The Self, Subjective Experience, and the Capacity for Growth
● Discusses the humanistic (phenomenological) perspective and its emphasis on subjective experience.
● Identifies some of the assumptions Carl Rogers made about how individuals grow and develop.
● Describes Abraham Maslow’s theory of self-actualization, including the hierarchy of motives he developed.
● Analyzes Rogers’ approach to psychotherapy.
● Defines personal constructs and identify some of the constructs that influence your interpretation of situations.
Required Reading
Perspectives On Personality, Ch. 11-12.
Post questions and comments for Lesson 7.
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Kelly believed that personal constructs strongly influence our subjective interpretation of events. Select three of your own personal constructs and indicate (1) where these constructs come from and (2) where you apply them. Also, if possible, describe a time when these construct did not apply, and discuss how you felt and how you dealt with this situation.
Three personal constructs that I’ve developed are:
- Things don’t happen for a reason; they just happen so you might as well try to enjoy any circumstance you’re in.
- Every cloud has a silver lining.
- Life moves on.
These constructs have been developed over the course of the last 5 years or so, based circumstances that I’ve been in. Throughout some particularly difficult hardships that I experienced, I realized what I believed in in terms of how life works. The common saying “everything happens for a reason” was said to me a lot during some particularly hard times, and it never brought me as much comfort as people thought it would; I couldn’t understand why there would be a reason for my life to take the trajectory it did, and I did not agree that it was meant to happen to me. That’s when I decided that I believe that life is simply a series of events, with no specific reason for them to take place. They just happen randomly, both good and bad. I believe it is our choice on how we react and adapt to the circumstances. Which is why I developed my belief that you might as well choose to be happy or enjoy the situation you’re in, because it happened and you can’t change that. This personal realization lead to my second two constructs. I constructed the belief that every cloud has a silver lining after I realized that you can decide to find the positives within the negatives. It’s always a choice. I also realized my third construct, life moves on, during this time because I saw that even if I want to hold on to the past there’s nothing I can do to stop time from moving forward. Life moves on, and I’d rather find the silver linings and enjoy my circumstances because there’s logically no point in worrying about things that are outside of my control.
