Chapter 10 Rogers: Person-Centered Theory 321and animals primarily because they have self-awareness. To the extent that
we have awareness, we are able to make free choices and to play an active
role in forming our personalities.
Rogers’ theory is also high on teleology, maintaining that people strive
with purpose toward goals that they freely set for themselves. Again, under
proper therapeutic conditions, people consciously desire to become more
fully functioning, more open to their experiences, and more accepting of self
and others.
Rogers placed more emphasis on individual differences and unique-
ness than on similarities. If plants have individual potential for growth, peo-
ple have even greater uniqueness and individuality. Within a nurturant
environment, people can grow in their own fashion toward the process of
being more fully functioning.
Although Rogers did not deny the importance of unconscious processes,
his primary emphasis was on the ability of people to consciously choose their
own course of action. Fully functioning people are ordinarily aware of what
they are doing and have some understanding of their reasons for doing it.
On the dimension of biological versus social influences, Rogers favored
the latter. Psychological growth is not automatic. In order to move toward actu-
alization, one must experience empathic understanding and unconditional pos-
itive regard from another person who is genuine or congruent. Rogers firmly
held that, although much of our behavior is determined by heredity and environ-
ment, we have within us the capacity to choose and to become self-directed.
Under nurturant conditions, this choice “always seems to be in the direction of
greater socialization, improved relationships with others” (Rogers, 1982, p. 8).
Rogers (1982) did not claim that, if left alone, people would be righ-
teous, virtuous, or honorable. However, in an atmosphere without threat,
people are free to become what they potentially can be. No evaluation in
terms of morality applies to the nature of humanity. People simply have the
potential for growth, the need for growth, and the desire for growth. By
nature, they will strive for completion even under unfavorable conditions, but
under poor conditions they do not realize their full potential for psychological
health. However, under the most nurturant and favorable conditions, people
will become more self-aware, trustworthy, congruent, and self-directed, qual-
ities that will move them toward becoming persons of tomorrow.
Key Terms and Concepts
∙ (^) The formative tendency states that all matter, both organic and inorganic,
tends to evolve from simple to more complex forms.
∙ (^) Humans and other animals possess an actualization tendency: that is, the
predisposition to move toward completion or fulfillment.
∙ (^) Self-actualization develops after people evolve a self-system and refers
to the tendency to move toward becoming a fully functional person.