Carl Rogers

By Saul McLeod, updated 2014

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main assumptions of Abraham
Maslow, but added that for a person to "grow", they need an environment that provides them with
genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and
empathy (being listened to and understood).

Without these, relationships and healthy personalities will not develop as they should, much like a tree will
not grow without sunlight and water.

Rogers believed that every person could achieve their goals, wishes, and desires in life. When, or rather if
they did so, self actualization took place. This was one of Carl Rogers most important contributions to
psychology, and for a person to reach their potential a number of factors must be satisfied.

Self Actualization
"The organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing
organism” (Rogers, 1951, p. 487).

Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and maintained that we
behave as we do because of the way we perceive our situation. "As no one else can know how we perceive,
we are the best experts on ourselves."

Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to self-actualize - i.e.,
to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-beingness' we can. Like a flower that will
grow to its full potential if the conditions are right, but which is constrained by its environment, so people
will flourish and reach their potential if their environment is good enough.
However, unlike a flower, the potential of the individual human is unique, and we are meant to develop in
different ways according to our personality. Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative.

They become destructive only when a poor self-concept or external constraints override the valuing
process. Carl Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of
congruence.

This means that self-actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e., who they would like to be) is
congruent with their actual behavior (self-image). Rogers describes an individual who is actualizing as a
fully functioning person. The main determinant of whether we will become self-actualized is childhood
experience.

The Fully Functioning Person

Rogers believed that every person could achieve their goal. This means that the person is in touch with the
here and now, his or her subjective experiences and feelings, continually growing and changing.

In many ways, Rogers regarded the fully functioning person as an ideal and one that people do not
ultimately achieve. It is wrong to think of this as an end or completion of life’s journey; rather it is a
process of always becoming and changing.

Rogers identified five characteristics of the fully functioning person:

1. Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions accepted. Negative feelings are not denied, but
worked through (rather than resorting to ego defense mechanisms).

2. Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging and
preconceptions. Being able to live and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back to the past or
forward to the future (i.e., living for the moment).

3. Trust feelings: feeling, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted. People’s own
decisions are the right ones, and we should trust ourselves to make the right choices.

4. Creativity: creative thinking and risk-taking are features of a person’s life. A person does not play safe all
the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences.

5. Fulfilled life: a person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges and
experiences.

For Rogers, fully functioning people are well adjusted, well balanced and interesting to know. Often such
people are high achievers in society.

Critics claim that the fully functioning person is a product of Western culture. In other cultures, such as
Eastern cultures, the achievement of the group is valued more highly than the achievement of any one
person.

Personality Development
Central to Rogers' personality theory is the notion of self or self-concept. This is defined as "the organized,
consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself."

The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person. The self is our inner personality, and can
be likened to the soul, or Freud's psyche. The self is influenced by the experiences a person has in their life,
and out interpretations of those experiences. Two primary sources that influence our self-concept are
childhood experiences and evaluation by others.

According to Rogers (1959), we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our
self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self. The closer our self-image and
ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth.

A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to
them and is denied or distorted in the self-image.
The humanistic approach states that the self is composed of concepts unique to ourselves. The self-concept
includes three components:

Self-worth
Self-worth (or self-esteem) comprises what we think about ourselves. Rogers believed feelings of self-worth
developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father.

Self-image
How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of
our body image on inner personality.

At a simple level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad person, beautiful or ugly. Self-image affects
how a person thinks, feels and behaves in the world.

Ideal-self
This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life, and is dynamic –
i.e., forever changing.

The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc.

Positive Regard and Self Worth

Carl Rogers (1951) viewed the child as having two basic needs: positive regard from other people and self-
worth.

How we think about ourselves, our feelings of self-worth are of fundamental importance both to
psychological health and to the likelihood that we can achieve goals and ambitions in life and achieve self-
actualization.

Self-worth may be seen as a continuum from very high to very low. For Carl Rogers (1959) a person who
has high self-worth, that is, has confidence and positive feelings about him or herself, faces challenges in
life, accepts failure and unhappiness at times, and is open with people.

A person with low self-worth may avoid challenges in life, not accept that life can be painful and unhappy
at times, and will be defensive and guarded with other people.
Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of
the child with the mother and father. As a child grows older, interactions with significant others will affect
feelings of self-worth.

Rogers believed that we need to be regarded positively by others; we need to feel valued, respected, treated
with affection and loved. Positive regard is to do with how other people evaluate and judge us in social
interaction. Rogers made a distinction between unconditional positive regard and conditional positive
regard.
Unconditional Positive Regard
Unconditional positive regardis where parents, significant others (and the humanist therapist) accepts and
loves the person for what he or she is. Positive regard is not withdrawn if the person does something wrong
or makes a mistake.

The consequences of unconditional positive regard are that the person feels free to try things out and make
mistakes, even though this may lead to getting it worse at times.

People who are able to self-actualize are more likely to have received unconditional positive regard from
others, especially their parents in childhood.

Conditional Positive Regard

Conditional positive regard is where positive regard, praise, and approval, depend upon the child, for
example, behaving in ways that the parents think correct.

Hence the child is not loved for the person he or she is, but on condition that he or she behaves only in ways
approved by the parent(s).

At the extreme, a person who constantly seeks approval from other people is likely only to have
experienced conditional positive regard as a child.

Congruence
A person’s ideal self may not be consistent with what actually happens in life and experiences of the person.
Hence, a difference may exist between a person’s ideal self and actual experience. This is called
incongruence.

Where a person’s ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a state of congruence exists.
Rarely, if ever, does a total state of congruence exist; all people experience a certain amount of
incongruence.

The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive regard. Carl Rogers believed that
for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence.
According to Rogers, we want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-
image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self.
The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the
higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of
their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the self-image.

Incongruence is "a discrepancy between the actual experience of the organism and the self-picture of the
individual insofar as it represents that experience.

As we prefer to see ourselves in ways that are consistent with our self-image, we may use defense
mechanisms like denial or repression in order to feel less threatened by some of what we consider to be our
undesirable feelings. A person whose self-concept is incongruent with her or his real feelings and
experiences will defend because the truth hurts.

Carl Rogers Quotes

"When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic."
"The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it"
(Rogers, 1961, p. 351).

"I have gradually come to one negative conclusion about the good life. It seems to me that the good life is
not any fixed state. It is not, in my estimation, a state of virtue, or contentment, or nirvana, or happiness.
It is not a condition in which the individual is adjusted or fulfilled or actualized. To use psychological
terms, it is not a state of drive-reduction, or tension-reduction, or homeostasis" (Rogers, 1967, p. 185-186).

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination" (Rogers, 1967, p. 187).

You and Your Environment

Otherwise known as the Human Ecology Theory, the Ecological Systems theory states that human
development is influenced by the different types of environmental systems. Formulated by famous
psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner, this theory helps us understand why we may behave differently when we
compare our behavior in the presence of our family and our behavior when we are in school or at work.

The Five Environmental Systems

The ecological systems theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout our lifespan that
may influence our behavior in varying degrees. These systems include the micro system, the mesosystem,
the exosystem, the macro system, and the chronosystem.

1. The Micro System

The micro system's setting is the direct environment we have in our lives. Your family, friends, classmates,
teachers, neighbors and other people who have a direct contact with you are included in your micro system.
The micro system is the setting in which we have direct social interactions with these social agents. The
theory states that we are not mere recipients of the experiences we have when socializing with these people
in the micro system environment, but we are contributing to the construction of such environment.
2. The Mesosystem

The mesosytem involves the relationships between the microsystems in one's life. This means that your
family experience may be related to your school experience. For example, if a child is neglected by his
parents, he may have a low chance of developing positive attitude towards his teachers. Also, this child
may feel awkward in the presence of peers and may resort to withdrawal from a group of classmates.

3. The Exosystem

The exosystem is the setting in which there is a link between the context where in the person does not have
any active role, and the context where in is actively participating. Suppose a child is more attached to his
father than his mother. If the father goes abroad to work for several months, there may be a conflict
between the mother and the child's social relationship, or on the other hand, this event may result to a
tighter bond between the mother and the child.

4. The Macrosystem

The macrosystem setting is the actual culture of an individual. The cultural contexts involve the
socioeconomic status of the person and/or his family, his ethnicity or race and living in a still developing or
a third world country. For example, being born to a poor family makes a person work harder every day.

5. The Chronosystem

The chronosystem includes the transitions and shifts in one's lifespan. This may also involve the socio-
historical contexts that may influence a person. One classic example of this is how divorce, as a major life
transition, may affect not only the couple's relationship but also their children's behavior. According to a
majority of research, children are negatively affected on the first year after the divorce. The next years
after it would reveal that the interaction within the family becomes more stable and agreeable.

Ecological Systems
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the ecological systems theory to explain how everything in a
child and the child's environment affects how a child grows and develops.

He labeled different aspects or levels of the environment that influence children's development, including
the:

The Microsystem
The microsystem is the small, immediate environment the child lives in. Children's microsystems will include
any immediate relationships or organizations they interact with, such as theirimmediate
family or caregivers and their school or daycare.
How these groups or organizations interact with the child will have an effect on how the child grows; the more
encouraging and nurturing these relationships and places are, the better the child will be able to grow.
Furthermore, how a child acts or reacts to these people in the microsystem will affect how they treat her in
return. Each child's special genetic and biologically influenced personality traits, what is known
as temperament, end up affecting how others treat them. This idea will be discussed further in a later
document about child temperament.
The Mesosystem
Bronfenbrenner's next level, the mesosystem, describes how the different parts of a child's microsystem work
together for the sake of the child.
For example, if a child's caregivers take an active role in a child's school, such as going to parent-teacher
conferences and watching their child's soccer games, this will help ensure the child's overall growth. In
contrast, if the child's two sets of caretakers, mom with step-dad and dad with step-mom, disagree how to
best raise the child and give the child conflicting lessons when they see him, this will hinder the child's
growth in different channels.

The Exosystem
The exosystem level includes the other people and places that the child herself may not interact with often
herself but that still have a large affect on her, such as parents' workplaces, extended family members, the
neighborhood, etc.
For example, if a child's parent gets laid off from work, that may have negative affects on the child if her
parents are unable to pay rent or to buy groceries; however, if her parent receives a promotion and a raise
at work, this may have a positive affect on the child because her parents will be better able to give her her
physical needs.

The Macrosystem
Bronfenbrenner's final level is the macrosystem, which is the largest and most remote set of people and
things to a child but which still has a great influence over the child.
The macrosystem includes things such as the relative freedoms permitted by the national
government, cultural values, the economy, wars, etc. These things can also affect a child either positively or
negatively.
Bronfenbrenner’s Model Applied in the Classroom
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model can be useful to help understand the student’s learning
environments and to establish quality learning environments. (5.0) One way I can do this is by recognizing
I am are a part of my student's microsystem. As a part of this system I needs to be a positive role model for
the students to look up to. One way to succeed in this is to follow through on all commitments and listen to
their students. This shows how students should act towards one another. I am able to help with the
interactions with the mesosystem. With this interaction, I am able to better understand the home life of
each student to make a closer environment. This is possible by giving the students projects or theories that
are important to the math class and in the next math classes. Then, having a night where the students will
present their projects when the parents are available. They will be able to see what their students have
learned and all of their hard work. The interaction at a program like this can strengthen the mesosystem
and help for the educator to understand the students learning environment by seeing and interacting with
the students parents.

Bronfenbrenner’s Model Applied in the Classroom

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model can be useful to help understand the student’s learning
environments and to establish quality learning environments. (5.0) One way I can do this is by recognizing
I am are a part of my student's microsystem. As a part of this system I needs to be a positive role model for
the students to look up to. One way to succeed in this is to follow through on all commitments and listen to
their students. This shows how students should act towards one another. I am able to help with the
interactions with the mesosystem. With this interaction, I am able to better understand the home life of
each student to make a closer environment. This is possible by giving the students projects or theories that
are important to the math class and in the next math classes. Then, having a night where the students will
present their projects when the parents are available. They will be able to see what their students have
learned and all of their hard work. The interaction at a program like this can strengthen the mesosystem
and help for the educator to understand the students learning environment by seeing and interacting with
the students parents.

Levels and Stages of Moral Development

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

The first level of morality, preconventional morality, can be further divided into two stages: obedience and
punishment, and individualism and exchange.
Stage 1: Punishment- Obedience Orientation
Related to Skinner’s Operational Conditioning, this stage includes the use of punishment so that the person
refrains from doing the action and continues to obey the rules. For example, we follow the law because we
do not want to go to jail.

Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation

In this stage, the person is said to judge the morality of an action based on how it satisfies the individual
needs of the doer. For instance, a person steals money from another person because he needs that money to
buy food for his hungry children. In Kohlberg’s theory, the children tend to say that this action is morally
right because of the serious need of the doer.

Level 2: Conventional Morality

The second level of morality involves the stages 3 and 4 of moral development. Conventional morality
includes the society and societal roles in judging the morality of an action.

Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation

In this stage, a person judges an action based on the societal roles and social expectations before him. This
is also known as the “interpersonal relationships” phase. For example, a child gives away her lunch to a
street peasant because she thinks doing so means being nice.

Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation

This stage includes respecting the authorities and following the rules, as well as doing a person’s duty. The
society is the main consideration of a person at this stage. For instance, a policeman refuses the money
offered to him under the table and arrests the offender because he believes this is his duty as an officer of
peace and order.

Level 3: Postconventional Morality

The post-conventional morality includes stage 5 and stage 6. This is mainly concerned with the universal
principles that relation to the action done.

Stage 5 : Social Contract Orientation

In this stage, the person is look at various opinions and values of different people before coming up with the
decision on the morality of the action.

Stage 6 : Universal Ethical Principles Orientation

The final stage of moral reasoning, this orientation is when a person considers universally accepted ethical
principles. The judgment may become innate and may even violate the laws and rules as the person
becomes attached to his own principles of justice.
The Emotional Bond

When a person is emotionally bonded with another person, attachment starts. However, the things that occur
with the presence of an attachment are really difficult to understand, and this is the reason why attachment
theorists emerged.
Perhaps the most prominent of this group of theorists, John Bowlby was the first psychologist who started
an extensive study on attachment. According to Bowlby's Attachment Theory, attachment is a
psychological connectedness that occurs between humans and lasts for a long period of time. To Bowlby,
attachment is what keeps a baby connected to his mother, considering the needs of the child that can only
be satisfied by his parent.

Characteristics of Attachment

There are four basic characteristics that basically give us a clear view of what attachment really is. They
include a safe heaven, a secure base, proximity maintenance and separation distress. These four attributes
are very evident in the relationship between a child and his caregiver.

1. Safe Haven

Ideally, the child can rely on his caregiver for comfort at times whenever he feels threatened, frightened or
in danger. For example, if a child is given a toy that he doesn't like, he'd cry and his mother would remove
the toy and hug the child so he would stop crying.

2. Secure Base

Here, the caregiver gives a good and reliable foundation to the child as he goes on learning and sorting out
things by himself. For example, a child would ask questions to his mother about why his dad got sick and
can't play with him at the moment.

3. Proximity Maintenance

This means that the child aims to explore the world but still tries to stay close to his care giver. For
example, a teenager discusses peer problems with his mother.

4. Separation Distress

This means that the child becomes unhappy and sorrowful when he becomes separated from his caregiver.
For example, an infant cries loudly when his mother leaves for work.
Attachment Styles

Aside from Bowlby, other theorists contributed to the study of attachment. Ainsworth, Main and Solomon
are the main researchers who theorized the different styles of attachment that can be observed in the
relationship of a person to another. These attachment styles include: secure, ambivalent-secure, avoidant-
insecure and disorganized insecure attachments.

1. Secure Attachment

When children are securely attached to their caregivers (parents), they feel happy whenever their caregivers
are around, but are upset when they get separated from them. While the child is in distress when his parent
is away, still, he feels secured with the feeling that his caregiver will return sometime soon.

2. Ambivalent Attachment

A child who is ambivalently attached becomes very upset and sorrowful whenever he gets separated from
his parent. The child does not feel that he can rely on his caregiver whenever he is in need of something.

3. Avoidant Attachment

Simply put, a child who has an avoidant attachment tends to keep away from his parents. Studies revealed
that this may be a cause of parents who are fond of neglecting or abusing their children.

4. Disorganized Attachment

This is when there is no clear (or mixed) attachment between the child and his caregiver. When the parent
acts as an apprehensive caregiver and a reassuring one at different times, the child may get confused and
cause this kind of attachment.

Why is studying Bowlby's Attachment Theory important? Many studies have found out that determining
the attachment style in social relationships have a lasting effect on the future behavior of people.

Knowing Your Potential

Originally proposed by theorist Lev Vygotsky, the Zone of Proximal Development (or ZPD) is a component of
the Social Cognitive Theory. It is described as the gap between the actual level of development and the
potential development of a learner. Simply put, it is the gap between what he has mastered and what he can
still learn when an educational support is around.
The Zone Of Proximal Development is a key area in the Education field as it explains how an educator can
contribute in improving the actual development level of a student as he aims to achieving his potential
development.

Basic Concepts of ZPD

The main notion of Vygotskian ZPD is that a student must be tested according to his ability to solve
problems independently as compared to his ability to solve them with assistance of the educator; he is,
therefore, not to be tested based on standardized tests in order to determine his intelligence. This means
that ZPD is a means of cognitive growth for the learner, and that social interaction plays a major role in
developing the cognitive ability of the student. With the presence of the proficient persons like parents and
teachers, the learner is able to develop his cognitive ability. In the absence of their assistance, the child’s
cognitive ability shall be tested to determine whether he has achieved his potential development through
social interaction.

The Four-Stage Model

The four-stage Model proposed by Tharp and Gallimore provides us a clearer insight on the zone of
proximal development. The first stage includes the learner with the assistance of the so-called “more
capable others”, which include his parents, teachers, experts, coaches, peers and others who have a mastery
on the subject being learned on. Capacity begins in the first stage. The second stage indicates that the
learner assists himself towards learning. This may involve inner motivation and determination. By the end
of the second stage, the learner’s capacity is developed. The third stage involves internalization,
automatization and “fossilization” , in which the learner feels a sense of mastery of the subject. Just when
the learner feels he has mastered the subject, in the fourth stage there may be a “de-automatization” in
which he would regress back to the previous stages. This recursion to prior stages is necessary in order for
the learner’s cognitive ability to be further enhanced and solidified.

Where is the ZPD?

Recognizing the state of the learner within the zone of proximal development can be easily done by “most
capable others” when they know how to ask the right questions and are able to assess the learning style of
the student. Asking the right questions means that the teachers, coaches and parents must know the
immediate needs of the learner, as well as his developmental status.

Application of ZPD

The classroom is perhaps the best place where the knowledge of ZPD can be applied. In this setting, the
teacher or mentor is not only tasked to teach her lessons but is also responsible for coming up with ways on
stimulating the classroom into an interactive social environment. The co-students of the learner can serve
as the most capable others as other students may contribute to the development of the cognitive ability of
the learner.

The Theory of Cognitive Development formulated by the famous psychologist Jean Piaget is perhaps the most
comprehensive and extensive theory that explain the development of human intelligence as a person grows
from being an infant into a full grown adult.

According to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, intelligence is brought about by a series of

transformations and various states, and that change is necessary for a person’s intellect to be enhanced.

Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget described the development of human intelligence throughout the lifespan of a person. The four
stages connote that as a normal person grows older, there is an evident increase in abstraction and
complexity in thinking and rationalizing things.

1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years Old)

The sensorimotor stage is the phase that spans from the birth of the individual up to the time when he
learns and acquires language. The infant is very reliant to what he sees and hears, and that he would react
according to these sensory experiences. This stage also includes the reflexes of the baby which include
sucking, grasping and stepping. By the end of the sensorimotor stage, the infant learns object permanence,
which is the understanding that an object continues to exist even when he can’t see, hear or touch it.

2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 Years Old)

In this stage, the child is more engaged with play, and uses preoperatory thought, which is the process by
which the child represents objects through the use of words, scribbles, drawings and pictures. The mental
reasoning of the child is developed in this stage, but he still cannot perform operations. Egocentrism (self-
centeredness) and animism (belief that inanimate objects can move or talk) are evident. Conservation is the
main task in this stage. When you present two identical glasses, Glass A and Glass B, to a child and pour
equal amounts of water, he would say that they have indeed the same amount of water. However, when
you pour the contents of one glass to another glass, Glass C, which is thinner and taller, the child would say
that Glass A and Glass C now contains different amounts of water. Failure of this task connotes that the
child is still in preoperational stage.
3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 Years Old)

This stage starts when the child begins to use logic appropriately. The child is able to classify objects
(classification), sort them according to their attributes (seriation) and divide a problem into several
components in order to solve it (decentering).

4. Formal Operational Stage (11 Years and Above)

This stage is the hallmark of abstract thinking and usage of hypothetical rationalization. The child is able
to systematically look into problems and test several solutions.

Accommodation and Assimilation

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development included the concepts of accommodation and assimilation. He
believed that there are pre-existing cognitive schemas in each individual. Because of the process of
assimilation, we tend to take the relatively new information unknown to us from our environment and fit
them into these innate cognitive patterns. This can be compared to finding the key that would perfectly fit
the lock’s hole so that it would be opened.

On the other hand, the process of accommodation states that we get the information from the environment,
then change our own cognitive patterns so that the information we got will suit our schemas. In the
example we had mentioned, the process of accommodation is like changing the shape of the lock’s hole in
order for the key to fit in it.

The Theory of Moral Development is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean Piaget’s theory of
moral reasoning. Developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, this theory made us understand that
morality starts from the early childhood years and can be affected by several factors.
Morality can be developed either negatively or positively, depending on how an individual accomplishes the
tasks before him during each stage of moral development across his lifespan.

History of the Theory

How did Kohlberg come up with the theory of moral development? All his ideas started from the research
he performed with very young children as his subjects. He found out that children are faced with different
moral issues, and their judgments on whether they are to act positively or negatively over each dilemma are
heavily influenced by several factors. In each scenario that Kohlberg related to the children, he was not
really asking whether or not the person in the situation is morally right or wrong, but he wanted to find out
the reasons why these children think that the character is morally right or not.
Levels and Stages of Moral Development

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

The first level of morality, preconventional morality, can be further divided into two stages: obedience and
punishment, and individualism and exchange.

Stage 1: Punishment- Obedience Orientation

Related to Skinner’s Operational Conditioning, this stage includes the use of punishment so that the person
refrains from doing the action and continues to obey the rules. For example, we follow the law because we
do not want to go to jail.

Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation

In this stage, the person is said to judge the morality of an action based on how it satisfies the individual
needs of the doer. For instance, a person steals money from another person because he needs that money to
buy food for his hungry children. In Kohlberg’s theory, the children tend to say that this action is morally
right because of the serious need of the doer.

Level 2: Conventional Morality

The second level of morality involves the stages 3 and 4 of moral development. Conventional morality
includes the society and societal roles in judging the morality of an action.

Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation

In this stage, a person judges an action based on the societal roles and social expectations before him. This
is also known as the “interpersonal relationships” phase. For example, a child gives away her lunch to a
street peasant because she thinks doing so means being nice.

Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation

This stage includes respecting the authorities and following the rules, as well as doing a person’s duty. The
society is the main consideration of a person at this stage. For instance, a policeman refuses the money
offered to him under the table and arrests the offender because he believes this is his duty as an officer of
peace and order.
Level 3: Postconventional Morality

The post-conventional morality includes stage 5 and stage 6. This is mainly concerned with the universal
principles that relation to the action done.

Stage 5 : Social Contract Orientation

In this stage, the person is look at various opinions and values of different people before coming up with the
decision on the morality of the action.

Stage 6 : Universal Ethical Principles Orientation

The final stage of moral reasoning, this orientation is when a person considers universally accepted ethical
principles. The judgment may become innate and may even violate the laws and rules as the person
becomes attached to his own principles of justice.

On Tasks, Virtues and Crises

When does a person start to learn how to trust other people? In what age would a person be ready to know
how can he become a good individual? Why do many people feel some sort of identity crisis going on inside of
them? These are just a few questions that are explained in the theory developed by Erik Erikson. Erikson’s
Psychosocial Model involves 8 stages of human development across the lifespan.

Stages of Erikson’s Psychosocial Model

1. Trust vs. Mistrust ( 0 - 1 Year)

Virtue: Hope

The infant’s basic needs are required to be satisfied by his primary caregivers, preferably his parents. When
the baby is crying because he is hungry, his mother must satisfy his hunger through giving breast milk and
feeding him. If the infant is able to consistently rely on his mother for sustenance and support, he would
develop a sense of trust, he knows that he can hope for a dependable someone to satisfy his needs. However,
when his mother does not positively respond to the baby’s need, the infant would have a sense of mistrust,
that is, he feels that everyone is unreliable.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (2-4 Years)

Virtue: Will

When the child reaches the age of 2 to 4, he begins to explore his environment. When the parents are
supportive and encourages him to do so but still protects him from danger, the child feels a sense of
autonomy. However, when parents or caregivers are restricting the child from learning things, like not
letting the child dress himself when he says he can do it, the child may feel shameful and doubtful of trying
new things.

3. Initiative vs. Guilt (4 to 6 Years)

Virtue: Purpose

When the child reaches this age, he may feel that he wants to accomplish activities on his own for a certain
purpose. Caregivers must promote a sense of initiative in them such as letting them be the leader of a group
of children. On the other hand, he may feel guilty about his needs and wants if the parent would not allow
him to do things independently.

4. Industry vs. Inferiority (7 to 12 Years)

Virtue: Competence

At this age, children are more eager to learn more things, and want to master skills like reading and writing,
to the extent that they compete with other children. When parents and teachers are able to encourage
children through praising them for their accomplishments, they feel that they are productive, and they
show industry through being patient and diligent. However, if they are punished for exerting efforts, they
may feel inferior and their self-esteem becomes low.

5. Identity vs. Role Confusion (13 to 19 Years)

Virtue: Fidelity

Becoming an adolescent involves feeling a mixture of emotions. At this age, the person wants to know who
he really is through the roles he plays in the society. When he fails to accomplish this identity crisis, he
would have role confusion which would affect his adult life.

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (20 to 40 Years)

Virtue: Love

At this age, an individual may feel loved and wanted when he encounters someone with whom he can share
the rest of his life. When his friends settle for good to form their own families and the person is left without
anyone to accompany him, he may feel isolated and withdrawn.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation (45 to 65 Years)

Virtue: Care

At this age, the person wishes to produce something of real value for the benefit of the younger generation.
When, he fails to do so, he may feel that he is unproductive.

8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair (65 Years Onwards)

Virtue: Wisdom

Towards the end of one’s life, the person would look back at his past years. When he feels that he had lived
a satisfying life, he would have a sense of ego integrity. However, he may feel that he’s in despair if he was
unproductive or was not able to accomplish his life goals.

How Do You See Yourself?

Self-concept, strictly defined, is the totality of our beliefs, preferences, opinions and attitudes organized in a
systematic manner, towards our personal existence. Simply put, it is how we think of ourselves and how we
should think, behave and act out our various life roles.

The self is perhaps the most complex unit to study in psychology. Each of us have different personality,
traits, abilities and preferences that sometimes we cannot understand what is really going on inside of us.
While we may not be able to exactly explain why we think this way, or why do we behave in that manner,
the self-concept theory is a good foundational knowledge on the importance of our perceptions towards our
personal existence.

History of the Self-Concept Theory

In order for us to study this theory, we need to know first the history of the development of self-concept
theory. The earliest milestone in the self-concept theory is that of Rene Descartes, who proposed that a
person’s existence depended on how he perceives so. Sigmund Freud, one of the most prominent
psychologists, proposed many theories that talk about our internal mental processes. His theory holds that
we have 3 main aspects within us, the id (pleasure-oriented), ego (balance between id and superego) and the
superego (conscience-driven) which may influence the way we think of ourselves.

Aspects of Self-Concept Theory

The self-concept theory holds many assumptions about our personal judgment towards our selves. Here are
some of them:
1. Self-concept is learned.

One of the very basic assumptions of this theory is that no person is born with a self-concept. Self-concept
is believed to develop as a person grows old. This means that our perceptions towards our selves can be
shaped and can be altered, and can also be affected by environmental factors. In this sense, self-concept is
actually a product of socialization and development. A person may have a perception of himself different
from what other people thinks of him. For example, an individual feels that he is generous while others see
him as a selfish person.

2. Self-Concept is organized.

A person may have numerous views of himself. He may think that he is kind, patient, loving and caring, or
selfish, cruel, rude and stubborn. No matter how many different perceptions you have on yourself, still,
there is one perception that facilitates all of these insights, causing one organized self-concept. When a
person believes something that is congruent to his self-concept, it is more likely that he would resist
changing that belief. He tends to stick to his present view of himself for quite a long time, and changing
this perception of his self may take too long, but change is feasible.

3. Lastly, self-concept is dynamic.

As a person faces different situations and new challenges in his life, his insight towards himself may
constantly change depending on the way he responds to such life changes. We see things depending on our
self-concept. We behave according to how we see ourselves in a situation. Therefore, self-concept is a
continuous development wherein we tend to let go of the things and ideas that are not congruent to our self-
concept, and we hold on to those that we think are helpful in building a more favorable perception of our
personal existence.

From Infanthood to Adolescence

Children are a very interesting age group to study on and in fact, many psychology theories are focused on
them. Because it is in the childhood days that skills are developed and the manner by which we respond to
new challenges or various situations, we can say that social and emotional development in children are full of
complexities.
Some children can easily adapt to changes in their environment, like a new food, a new person or a new
event in their life. This type of children are said to be having routine biological cycles like eating at the
same hour every day. On the other hand, other children may negatively respond to shifts in their life, and
may have irregular biological patterns. Other children are caught in between and may respond neutrally
over a situation or a change in their environment. Since there are different types of children, it is really
necessary to get to know the social and emotional development of children across the life span.
1. At 9-18 Months of Age
Children aged 9 months want to be with their parents or primary caregivers all the time. They become very
anxious and may cry out loud when they get separated from their parents. Throwing temper tantrums and
hard-to-stop cries are just a few hallmarks at this age.
2. At 18 Months-2 Years of Age
Children at this age begin to try things on their own, but still want to be with their parents at most times.
They start to have a sense of gender identity, meaning girls feel that they are girls, and start to play with
toys meant for girls. Same goes with the boys.
3. At 2-3 Years of Age
Children at this age tries some risky behavior and may even violate some rules, as if they are very curious
on what will happen after breaking
This age is the peak of the child’s imagination as he becomes more interested in fantasy play, and may even
have imaginary friends. When children the rules of their parents. When offered something, like a food or a
toy, they may say “No” so frequently that parents may get impatient. Throwing tantrums is very normal
at this age, but setting proper limits would lessen the tendency of temper tantrums. Some children like to
be engaged in active play, while others don’t want to share their toys with other kids.
4. At 3 to 5 Years of Age
Engage in fantasy play, they assume different roles which would make them have meaningful social
interactions with other children. they are more willing to solve their problems with the help of their
parents, and they are also wanting to help and be helped by other children as they become friends with
other kids. At this age, they may fear that there is a monster under their bed or inside the closet. What they
need, therefore, is the support and reassurance of their parents that they do not exist.
5. At 7 to 12 Years of Age
This age is the time when a child encounters a lot of issues in his life. He may feel that there’s a need to
become competent inside the classroom to meet the expectations of his parents and teachers. He may also
either want to make many friends and peers, or prefer to be alone. Children at this age regard their parents
as primary sources of guidance and support, and teachers as the secondary ones.
The Argument Continues

Your physical features can be identified as identical to that of your parents, like your eyes from your father,
and the hair color from your mother. However, your personality and talents may have come not from your
father or mother. The environment where you grew up may have a lasting effect or influence on that way you
talk, behave and respond to the things around you.

One of the oldest arguments in the history of psychology is the Nature vs Nurture debate. Each of these
sides have good points that it's really hard to decide whether a person's development is predisposed in his
DNA, or a majority of it is influenced by this life experiences and his environment. As of now, we know
that both nature and nurture play important roles in human development, but we have not known yet
whether we are developed majorly because of nature or due to nurture.
Nature

The coding of genes in each cell in us humans determine the different traits that we have, more dominantly
on the physical attributes like eye color, hair color, ear size, height, and other traits. However, it is still not
known whether the more abstract attributes like personality, intelligence, sexual orientation, likes and
dislikes are gene-coded in our DNA, too.

One of the hottest issues against nature theory is that there may be an existing "gay gene", which explains
that gays are actually born that way. Another issue is that the criminal acts, tendency to divorce and
aggressive behavior causing abuse can be justified by the "behavioral genes" once the researchers have
proven their existence.

On the other hand, the behavioral genes are somewhat proven to exist when we take a look at fraternal
twins. When fraternal twins are reared apart, they show the same similarities in behavior and response as if
they have been reared together.

Nurture

The nurture theory holds that genetic influence over abstract traits may exist; however, the environmental
factors are the real origins of our behavior. This includes the use of conditioning in order to induce a new
behavior to a child, or alter an unlikely behavior being shown by the child. According to John Watson, one of
the strongest psychologists who propose environmental learning as a dominating side in the nature vs
nurture debate, once said that he can be able to train a baby randomly chosen in a group of 12 infants, to
become any type of specialist Watson wants. He stated that he could train him to be such regardless of the
child's potentialities, talents and race.

Although it is true that fraternal twins raised apart have remarkable similarities in most respects, still the
intervention of the environment have caused several differences in the way they behave.

In the end, we are still left with the confusing question: Are we born this way, or do we behave according to
our life experiences? The nature vs nurture debate goes on and on, but still, it is a fact that we have traits
that are predetermined by our genes, but we can still choose who we want to be as we travel through our
lifetime.