Theories of Personality 9th Edition

314 Part III Humanistic/Existential Theories

a higher level of congruence than the therapy group at the beginning of the

study, but in contrast to the therapy group, they showed almost no change in

congruence between self and self-ideal from the initial testing until the final

follow-up.

In addition, the therapy group changed their self-concept more than they

changed their perception of the ordinary person. This finding suggests that,

although clients showed little change in their notion of what the average person

was like, they manifested marked change in their perceptions of self. In other

words, intellectual insight does not result in psychological growth (Rudikoff,

1954).

Does therapy bring about noticeable changes in clients’ behavior as perceived

by close friends? Participants in both the therapy and the control groups were asked

to supply the experimenters with names of two intimate friends who would be in

a position to judge overt behavioral changes.

In general, the friends reported no significant behavioral changes in the cli-

ents from the pretherapy period to posttherapy. However, this global rating of no

change was due to a counterbalancing effect. Clients judged by their therapists as

being most improved received higher posttherapy maturity scores from their

friends, whereas those rated as least improved received lower scores from their

friends. Interestingly, before therapy, clients typically rated themselves less mature

than their friends rated them, but as therapy progressed, they began to rate them-

selves higher and, therefore, more in agreement with their friends’ ratings. Par-

ticipants in the control group showed no changes throughout the study in emotional

maturity as judged by friends (Rogers & Dymond, 1954).

Testing points Therapy

Wait period

60 days

Follow-up

6–12 months

Therapy

Follow-up

6–12 months

Own-control group No-wait group

Therapy group

FIGURE 10.1 Design of the Chicago Study.

Source: C. R. Rogers and R. F. Dymond, Psychotherapy and Personality Change, 1954. Copyright © 1954 The

University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.