THEME 3
Carl Rogers is the founder of the humanist approach to psychology.
I. ROGERS'S VIEW OF THE PERSON
1. The Subjectivity of Experience
• phenomenal field = the space/a system of perceptions that makes up our perception of the
environment/the world, our experience → subjective construction
↳ it reflects our inner world (personal goals, beliefs, needs) which in turn influence
our perception of the world
2. The Feeling of Authenticity
We are prone to a distinctive type of psychological distress which we experience as a feeling of
alienation, of detachment because the experiences in our daily lives do not stem from our true
'authentic' selves.
↳ but WHY do we feel like this? → Because we need the approval of others, we delude ourselves
into thinking their values and desires are our own.
↳ This results in us thinking about these values, but not identifying with them or feeling attached
to them, thus we end up confused about 'who' we are.
!!! We ignore our primary sensory and visceral reactions, which for Rogers were a possible
source of wisdom and allowing ourselves to fully accept them means we are well adjusted
psychologically (in contrast to Freud who stated that it is best to repress these savages,
animalistic instincts)
3. The Positivity of Human Motivation
Rogers considered the core of our nature is essentially positive (from his clinical experiences)
and that our most fundamental instinct is directed towards positive growth.
4. A phenomenological Approach
This approach investigates people's conscious experiences and their perception of the world.
↳Rogers promoted the study of phenomenology as he believes it was the core of our personality.
II. ROGERS'S VIEW OF THE SCIENCE OF PERSONALITY
Rogers tried to fuse the traditional scientific method (that uses clear-cut data and results) with
the clinical understanding of subjective experiences of the client.
↳ in therapy, he did not classify his patients into a taxonomy, but instead tried to
understand how the client experienced the world.
, III. THE PERSONALITY THEORY OF CARL ROGERS
1. The Structure
• the self = an aspect of the phenomenal field in which the person perceives things and
attaches subjective meaning to them, it is a subset which is recognized as the self
("I"/"me") or the self-concept
• !!! the self-concept = an organized and consistent pattern of perceptions which can
change over time, but it retains its patterns, its integrated and organized quality
↳ it is generally available to the awareness
**people think quite often about their potential self
The 'Intuitive Self'
• thinking nonintuitively = when we don't have a certain answer to how we would react/be
in different settings/a certain situation (ex: how we will be at 80 years old, what if we
were raised in a different culture)
Rogers thought we have a core, true self that we experience at a deep, intuitive level.
**study with actors and soccer players that had to think about words that do describe them and
words that don’t → if the words did describe them, they would be thinking intuitively, but if they
didn't then it would be nonintuitive thinking → the brain regions that activate more were the
ones 'more affective at their core'
**study with people identifying with future self-found that people feel closer to their present self
'Measuring the Self' can be done through 2 methods:
o The Q-sort Technique → the psychologist gives the patient cards with statements
about personality and behavior and attributes in general which the patient will
place on a scale from 'Least characteristic of me' to 'Most characteristic of me'
this technique strikes a good balance between flexibility and fixed
measures
it can be administered more times and used to measure the ideal self
(discrepancies between the ideal self and current self are important for
psychopathology and therapeutic change)
o The Semantic Differential → the individual rates a concept on any scale on which
the ends of the spectrum are two antonyms and indicates whether they identify
with one or neither of the two
Carl Rogers is the founder of the humanist approach to psychology.
I. ROGERS'S VIEW OF THE PERSON
1. The Subjectivity of Experience
• phenomenal field = the space/a system of perceptions that makes up our perception of the
environment/the world, our experience → subjective construction
↳ it reflects our inner world (personal goals, beliefs, needs) which in turn influence
our perception of the world
2. The Feeling of Authenticity
We are prone to a distinctive type of psychological distress which we experience as a feeling of
alienation, of detachment because the experiences in our daily lives do not stem from our true
'authentic' selves.
↳ but WHY do we feel like this? → Because we need the approval of others, we delude ourselves
into thinking their values and desires are our own.
↳ This results in us thinking about these values, but not identifying with them or feeling attached
to them, thus we end up confused about 'who' we are.
!!! We ignore our primary sensory and visceral reactions, which for Rogers were a possible
source of wisdom and allowing ourselves to fully accept them means we are well adjusted
psychologically (in contrast to Freud who stated that it is best to repress these savages,
animalistic instincts)
3. The Positivity of Human Motivation
Rogers considered the core of our nature is essentially positive (from his clinical experiences)
and that our most fundamental instinct is directed towards positive growth.
4. A phenomenological Approach
This approach investigates people's conscious experiences and their perception of the world.
↳Rogers promoted the study of phenomenology as he believes it was the core of our personality.
II. ROGERS'S VIEW OF THE SCIENCE OF PERSONALITY
Rogers tried to fuse the traditional scientific method (that uses clear-cut data and results) with
the clinical understanding of subjective experiences of the client.
↳ in therapy, he did not classify his patients into a taxonomy, but instead tried to
understand how the client experienced the world.
, III. THE PERSONALITY THEORY OF CARL ROGERS
1. The Structure
• the self = an aspect of the phenomenal field in which the person perceives things and
attaches subjective meaning to them, it is a subset which is recognized as the self
("I"/"me") or the self-concept
• !!! the self-concept = an organized and consistent pattern of perceptions which can
change over time, but it retains its patterns, its integrated and organized quality
↳ it is generally available to the awareness
**people think quite often about their potential self
The 'Intuitive Self'
• thinking nonintuitively = when we don't have a certain answer to how we would react/be
in different settings/a certain situation (ex: how we will be at 80 years old, what if we
were raised in a different culture)
Rogers thought we have a core, true self that we experience at a deep, intuitive level.
**study with actors and soccer players that had to think about words that do describe them and
words that don’t → if the words did describe them, they would be thinking intuitively, but if they
didn't then it would be nonintuitive thinking → the brain regions that activate more were the
ones 'more affective at their core'
**study with people identifying with future self-found that people feel closer to their present self
'Measuring the Self' can be done through 2 methods:
o The Q-sort Technique → the psychologist gives the patient cards with statements
about personality and behavior and attributes in general which the patient will
place on a scale from 'Least characteristic of me' to 'Most characteristic of me'
this technique strikes a good balance between flexibility and fixed
measures
it can be administered more times and used to measure the ideal self
(discrepancies between the ideal self and current self are important for
psychopathology and therapeutic change)
o The Semantic Differential → the individual rates a concept on any scale on which
the ends of the spectrum are two antonyms and indicates whether they identify
with one or neither of the two
