ROGERS AND GLORIA’S INTERVIEW

The Self Concept theory refers to the “picture” which individuals have of themselves and how much worth or value they attach to that “picture”. People often have a very specific view of themselves and they judge, punish or praise themselves, based on that certain view. Rogers portrays this view of one’s self concept as one’s conscious experience of himself or herself.

In the interview of Rogers and Gloria, Gloria sees herself as dishonest and inadequate. She feels that her sexual desires, as a women, makes her devilish and she feels that nobody will accept her if she shows her Real Self to them. Gloria has a certain picture of herself; the person she wants to be and even more importantly, the person she wants people to see her as. Rogers defines this phenomenon as the ideal self, the person the individual would most like to be. Gloria wants to gain the acceptance of her daughter and her father. This signals Gloria’s strong need for positive regard and even more importantly, her strong need for positive self-regard. She wants to feel loved and accepted for the person she really is, but is too afraid to show. Positive self-regard refers to the acceptance of one’s self for which you are, unconditional acceptance, without any doubt. For Gloria to gain positive self-regard, she needs to accept herself, even her “devilish” sexual desires and her fear of being unaccepted.

In the interview Gloria shows incongruence. She projects her fear of not being accepted as a real life experience. She perceives certain situations as the truth and carries these feelings with her. Gloria feels that she needs to be a “sweet” woman, without desire, who is a perfect mother and daughter. Throughout the interview Gloria continuously refers to herself as “devilish” and that she rather be a sweet person. Her real self and ideal self are worlds apart and