The Concept of Self

Carl Rogers took a very humanistic approach to the science of psychology and his theories leaned towards the enhancement of humankind . He uses the actualizing tendency ' to explain human behavior . He feels that this attribute in us makes us to do the things that we do to survive and advance ourselves . It is a motivational force that encompasses our fears as well as sense of pleasure . This tendency is so much a part of us that it is hard to separate it from the self , thereby paving the way for culmination of the

famous self-actualizing tendency . The self is the collection of unique features than a person defines himself /herself with (Pescitelli 1996 . Self-actualization emphasizes that one 's actions are coherent with one 's perception of self

The concept of self fairly depends upon the social experiences and belief systems that one has gone through in his /her life . The opinions of other social beings surrounding an individual shape up the self positive responses reinforce certain values to become a part of the self , while negative views tend to separate certain attributes from the self . One 's belief system is first structured by parental influence during one 's formative years . This process continues in one 's life based on the opinions of friends , spouse and children . However , this evaluation by others forms a perception of self within oneself , which is not in coherence with one 's true self since they are based on peer opinions to bolster a feeling of self-worth (Rogers 1959 . This leads to the suppression of one 's true self from one 's regular behavior . However this eventually leads to internal conflict between one 's true self and one 's perception of self

Rogers also believes in another entity called the ideal self , which a person would like ' to be and believes to the ultimate way of existence . Hence , there should be some level of incongruence between the different variations of self with one 's conscious level of existence although studies have indicated the contrary (Maddi 1996 Notwithstanding that , I feel that Rogers ' work is based on the belief that human beings were capable of constructive change , provided they were true to themselves and acted fearlessly on free will

Reference

Maddi , S .R (1996 . Personality theories : A comparative analysis (6th ed . Toronto : Brooks /Cole Publishing Co

Pescitelli , D (1996 . An Analysis of Carl Rogers ' Theory of Personality . Retrieved 25 April 2008 Rogers , C .R (1959 . A theory of therapy , personality and interpersonal relationships , as developed in the client-centered framework . In S . Koch (ed . Psychology : A study of science (pp . 184-256 . N .Y : McGraw Hill

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