What is Rogers theory of self?
Self-concept is an individual's knowledge of who he or she is. According to Carl Rogers, self-concept has three components: self-image, self-esteem, and the ideal self. Self-concept is active, dynamic, and malleable. It can be influenced by social situations and even one's own motivation for seeking self-knowledge.
According to Rogers, "Individuals have within themselves vast resources for self-understanding and for altering their self-concepts, basic attitudes, and self-directed behavior; these resources can be tapped if a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided."
Roger believed that a person's behaviour is a factor motivated by self-actualisation tendencies to work and achieve the highest level of their potential and achievement. During this process, a person forms a structure of self or self-concept. A positive self-concept is associated with feeling good and safe.
What is the meaning of understanding the self? The meaning of understanding the self is having insight into one's own behavior, attitudes, strengths, and weakness. It is the individual's ability to say and know what he or she is good at or needs improvement. Self understanding is one of the highest goals in psychology.
Definition: The Self Theory emphasizes on the set of perceptions an individual has for himself and the perceptions of the relationships he has with others and the other aspects of life. Carl Rogers has contributed significantly towards the self theory.
His theory of personality involves a self-concept, which subsumes three components: self-worth, self-image and ideal self. Rogers developed an approach of client-centered therapy to help people self-actualize, or reach their full and unique potential.
For Rogers (2003), the innovation-decision process involves five steps: (1) knowledge, (2) persuasion, (3) decision, (4) implementation, and (5) confirmation. These stages typically follow each other in a time-ordered manner.
Rogers' theory describes a 5-step innovation decision process. Potential adopters of the innovation pass through 5 stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation.
The good life is a process, not a state of being… It is a direction, not a destination. The direction…is that which is selected by the total organism, when there is psychological freedom to move in any direction" (Rogers, 1961, pp 186-187).
Practicing self-awareness is about learning to better understand why you feel what you feel and why you behave in a particular way. Having this awareness gives you the opportunity and freedom to change things about yourself, enabling you to create a life that you want.
What is your idea or understanding of the self?
A person's self-concept is their understanding of who they are and what makes them unique. This can include the physical self, the social self, the competent self and the inner, or psychological, self. Meanwhile, a person's self-understanding is about knowing what motivates his or her actions.
- Adaptable.
- Adept.
- Adventurous.
- Affectionate.
- Ambitious.
- Artistic.
- Assertive.
- Attentive.

History of the Self-Concept Theory
Sigmund Freud, one of the most prominent psychologists, proposed many theories that talk about our internal mental processes.
Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was one of the most influential modern scientists to put forth a theory about how people develop a sense of self.
Freud (1923) found that the self was constituted of three different personality structures: the id, the ego, the superego respectively (this video here illustrates it).
Rogers Diffusion of innovation is a behavioral theory that describes the process the users goes through in the adoption or rejection of new ideas, practices, or technology. Main components of this theory are innovation, communication channels, time and social systems. (
Rogers' Change Theory
The five stages are awareness, interest, evaluation, implementation and adoption. This theory is applied to long-term change projects. It is successful when nurses who ignored the proposed change earlier adopt it because of what they hear from nurses who adopted it initially.
Rogers claims that nursing exists to serve people, and the safe practice of nursing depends on the nature and amount of scientific nursing knowledge the nurse brings to his or her practice.