fei75766_ch10_309-344.indd 337  02/06/20 12:29 PM
Chapter 10    Rogers: Person-Centered Theory 337
Tosumup,these results inessence show howmuch ofareal-ideal discrepancy 
aperson possesses isassociated withbrain andgenetic differences. Yetwhether these 
biological differences areacause oraneffect ofreal-ideal discrepancy remains aques-
tionforfuture researchers.
Motivation and Pursuing One’s Goals
Oneareaofresearch where Rogers’ ideas continue tobeinfluential isgoalpursuit. 
Setting andpursuing goals isawayforpeople toorganize theirlivesinawaythat
leads todesirable outcomes andaddsmeaning todaily activities. Setting goals iseasy, 
butsetting therightgoals canbemore difficult thanitseems. According toRogers, 
asource ofpsychological distress isincongruence, orwhen one’s ideal selfdoesnot
sufficiently overlap withhisorherself-concept andthisincongruence canberepre -
sented inthegoals theperson chooses topursue. Forexample, aperson maypursue 
thegoaltodowellinbiology butdoesnotevenlikebiology ormaynotevenneed it
forherorhisgoalofbeing anarchitect. Perhaps thisperson’s parents arebiologists 
anditwasalways expected heorshewould dothesame eventhough theperson 
feelsthatarchitecture ismore exciting andfulfilling. Inthisexample, biology isa
partoftheperson’s self-concept, butarchitecture isapartofhisorherideal self.The
incongruence between thetwocanbeasource ofdistress. Fortunately, Rogers (1951) 
expanded onthese ideas topropose thatweallhaveanorganismic valuing process 
(OVP) —that is,anatural instinct directing ustoward themost fulfilling pursuits. In
theabove example, theOVP would berepresented asavisceral orunexplainable gut
feeling thatarchitecture, notbiology, istherightpath.
KenSheldon andcolleagues (2003) haveexplored theexistence ofanOVP 
incollege students bydesigning studies thataskstudents toratetheimportance of
several goals repeatedly overthecourse ofmultiple weeks. Anytimepeople ratethe
same thing (forexample, goals) overtime, there isbound tobefluctuation intheir
ratings. Sheldon andcolleagues, however, predicted thatthefluctuation intheimpor -
tance ofseveral goals would haveadistinct pattern. Ifpeople trulypossess anOVP as
Rogers theorized, thenovertimetheywillrategoals thatareinherently more fulfilling 
asmore desirable thangoals thatleadonlytomaterialistic gains. Totesttheirpredic -
tion,Sheldon andcolleagues hadundergraduate students ratemultiple pre-selected 
goals (some ofwhich wereinherently more fulfilling thanothers). Sixweeks later, 
participants rated thesame goals again, andthenonefinaltime6weeks afterthat.
What theresearchers found wasthat,inlinewiththeprediction thatpeople pos-
sessanOVP, theparticipants tended toratethemore fulfilling goals withincreasing 
importance overtimeandthematerialistic goals withdecreasing importance.
Ransom, Sheldon, andJacobsen (2008 )alsoexplored Rogers’ OVP process in
thecontext ofcancer survival. These researchers noted thatmany people withcancer 
report thattheyexperience positive growth asaresult oftheirdisease, andevensay
thatcancer hadamore positive thannegative impact ontheirlives. Thisremarkable 
human tendency tofindlasting positive meaning inthewake ofenormously stressful 
events hasbeen called “Posttraumatic Growth” (PTG) (Tedeschi &Calhoun, 1996). 
Thestudy tested thevalidity ofPTG reports. Docancer  survivors actually experi -
encepersonal growth asaresult ofRogers’ organismic valuing process? Oraretheir
reports ofpositive change merely illusions resulting from abiased comparison ofFinal PDF to printer