Chapter 10 Rogers: Person-Centered Theory 317does not sufficiently overlap with his or her self-concept and this incongruence can
be represented in the goals the person chooses to pursue. For example, a person may
pursue the goal to do well in biology but does not even like biology or may not even
need it for her or his goal of being an architect. Perhaps this person’s parents are
biologists and it was always expected he or she would do the same even though the
person feels that architecture is more exciting and fulfilling. In this example, biology
is a part of the person’s self-concept, but architecture is a part of his or her ideal
self. The incongruence between the two can be a source of distress. Fortunately,
Rogers (1951) expanded on these ideas to propose that we all have an organismic
valuing process (OVP)—that is, a natural instinct directing us toward the most
fulfilling pursuits. In the above example, the OVP would be represented as a visceral
or unexplainable gut feeling that architecture, not biology, is the right path.
Ken Sheldon and colleagues (2003) have explored the existence of an OVP in
college students by designing studies that ask students to rate the importance of several
goals repeatedly over the course of multiple weeks. Any time people rate the same
thing (for example, goals) over time, there is bound to be fluctuation in their ratings.
Sheldon and colleagues, however, predicted that the fluctuation in the importance of
several goals would have a distinct pattern. If people truly possess an OVP as Rogers
theorized, then over time they will rate goals that are inherently more fulfilling as
more desirable than goals that lead only to materialistic gains. To test their prediction,
Sheldon and colleagues had undergraduate students rate multiple pre-selected goals
(some of which were inherently more fulfilling than others). Six weeks later, par-
ticipants rated the same goals again, and then one final time 6 weeks after that. What
the researchers found was that, in line with the prediction that people possess an
OVP, the participants tended to rate the more fulfilling goals with increasing impor-
tance over time and the materialistic goals with decreasing importance.
Ransom, Sheldon, and Jacobsen (2010) also explored Rogers’ OVP process
in the context of cancer survival. These researchers noted that many people with
cancer report that they experience positive growth as a result of their disease, and
even say that cancer had a more positive than negative impact on their lives. This
remarkable human tendency to find lasting positive meaning in the wake of enor-
mously stressful events has been called “Posttraumatic Growth” (PTG) (Tedeschi
& Calhoun, 1996). The study tested the validity of PTG reports. Do cancer survivors
actually experience personal growth as a result of Rogers’ organismic valuing
process? Or are their reports of positive change merely illusions resulting from a
biased comparison of their present self with their past self? Individuals might cope
with the challenge that cancer provides by perceiving positive growth in themselves
where no objective evidence for it exists. Eighty-three people with breast or prostate
cancer completed measures of personal positive attributes and personal life goals
before and after radiation therapy treatment. The findings strongly supported
Rogers’ conceptualization of the OVP. Patients showed both actual and perceived
change over the course of radiation therapy. But, important to humanistic
psychology, shifts toward a more personal and genuine goal orientation among
survivors predicted PTG. That is, patients’ reports of positive personal growth were
not just illusory; they were reflected in a very real transition to valuing deeper and
more fulfilling goals over more materialistic ones during the course of their cancer
treatment.