Personality Theorist: A Look at Carl Rogers

Personality Theorist: A Look at Carl Rogers

Through his eyes, Carl Rogers' theory saw people in a basic form, which was relatively simple. They were either healthy or good, or at the very least, they were not bad or ill. This essay will outline his contributions to the field of psychology of personality and point out some of his simple theories.

I want to begin by giving you some background on Carl Ransom Rogers. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois on January 8, 1902. At an early age he demonstrated signs of intelligence; he was able to read before kindergarten, so he started school from the second grade. He later went on to college and studied theology - and as part of those studies he was acting pastor of a church in Vermont. After attending a seminar called "Why am I entering the ministry", he had second thoughts about the ministry and turned to clinical and educational psychology, studying at Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1931 (Boeree, 1998).

Carl Rogers began his clinical work at the Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, where he was exposed to such diverse influences as John Dewey, W. H. Kilpatrick, and Otto Rank (Smith, 1997). During his time at the clinic and being exposed to this unique combination of influences and the wide variety of individuals Rogers began to develop his own approach to psychology, and a strong belief in the positive nature of human beings. With the help of Abraham Maslow, a fellow theorist, Rogers developed what was called the humanist approach to psychology; this approach played an integral part in what was later called person-centered psychotherapy.

. Dagmar Pescitelli looked to examine Carl Rogers' theories more closely and wrote in his essay, An Analysis of Carl Rogers' Theory of Personality, that Rogers had a view of self, and a view of the human condition and his rationale for improvement of this condition. Rogers' humanistic conception of personality has both strengths and weaknesses; it is a valuable contribution to the study of persons, recognizing agency, free will and the importance of the self (Pescitelli, 1996).

Rogers' theories not only applied to humans, but to all living organisms. He also applied his theories and ideas to the ecosystem. According to Dr. C. George Boeree in Personality Theories, a biography of Carl Rogers; Rogers once stated that:

An ecosystem such as a forest, with all its complexity, has a much greater actualization potential than a simple ecosystem such as a corn field. If one bug were to become extinct in a forest, there are likely to be other creatures that will adapt to fill the gap; On the other hand, one bout of "corn blight" or some such disaster, and you have a dust bowl. The same for us as individuals: If we live as we should, we will become increasingly complex, like the forest, and thereby remain flexible in the face of life's little -- and big -- disasters.

Rogers' theories and techniques became known as "Rogerian psychotherapy", which became widely influential, and was embraced for the humanistic approach. Along with his experiential theory of learning, Rogers made important contributions to adult education, and had a strong belief that human beings have a natural desire to learn. Experiential learning by definition is a process by which the experience of the learner is reflected upon, and from this reflection