fei75766_ch10_309-344.indd 316  02/06/20 12:29 PM
Part III    Humanistic/Existential Theories316
Forthisreason, heregarded these three conditions asbothnecessary andsufficient 
conditions forbecoming afullyfunctioning orself-actualizing person. Although peo-
pleshare theactualizing tendency withplants andother animals, onlyhumans havea
concept ofselfandthusapotential forself-actualization.
The Self and Self-Actualization
According toRogers (1959), infants begin todevelop avague concept ofselfwhen a
portion oftheirexperience becomes personalized anddifferentiated inawareness as
“I”or“me” experiences. Infants gradually become aware oftheirownidentity asthey
learn what tastes good andwhat tastes bad,what feelspleasant andwhat doesnot.
They thenbegin toevaluate experiences aspositive ornegative, using asacriterion 
theactualizing tendency. Because nourishment isarequirement foractualization, 
infants value foodanddevalue hunger. They alsovalue sleep, fresh air,physical con-
tact,andhealth because eachofthese isneeded foractualization.
Once infants establish arudimentary selfstructure, theirtendency toactualize 
theselfbegins toevolve. Self-actualization isasubset oftheactualization tendency 
andistherefore notsynonymous withit.The actualization tendency refers toorganis -
micexperiences oftheindividual; thatis,itrefers tothewhole person—conscious and
unconscious, physiological andcognitive. Ontheother hand, self-actualization isthe
tendency toactualize theselfasperceived in awareness. When theorganism andthe
perceived selfareinharmony, thetwoactualization tendencies arenearly identical; 
butwhen people’s organismic experiences arenotinharmony withtheirviewofself,
adiscrepancy exists between theactualization tendency andtheself-actualization ten-
dency. Forexample, ifaman’s organismic experience isoneofanger toward hiswife,
andifanger toward spouse iscontrary tohisperception ofself,thenhisactualization 
tendency andhisself-actualization areincongruent andhewillexperience conflict 
andinner tension. Rogers (1959) postulated twoselfsubsystems, theself-concept and
theideal self.
The Self-Concept
Theself-concept includes allthose aspects ofone’s being andone’s experiences that
areperceived inawareness (though notalways accurately) bytheindividual. Theself-
concept isnotidentical withtheorganismic self. Portions oftheorganismic selfmay
bebeyond aperson’s awareness orsimply notowned bythatperson. Forexample, the
stomach ispartoftheorganismic self,butunless itmalfunctions andcauses concern, 
itisnotlikely tobepartofone’s self-concept. Similarly, people candisown certain 
aspects oftheirselves, suchasexperiences ofdishonesty, when suchexperiences are
notconsistent withtheirself-concept.
Thus, once people form theirself-concept, theyfindchange andsignificant 
learnings quite difficult. Experiences thatareinconsistent withtheirself-concept usu-
allyareeither denied oraccepted onlyindistorted forms.
Anestablished self-concept doesnotmake change impossible, merely difficult. 
Change most readily occurs inanatmosphere ofacceptance byothers, which allows 
aperson toreduce anxiety andthreat andtotakeownership ofpreviously rejected 
experiences.Final PDF to printer