Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIII. Humanistic/Existential
Theories- Rogers:
Person−Centered Theory
(^344) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
Concept of Humanity
Rogers’s concept of humanity was clearly stated in his famous debates with B. F.
Skinner during the mid-1950s and early 1960s. Perhaps the most famous debates
in the history of American psychology, these discussions consisted of three face-
to-face confrontations between Rogers and Skinner regarding the issue of freedom
and control (Rogers & Skinner, 1956). Skinner (see Chapter 15) argued that people
are always controlled, whether they realize it or not. Because we are controlled
mostly by haphazard contingencies that have no grand design or plan, we often
have the illusion that we are free (Skinner, 1971).
Rogers, however, contended that people have some degree offree choiceand
some capacity to be self-directed. Admitting that some portion of human behavior
is controlled, predictable, and lawful, Rogers argued that the important values and
choices are within the scope of personal control.
Throughout his long career, Rogers remained cognizant of the human capac-
ity for great evil, yet his concept of humanity is realistically optimistic.He believed
that people are essentially forward moving and that, under proper conditions, they
will grow toward self-actualization. People are basically trustworthy, socialized, and
constructive. They ordinarily know what is best for themselves and will strive for
completion provided they are prized and understood by another healthy individual.
However, Rogers (1959) was also aware that people can be quite brutal, nasty, and
neurotic:
I do not have a Pollyanna view of human nature. I am quite aware that out of
defensiveness and inner fear individuals can and do behave in ways which are
horribly destructive, immature, regressive, anti-social, hurtful. Yet, one of the
most refreshing and invigorating parts of my experience is to work with such
individuals and to discover the strongly positive directional tendencies which
exist in them, as in all of us, at the deepest levels. (p. 21)
This tendency toward growth and self-actualization has a biological basis.
Just as plants and animals have an innate tendency toward growth and fulfillment,
338 Part III Humanistic/Existential Theories
Fifth, is person-centered theory internally consistency,with a set of opera-
tional definitions. We rate person-centered theory very high for its consistency
and its carefully worked-out operational definitions. Future theory builders can
learn a valuable lesson from Rogers’s pioneering work in constructing a theory of
personality.
Finally, is Rogerian theory parsimoniousand free from cumbersome concepts
and difficult language? The theory itself is unusually clear and economical, but some
of the language is awkward and vague. Concepts such as “organismic experienc-
ing,” “becoming,” “positive self-regard,” “need for self-regard,” “unconditional self-
regard,” and “fully functioning” are too broad and imprecise to have clear scientific
meaning. This criticism is a small one, however, in comparison with the overall tight-
ness and parsimony of person-centered theory.