Gefangene des Selbst? Über Möglichkeit und Spielraum der Freiheit im Kontext der Persönlichkeitstheorie von Carl R. Rogers

Abstract

Imprisoned by the self? About possibilities and leeway of freedom in the context of Carl Rogers’ personality theory. In the article at hand the author tries to query the person-centered personality theory about the possibility of existential freedom, i.e. the potential to resume an attitude and to act in a conscious and autonomous manner. Rogers founded the person-centered approach as an emancipatory approach based on the individual’s freedom and as a counterpart to the behavioristic-mechanical ideas of his time. Hence, he mostly stays on a philosophical level with all its sociopolitical implications. To what extent does his scientific theory live up to its own committed concern? For the author, the pivot for an answer to this question is the question “to what extent is a person predetermined by their experiences, especially their important relationship-experiences?”, which for Rogers is represented in the self(-concept). Therefore the article dwells on the correlation between the self and human decision making, and in what way the self dictates action or even automatizes the latter. Upon closer look Rogers shows consistency in this regard: the self does not act independently. Thus, its indirect influence is as a manifestation, and a “sensitive project” under special protection of the organism. The organism considers its options in a situational and holistic manner, depending on current interests, and comes to a decision about which structures need protection. In this process of consideration it is flexible. This flexibility of the organism, and to what extent it makes previous experiences accessible for symbolization in the conscious, is hence the prerequisite for freedom — realized on the level of consciousness through affirmative participation in the process of the organismic experience.