Carl Rogers Theory of Personality.
Carl Rogers developed a theory of personality based on the assumption that every organism has the innate and natural tendency for growth or actualization. Rogers emphasized that each person is inherently good, he said that individuals have the same tendency for goodness and people encounter problems when they are not able to recognize their goodness and capacity for growth. Rogers also said that society and culture imposes expectations and standards that have resulted to conditions of worth which makes us believe that we are only worthy when we have lived up to those standards and expectations. Rogers theory of personality revolves around the basic nature of man for growth and how that growth can be curtailed or led astray by social forces. Rogers also developed a therapeutic technique or approach that is based on his theory of personality which he called client-centered therapy (Duffy Atwater, 2001).
The contributions of Rogers theory lies in his concept of actualization and how incongruity between the real self and ideal self causes adjustment problems. Rogerss theory is humanistic in that it brought into focus the humanness of the person. The theories of personality at this time had been dark and focused on the traumatic experiences, neurosis and faults of human functioning that Rogerss theory was a positive influence. One of the major contributions of Rogers was his therapeutic technique. He advocated that before the counseling process, it is important that the counselor has congruence, empathy and respect for the client (Duffy Atwater, 2001).
A limitation of Rogerss theory lies in its simplicity and lack of conceptual precision, whereby the tendency for actualization becomes great motive for all human behavior. Rogerss theory was not able to explain how actualization was developed it also ignores the role of learning and maturation in the formation of ones personality. Moreover, his client-centered therapy was criticized for its lack of steps and processes, and that it is difficult for a counselor to be always congruent, emphatic and respectful to his or her clients, after all he or she is also human (Duffy Atwater, 2001).
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