True / False Please fill in the blank (to the left of each question below) to show whether the following are true or false

Answer:

1. Carl Rogers’ theory of the fully-functioning individual has a negative view of the human being. Psychologists continue to criticize his theory for this reason.

TRUE

EXPLANATION

Carl Rogers described a fully functional person as one who is aware of themselves and is striving towards self-actualization. He even admitted that it was unachievable which goes against what his theory claims. It presents a very idealistic view of human behavior. For example some of the characteristics he mentions like being open-minded, living a fulfilled life are so vague and broad. In this sense, such people do not exist and it is something very difficult to achieve. There is also a lack of empirical evidence to his claims. For this reason, his concept was criticized as being too vague, unrealistic, and optimistic.

2. Carl Rogers developed his theory of motivation and psychology partly as a reaction to other theories of psychology that treated the human being like a machine.  

TRUE

EXPLANATION

Previous theories like the psychoanalytic, behavioral, etc portrayed human beings as a product of their unconscious processes or their environment. In other words, they did not believe that human beings could think for themselves or make their own choices. (very mechanical approach) They also claimed that human behavior was predictable and for eg if a person’s environment was bad then he is bound to suffer from a mental illness. This approach was more deterministic in orientation and Rogers felt that there was more to human beings than just being slaves to external factors. The other theories did not consider emotions or an individual’s unique characteristics. They were more generalized theories and did not apply to everyone. For these reasons, Rogers developed his Humanistic theory that focused on the individual qualities that make us different. These qualities make us similar yet different from others. Human beings can think for themselves and overcome environmental difficulties. His theory focused on free will rather than determinism.