Rogerian Applications Flashcards

Question

HPM: Self-actualizing individuals...

Answer 1

 Accept themselves and others for who they are (acceptance)  Can be concerned for themselves and others (compassion and empathy)  Respond to the uniqueness of situations, not mechanically (psychological flexibility)  Can form intimate relationships with at least a few people (intimacy)  Spontaneous and creative (open to experience)  Resist conformity and be assertive while responding to the demands of reality (authentic)

Answer 2

abnormal people - persons who are unusually high functioning, self-actualizing individuals

Answer 3

Martin Seligman (leader) - interested in the nature of human strengths/ virtues  What are human strengths – how do we identify them?  It is an enduring quality that is beneficial in a variety of domains  e.g. wisdom, compassion, honesty, integrity, etc.  Parents and society foster these “strengths” in children, and, if developed, it is celebrated by one’s community (e.g. wise-man vs. “the fool”)  The strength is valued in almost all cultures in the world…

Answer 4

 Positive state of consciousness with the following characteristics:  A perceived match between personal skills + environmental challenge (congruence)  Perception the task is challenging but achievable  High level of focused attention  Lack of distractions and irrelevant thoughts  Intrinsic enjoyment in the activity  Loss of self-consciousness (self-un-aware; time flies)

Answer 5

Overarching concern with existence  Emphasis on the human condition, having consciousness, existing; thesignificance of the individual  It involves the search for meaning in human existence…  What is the purpose of life? Emphasis on:  Life as Suffering:  limited capabilities in a world of infinite complexity  Life is finite, death anxiety  Beliefs (and the opposite Nihilism – Nietzsche’s “god is dead”)  Reduce suffering through action/meaning → having purpose  Balance Chaos (unknown) and Order (known)  Phenomenology perspective: Understanding the unique experience of others as sentient beings

Answer 6

 Humans differ from animals in that we are free from simple deterministic drives  We have conscious (and abstract) action  We can imagine alternatives (non-reality; scenarios; predictions)  and we can imagine things not existing – “nothingness” (space and matter)  Because we have freedom of alternatives – we have the freedom to choose actions  “With freedom comes responsibility”  “I had no choice”… (no, we must take responsibility for our actions)  Morality and incongruence

Answer 7

“Nothingness is really like the nothingness of space, which contains the whole universe.” – Alan Watts. (1915 – 1973)  Without space we can't have solids (i.e., matter)  Solid and Space are inseparable  We know things only by comparison…  So, first, if we have conscious thought then we must have unconscious thought  What does this mean for you and your personality?  How am I defining my Self as a comparison… and if I am… then am I truly being me, or the alternative/comparison of what I don’t want to be? Or what I think I should be based on my comparisons… now what if your comparisons are limited by your experience …which they are ;

Answer 8

tests the hypothesis that the more death anxiety one faces the more one will commit to one’s cultural and political beliefs  Increases in mortality salience (aka the fear of death) produce:  Greater fondness for members of one’s own ‘group’ and rejection of members of different groups  Greater anxiety about blasphemous attitudes towards one’s own groups’ cultural ‘group’ icons  Greater physical aggression towards those that attack ones ‘group’  Increased donations to charities that benefit one’s ‘group’

Answer 9

 (1) people’s desire to live  (2) people’s awareness that death is inevitable  How do we cope with knowing we are going to die?  Once life’s fragility becomes a personal truth instead of a philosophical concept that happens to “other people,” we become more capable of celebrating whatever days and experiences remain to us instead of focusing on everyday hassles.

Answer 10

Specific research looking at discrepancies not between ideal and actual but among parts of the self  Ideal self and the “ought” self  Ideal self concerned with hopes, ambitions and desires  Ought self concerned with duties, responsibilities and obligations  “Things I ought to do”  Discrepancies with the actual self:  Ideal: leads to disappointment, sadness, depression (e.g., cant live up to ideal – perfectionism video)  Ought: leads to fear, threat, anxiety; avoidance and social isolation → neg. reinforcement + incr.control)  Research shows discrepancies between:  Actual - Ideal (leads to depression) (feelings of hopelessness?)  Actual - Ought (leads to anxiety disorders) (feelings of global anxiety?)

Answer 11

The Database  Some data based on clinical observations …but made these open to public scrutiny  Allowed himself to be put under the spotlight; judged  Rogers and colleagues sought objectivity  Q-Sort technique  Semantic Differential  Only used explicit methods, e.g. self-report  No implicit (unconscious) measures (e.g. dream analysis, symbolism, free-association,etc.)  Lack of cultural diversity

Answer 12

Little systematic theorising in general.  However, parts are logical and systematic  Formal personality theory is cogent and logical  Parent-child interactions and how those influence the development of a self-concept  Rogers didn’t like to theorise  Thought he was too subjective  Thought his theory was immature  Would have liked a model that would stand mathematic rigour  Overall it is systematic, but perhaps less so than others we will cover

Answer 13

 Some aspects of the Rogerian theory are testable  Particularly the actual and ideal self concept (but self report)  Overall the “self-concept” is testable  Necessary and sufficient conditions for psychological change are among the very best in psychotherapy and are still used today  But Self is often derived through Trait theory – Big 5 factor model for example.  However,  A universal motive towards self-actualisation?  Another way to think about “actualisation” is that we are moving towards our actual-ideal Self  …and the pursuit of an ought, should-ideal (i.e, perfectionism) or ought-ideal (societies “perfection”) is dropped  Only the path (aiming with purpose) to a “true” Self is taken

Answer 14

Simply Profound.  (1) Interpersonal relationship between therapist and client  Therapeutic alliance (contemporary terminology)  Most important element  (2) Developed methods to objectively test effectiveness of therapy (the first!)  (3) Person-centred approach  Empowered clients to improve their own lives  It was up to them in the end – aim was to instil and support a sense of personal responsibility in the client  Only you can self actualise you and there is no manual for that…  You are your internal thoughts and the only thing you are in control of is what you do with them

Answer 15

Rogerian theory and the Client-Centred approach:  Strengths:  Focuses on aspects of human existence that are neglected by most  The self concept and human potential for growth  Provides concrete therapeutic strategies and settings  First person to do this and the strategies remain today  Brought scientific objectivity to personality psychology  Limitations:  Does not attend to phenomena that lies outside conscious experience (…but?)  Little attention to cross-cultural differences and situational differences