     Formative Tendency- The evolution occurs in step by step process, from simple to complex. Human consciousness evolves from primitive unconsciousness to highly organized awareness.

2.     Actualizing Tendency- It is a tendency in humans to move towards completion and fulfillment of potentials. Individuals have the inner power to creativity to solve problems, to change the self-concept. The source of psychological growth and maturity resides within individuals and is not found in other forces.

3.     Self- Roger says that self can be divided into two parts: (Real and Ideal).

4.     Self-Concept- It is the collection of information, ideas, attitude, and belief we have about ourselves. If self-concept becomes strong it becomes difficult to be changed easily.

5.     Ideal Self- It is one's view of self as one wish to be. It is all those attributes or qualities that one aspires to achieve.                                 

6.     Unhealthy Personality-According to Rogers a wide gap between ideal self and self-concept indicate incongruence and unhealthy personality.

7.     Healthy Personality- According to Roger psychologically healthy individual perceive little discrepancy between their self-concept and what they ideally would like to be.

8.     Human Nature-According to Roger that humans have inner drive towards self-fulfillment and maturity, so educator and therapist to provide good environment and help.

9.     Fully Functioning person

The Fully Functioning Person

Rogers believed that every person could achieve their goals, wishes, and desires in life. When they did so self-actualization took place. For Rogers (1961) people who are able be self-actualize, and that is not all of us, are called fully functioning persons. This means that the person is in touch with the here and now, his or her subjective experiences and feelings, continually growing and changing.

In many ways Rogers regarded the fully functioning person as an ideal and one that people do not ultimately achieve. It is wrong to think of this as an end or completion of life’s journey; rather it is a process of always becoming and changing.

 

He describes this as the good life, where the organism continually aims to fulfill its full potential. He listed the characteristics of a fully functioning person (Rogers 1961):

1.     A growing openness to experience

2.     An increasingly existential lifestyle

3.     Increasing organismic trust

4.     Freedom of choice

5.     Creativity

6.     Reliability and constructiveness

7.     A rich full life

 

1.     A growing openness to experience – they move away from defensiveness and have no need for subception(Subliminal Perception)  (a perceptual defense that involves unconsciously applying strategies to prevent a troubling stimulus from entering consciousness).

2.  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 (originate) from the experience.

    This results in excitement, daring, adaptability, tolerance, spontaneity, and a 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).

3.     Increasing organismic trust – they trust their own judgment and their ability to choose behavior that is 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.

4.     Freedom of choice – not being shackled (chained) by the restrictions that influence an incongruent individual, they are able to make a wider range of choices more fluently. They believe that they play a role in determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for their own Behaviour. 

5.     Creativity – it follows that they will feel more free to be creative. They will also be more creative in the way they adapt to their own circumstances without feeling a need to conform.

6.     Reliability and constructiveness – they can be trusted to act constructively (usefulness). 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.

7.     A rich full life – he 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.

 

Rogers' description of the good life: 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)

 

For Rogers, fully functioning people are well adjusted, well balanced and interesting to know. Often such people are high achievers in society.

 

Rogers guidelines for facilitating learning Methods.

1.     It is very important for the facilitator to set the initial mood or climate of the group or class experience.

2.     The facilitator helps to elicit and clarify the purposes of the individuals in the class as well as the more general purposes of the group.

Educational implications of Rogers

1.       Rich educational environment. In education roger stressed at the rich environment, where learners could follow their interests to reach their full potentials. This goal cannot be achieved through traditional education system and old curriculum.

2.       Educator as a facilitator. He put a new word – Non directive teaching –where educator is a facilitator, guiding learners and nurturing their learning in order to build their talent and reduce that gap between self-concept and ideal self.

3.       Positive educator-learner relationship. He stresses upon positive relationship in education. The key to effective education lies in better relationship between learner and educator.

4.       Curriculum must be new and modern. He is against traditional education and curriculum.

5.       Educator must be an active listener. The educator should be active listener and facilitator in order to guide the learners and developing their learning abilities.

6.       Nurturing learners. Education should nurture rather than construct or indoctrinate learners.

7.       Experience is the highest authority. Rogers person centered theory says that environment has great effect on our experiences