Carl Rogers' Theory of PersonalitySince the study of personality began, personality theories have offered a wide variety of explanations for behavior and what constitutes the person. This essay offers a closer look at the humanistic personality theory of Carl Rogers. Rogers' theory of personality evolved out of his work as a clinical psychologist and developed as an offshoot of his theory of client-centered (later called person-centered) therapy (Rogers, 1959). He was first and foremost a therapist, with an abiding respect for the dignity of persons and an interest in persons as subjects rather than objects. Rogers approach to the study of persons is phenomenological and idiographic. His view of human behavior is that it is "exquisitely rational". Furthermore, in his opinion: "the core of man's nature is essentially positive" and he is a "trustworthy organism". These beliefs are reflected in his theory of personality. To examine this theory more closely, a summary of the key features follows, with subsequent exploration of Rogers' view of self, his view of the human condition and his rationale for improvement of this condition. A brief overall assessment will conclude the discussion. While Rogers' humanistic conception of personality has both strengths and weaknesses, it is a valuable contribution to the study of persons, recognizing agency, free will and the importance of the self. Actualizing Tendency Rogers (1959) maintains that the human "organism" has an underlying "actualizing tendency", which aims to develop all capacities in ways that maintain or enhance the organism and move it toward autonomy. This tendency is directional, constructive and present in all living things. The actualizing tendency can be suppressed but can never be destroyed without the destruction of the organism. The concept of the actualizing tendency is the only motive force in the theory. It encompasses all motivations; tension, need, or drive reductions; and creative as well as pleasureseeking tendencies. Only the organism as a whole has this tendency, parts of it (such as the self) do not. Maddi (1996) describes it as a "biological pressure to fulfill the genetic blueprint" .Each person thus has a fundamental mandate to fulfill their potential. Self The human organism's "phenomenal field" includes all experiences available at a given moment, both conscious and unconscious. As development occurs, a portion of this field becomes differentiated and this becomes the person's "self". The "self" is a central construct in this theory. It develops through interactions with others and involves awareness of being and functioning. The self-concept is "the organized set of characteristics that the individual perceives as peculiar to himself/herself". It is based largely on the social evaluations he/she has experienced. The needs for positive regard from others and positive self-regard would match organismic evaluation and there would be congruence between self and experience. an internalized version of the previous. 1959). is trusting in his/her own organism. "The good life is a process not a state of being. This leads to an "incongruence" between the self as perceived and the actual experience of the organism. The need for positive self-regard leads to a selective perception of experience in terms of the conditions of worth that now exist. achieve a self-congruent with experience and restore the organismic valuing process.Self-Actualizing Tendency A distinctly psychological form of the actualizing tendency related to this "self" is the "self-actualizing tendency". . tension. and maladaptive behavior (Rogers. These conditions of worth disturb the "organismic valuing process". and acquires "conditions of worth". in which the aim is to dissolve the conditions of worth. It involves the actualization of that portion of experience symbolized in the self. which is a fluid. It should be noted that. For the vast majority of persons who do not have an optimal childhood there is hope for change and development toward psychological maturity via therapy. 1959). expresses feelings freely. resulting in possible confusion.The self-concept then becomes based on these standards of value rather than on organismic evaluation. Connected to the development of the self-concept and self-actualization are secondary needs (assumed to likely be learned in childhood): the "need for positive regard from others" and "the need for positive self-regard". These lead to the favoring of behavior that is consistent with the person's self-concept. "the good life" (Rogers. the person introjects the desired values. acts independently. Organismic Valuing and Conditions of Worth When significant others in the person's world (usually parents) provide positive regard that is conditional. 1961). Those experiences in accordance with these conditions are perceived and symbolized accurately in awareness. ongoing process whereby experiences are accurately symbolized and valued according to optimal enhancement of the organism and self. not a destination. while those that are not are distorted or denied into awareness. Fully Functioning Person and the Self Theoretically. rather than unconditional. This ideal human condition is embodied in the "fully functioning person" who is open to experience able to live existentially. 1996). with full psychological adjustment as a result (Rogers. making them his/her own. It can be seen as a push to experience oneself in a way that is consistent with one's conscious view of what one is (Maddi. a form of discrimination without awareness that can result in anxiety. is creative and lives a richer life. Such estrangement is the common human condition. Experiences can be perceived as threatening without conscious awareness via "subception". It is a direction. an individual may develop optimally and avoid the previously described outcomes if they experience only "unconditional positive regard" and no conditions of worth develop. he laid out five broader layers: the physiological needs. You begin to feel the need for friends. taken care of. vitamin C. for order.g. and other minerals and vitamins. a little job security and a nest egg. this set of needs manifest themselves in the form of our urges to have a home in a safe neighborhood. stability. Maslow took this idea and created his now famous hierarchy of needs. say. water. will lead to a very specific hunger for things which have in the past provided that vitamin C -. When physiological needs and safety needs are. to get rid of wastes (CO2. and so on. Looking at it negatively. The physiological needs. For example. that these are in fact individual needs. food. but you can only do without water for a couple of days! Thirst is a “stronger” need than hunger. urine. the needs for love and belonging. you will tend to try to take care of the thirst first. The love and belonging needs. a good retirement plan and a bit of insurance. the needs for esteem. 1.6 or near to it). protein. a third layer starts to show up. 2. The safety and security needs. to sleep. Quite a collection! Maslow believed. some limits. and research supports him. to avoid pain. salt. water. and feces). In the ordinary American adult. but with your fears and anxieties. by and large. in that order. These include the needs we have for oxygen. and the way in which babies eat the most foul tasting baby food. 3. and to have sex. You will become increasingly interested in finding safe circumstances. They also include the need to maintain a pH balance (getting too acidic or base will kill you) and temperature (98. the needs for safety and security. to rest. a . sugar. and sex. and that a lack of. was that some needs take precedence over others. calcium. sweat. You might develop a need for structure. orange juice. you can do without food for weeks. not with needs like hunger and thirst. support the idea anecdotally. if you are hungry and thirsty. After all.e.Abraham Maslow Theory of Personality One of the many interesting things Maslow noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his career. this second layer of needs comes into play. you become concerned. I guess the cravings that some pregnant women have. and the need to actualize the self. Beyond the details of air. Also. When the physiological needs are largely taken care of. protection. there’s the needs to be active. children. Richness. Next. a lower one and a higher one. At first glance. Simplicity. Completion. affectionate relationships in general. a part of a gang or a bowling club. Justice and order. wholeness. dignity. not ugliness or vulgarity. not dependency. even a sense of community. glory. be a part of a community. It is also a part of what we look for in a career. The lower one is the need for the respect of others. and transcendence of opposites. not arbitrariness or forced choices. reputation.sweetheart. not strain. and freedom. rather than incompleteness. or do you worry about getting enough to eat and a roof over your head? In fact. Aliveness. we exhibit these needs in our desires to marry. or accident. not bland uniformity. rather than dishonesty. even dominance. Uniqueness. independence. Unity. In our day-to-day life. recognition. rather than senselessness. Goodness. But think: If you are living through an economic depression or a war. inconsistency. competence. the need for status. Effortlessness. 4. not unnecessary complexity. not grim. not injustice and lawlessness. a brother in the fraternity. Meaningfulness. do you worry about these issues. humorless. Looked at negatively. Self-sufficiency. we begin to look for a little self-esteem. have a family. Perfection and necessity. Maslow believes that much of the what is wrong with the world comes down to the fact . attention. mastery. you become increasing susceptible to loneliness and social anxieties. achievement. Beauty. including such feelings as confidence. you might think that everyone obviously needs these. or are living in a ghetto or in rural poverty. a member of a church. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs. not deadness or the mechanization of life. fame. The esteem needs. not environmental impoverishment. Playfulness. rather than evil. not sloppiness. appreciation. Metaneeds and metapathologies Truth. drudgery. The higher form involves the need for self-respect. despair. but to humanistic psychology and the human potentials movement.that very few people really are interested in these values -. problems. Maslow hoped that his efforts at describing the self-actualizing person would eventually lead to a “periodic table” of the kinds of qualities. they respond with metapathologies -.not because they are bad people.alienation. and even solutions characteristic of higher levels of human potential.a list of problems as long as the list of metaneeds! Let me summarize it by saying that. the self-actualizer develops depression. he devoted increasing attention. and a degree of cynicism. not to his own theory. . when forced to live without these values. but because they haven’t even had their basic needs taken care of! When a self-actualizer doesn’t get these needs fulfilled. Over time. pathologies. disgust. we have come a long way towards a rigorous method for describing life as it is lived. statistics. at least for the moment. It has had much less success gaining respect as a research method. Many are drawn from philosophical traditions. Others are in German or French. perhaps. but there is much more to be done. say the existentialists. It sometimes seems that existentialists glory in being unacceptable to. for masters or doctoral theses." In phenomenology. or are poorly translated. and it may well someday move into industrial and organizational psychology. Theory. familiar. and experiments are put aside. After all. many of existential psychology's terms are unnecessarily obscure. There are two psychology journals that showcase phenomenological research. and rather strongly. Since it involves neither hypotheses nor statistics. Difficulties The difficulties existentialism has had gaining respect is not entirely the fault of traditional psychology. First.Ludwig Binswanger Theory of Personality (Existential Psychology) The most positive thing about existential psychology is its insistence on sticking as closely as possible to "the lived world. Carl . the language of the ordinary experiences of ordinary people should be ordinary language! Rollo May and Viktor Frankl have made some significant efforts in that direction. however. especially in making their approach acceptable to the mainstream of psychology. It is simply considered unscientific. and a few journals in education and nursing are open to it. While it is true that new ideas are hard to express and require new words and new ways of using old ones. mainstream English-speaking psychologists. or at least misunderstood by. much less independent or independent variables. even fighting among themselves about whether one or the other has the "true" understanding of Husserl or Heidegger or whomever. but not to many psychologists. But most of psychology rejects it. by paying attention to Alfred Adler. reductionism. we need to know what we are talking about! This makes existential psychology naturally applied: It moved effortlessly into the realms of diagnosis and psychotherapy. it isn't even acceptable. or pretentious. to philosophers. What is needed is a truly talented English-speaking existentialist writer. at most universities. Existentialists also tend to be rather picky. They can gain a great deal. Erich Fromm. it is showing its face in the realm of education. or control groups or random sampling. Some seem just plain whimsical. Rogers and other theorists." the hard-core experimentalists on the one hand. . but often express themselves a lot better. I feel that existential psychology has a great deal to offer. they antagonize half of psychology! If I seem a bit hard on the existential psychologists. By denigrating the experimental culture. Nevertheless. In particular. and practitioners who may not be exactly existentialists. It is true that psychology has two broad "cultures. and the more humanistically inclined clinicians and other applied psychologists on the other. it is in part because I am one. the more you are likely to worry over its faults. it offers a solid philosophical base where Adlerians and Rogerians and neoFreudians and others besides existentialists might gather to further develop and refine their understanding of human life. It's a little like patriotism: The more you love your country. The biggest danger I feel existentialists create for themselves is in their tendency to place themselves in opposition to the mainstream. researchers. The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative. The organism is in the process of “operating” on the environment. During this “operating. Punishment weakens behavior. • Punishers: Response from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. it means roughly changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.that is. Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior. if your teacher gives you £5 each time you complete your homework (i. Like reinforcement.e. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. called a reinforcing stimulus. Punishment (weakens behavior) Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future. the behavior occurring just before the reinforcer. For example. doing what it does. punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus. This is operant conditioning: “the behavior is followed by a consequence. Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning.” Skinner coined the term operant conditioning. deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable behavior. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. F. a reward) you are more likely to repeat this behavior in the future. Reinforcement (strengthens behavior) Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box. for instance. • Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. • Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.Burrhus Frederic Skinner (Operant Reinforcement Learning Paradigm) B. or simply a reinforcer. which in ordinary terms means it is bouncing around its world. thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework. Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding.” the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus. . This special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant -. then you are probably thinking of behavioral psychology. Operant Conditioning Summary • Psychology should be seen as a science. .g. • There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. classical and operant conditioning. • behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior. He instead concentrated on describing the easily observed behavior that the rats acquired. Skinner proposed that the way humans learn behavior is much the same as the way the rats learned to press a lever. We are all constantly learning new behaviors and how to modify our existing behavior. because food followed a particular behavior the rats learned to repeat that behavior. Therefore research (e. • The major influence on human behavior is learning from our environment. to be studied in a scientific manner. Note that Skinner did not say that the rats learnt to press a lever because they wanted food. e. classical conditioning) can be carried out on animals (Pavlov’s dogs) as well as on humans (Little Albert). So.g.Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement. The emphasis of behavioral psychology is on how we learn to behave in certain ways. Behaviorism and its offshoots tend to be among the most scientific of the psychological perspectives. Skinner's study of behavior in rats was conducted under carefully controlled laboratory conditions. In the Skinner study. if your layperson's idea of psychology has always been of people in laboratories wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to their dinner. Behavioral psychology is the psychological approach that focuses on how this learning takes place. or standards that the individual sets for him or herself.Albert Bandura (Social Learning Theory) Bandura has conducted many studies involving observational learning. Albert Bandura combines both behavioral and cognitive philosophies to form this theory of modeling. If the person does poorly he or she then administers a punishing self-response to him or herself. A person's ability to reproduce a behavior improves with practice. he or she must pay attention to the features of the modeled behavior.Humans compare these observations with standards. These imagined incentives act as reinforcers. such as the characteristics of both the observer and the person being observed and competing stimuli. 2) Judgment. The modeling process includes several steps: 1) Attention. . Imagery and language aid in this process of retaining information. or observational learning. he or she will give him or her.self a rewarding self-response. 3) Self response. This process involves three steps: 1) Self observation.In order for an individual to learn anything.If. the person must have some motivating factor behind it. Behavioral reproduction is accomplished by organizing one's own responses in accordance with the modeled pattern. Humans store the behaviors they observe in the form of mental images or verbal descriptions. 2) Retention. Self regulation has been incorporated into self control therapy which has been very successful in dealing with problems such as smoking. the person does well in comparison with the set standards. Negative reinforcers discourage the continuation of the modeled activity. 4) Motivation. Many factors contribute to the amount of attention one pays to the modeled activities. These standards can be rules set by society.If an individual is to be influenced by observing behaviors he or she needs to remember the activities that were modeled at one time or another. Bandura says that humans are able to control their behavior through a process known as self regulation.Humans look at themselves and their behavior and keep track of their actions. 3) Reproduction. He sees the human personality as an interaction between the environment and a person's psychological processes.Reproduction involves converting symbolic representations into appropriate actions. or modeling.To imitate a behavior. such as incentives that a person envisions. after judging himself or herself. and are then able to recall the image or description later to reproduce the activity with their own behavior. The results also show that the children who watched the video in which the person was rewarded for his actions duplicated the behaviors more so than when the person was punished or did not receive either a punishment or reward. The results show that males in all cases imitated the viewed behavior more so than females. The first video showed the adult being rewarded for his behavior. the second video showed the adult being punished for his behavior. The results are shown to the left. supporting Bandura's argument that people learn from observing others. and the third video showed no consequences for the behavior. He then studied the differences between how male children and female children reacted to this video in regard to whether they imitated the observed behavior or not. Bandura divided the children into three groups. called it names. and each group watched a video with a different ending. This was consistent in both male and female children. etc.In one particular experiment Bandura showed a video to children in which an adult beat up on a doll. This graph represents the number of imitative responses by males and females after observing one of the three different videos. . Dollard believed in the basic tenets of psychotherapy.John Dollard (Learning Theory) Theory in Practice Using what he found through his work. and start applying their higher mental processes to their emotional problems". Conclusion Overall. John Dollard made many notable contributions to both the psychology and counseling professions. the future cannot be changed". he combined psychoanalytical theory with behaviorism. Further. instrumental in the development of biofeedback. As such. Even goes on to note that Dollard developed a host of therapeutic practices that he believed were best suited to meeting the needs of the client.notes that in practicing psychotherapy. Ewen notes that Dollard argued: "Without understanding the past. Miller (Learning Theory) Neal E. Together with John Dollard. 2002) was an American psychologist. Finally. lending direct support to behavior modification techniques of altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement such that adaptive behavior is . Dollard did not believe that physical removal of painful stimulus would provide relief for the patient. Ewen notes that Dollard believed that the past history of the patient needed to be explored so that the current issues impacting the client's development could be better understood. Neal E. Hull's students. Dollard's work has provided theorists with notable insights into human behavior and development. For instance. Miller was one of Clark L. Dollard supported the use of free association as a means to both support the client and create an atmosphere in which the individual's overall needs could be met. Dollard and Miller's research on frustration and psychological conflict has become classic. 1909 – March 23. His productive career involved important studies of a variety of psychological issues. Miller (August 3. Dollard's development of social learning theory and the frustration-aggression hypothesis were widely expanded by other theorists working in the field. His early work (Dollard and Miller 1950). Overall. as theorists began to recognize where these two fields of inquiry could potentially overlap. Dollard argued that clients were more likely to respond to a therapist that was thorough and "takes his time. Dollard was able to develop methods that could be used for improving clinical practice. attempted to apply a Hullian analysis to behavioral issues derived from psychoanalytic literature. the gap between behaviorism and psychoanalysis become smaller." In addition. As such Dollard believed that: "that psychotherapy must enable patients to reduce their irrational fears. trying to scientifically explain Freudian ideas of inner drives that motivate and influence human behavior. Even (1998) . abandon the harmful response of repression. Ewen notes that because of Dollard's work. pioneering the field of biofeedback which today is used successfully to treat a variety of medical problems. This led to his work on biofeedback. such as blood pressure. The idea was so radical and novel that it bordered on scientific heresy. coping skills. trying to find out if they could also be modified through instrumental conditioning. in which people would learn more adaptive behaviors and unlearn maladaptive behaviors. claimed Miller. Turning to physiological substrates. as Miller started to work on his theories of biofeedback. Miller combined Freud’s ideas with learning theory. He particularly focused on studying unconscious drives. Teaching relaxation techniques. The two scientists recognized Freud's concept of anxiety and fear as secondary drives (in contrast to primary drives which are directly related to survival). Biofeedback Miller was among the first scientists who conducted research on rats in which he stimulated rats' brains by using electricity or chemicals to produce such sensations as hunger or anxiety. After his work on anxiety. he also started to face significant criticism in academic community. founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington. and that everybody could be taught to do so. He investigated hunger and thirst. In the 1950s and 1960s. Along with John Dollard. Miller and Dollard coined the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. which according to Freud greatly influenced human behavior. or anxiety. it could be modified through instrumental conditioning. However it was modified later into: “frustration can lead to aggression. He claimed that people could directly influence their bodily mechanisms. In his obituary in the New York Times. As a secondary drive fear is learned. In its original form it stated that frustration always causes aggression and aggression is always a consequence of frustration. During his early career Miller focused on research of Freudian psychoanalytical theories and the combination of psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Neal Miller made significant findings concerning the relationship between reinforcement mechanisms and the control of autonomic behavior. Gordon. and aggression can be caused by things other than frustration. Miller started to investigate other autonomic behaviors.” Miller proposed psychotherapy for aggression. was quoted to remind readers of the atmosphere surrounding Miller’s work: .increased and maladaptive behavior extinguished. He wanted to translate psychological analytic concepts into behavioral terms that would be more easily understood and that would be based in scientific facts. frustration. a 1997 statement by James S. or effective discrimination of cues would be part of such therapy. using behavioral methodologies and neurophysiological techniques. He concluded that the autonomic nervous system could be as susceptible to classical conditioning as the voluntary nervous system. motivation is goal directed. he moved to the University of Connecticut and has remained there since retirement. suggesting that personality has some basic stability. Reinforcement-reinforcement sequences suggest that the value of an event is a function of one’s expectation that a particular reinforcement will lead to future reinforcements. and the psychological situation. Expectancies can be either general or specific. Expectancy People’s expectancy in any given situation is their confidence that a particular reinforcement will follow a specific behavior in a specific situation or situations. whereas external reinforcement refers to society’s evaluation of an event. and the overall likelihood of success is a function of both generalized and specific expectancies. Behavior Potential Behavior potential is the possibility that a particular response will occur at a given time and place in relation to its likely reinforcement. New York in 1916. Internal reinforcement is the individual’s perception of an event. Second. In 1963. reinforcement value. Fourth. These variables are behavior potential. and thus they are capable of changing their environments and their personalities. First. and fifth. he became familiar with some of the writings of Freud and Adler. which suggests it can be changed or modified as long as people are capable of learning. Predicting Specific Behaviors Rotter suggested four variables that must be analyzed in order to make accurate predictions in any specific situation. where one of his students was Walter Mischel. he took a position at Ohio State. .Julian Rotter (Expectancy Reinforcement Value Model) Julian Rotter was born in Brooklyn. it assumes that humans interact with their meaningful environments: that is. human personality is learned. but he majored in chemistry rather than psychology at Brooklyn College. expectancy. people are capable of anticipating events. Introduction to Rotter’s Social Learning Theory Rotter’s interactionist theory is based on five basic hypotheses. After World War II. he received a PhD in clinical psychology from Indiana University. personality has a basic unity. As a high school student. In 1941. Third. Reinforcement Value Reinforcement value is a person’s preference for any particular reinforcement over other reinforcements if all are equally likely to occur. human behavior stems from the interaction of environmental and personal factors (Rotter). (3) independence is the need to be free from the domination of others. that is. Generalized expectancies include people’s needs. which states that the potential for a behavior to occur in a particular situation in relation to a given reinforcement is a function of people’s expectancy that their behavior will be followed by that reinforcement in that situation. behaviors that move them toward a goal. to be in charge. or their expectations based on similar past experiences that a given behavior will be reinforced. (5) love and affection are needs to be warmly accepted by others and to be held in friendly regard. Basic Prediction Formula Hypothetically. expectancy. or the possible occurrences of a set of functionally related behaviors directed toward the satisfaction of similar goals. Need components are analogous to the more specific concepts of behavior potential. Generalized Expectancies To make more general predictions of behavior. and to have others recognize one’s worth. and physical security. or the extent to which people prefer one set of reinforcements to another. good health. or a person’s overall expectation of being reinforced for performing those behaviors that are directed toward satisfying some general need. Rotter listed six broad categories of needs. with each need being related to behaviors that lead to the same or similar reinforcements: (1) recognition-status refers to the need to excel. or to gain power over others. Predicting General Behaviors The basic prediction is too specific to give clues about how a person will generally behave. one must know people’s generalized expectancies. Needs Needs refer to functionally related categories of behaviors. (4) protection-dependence is the need to have others take care of us and to protect us from harm. and (6) physical comfort includes those behaviors aimed at securing food. (2) dominance is the need to control the behavior of others. (2) freedom of movement. in any specific situation. and (3) need value.Psychological Situation The psychological situation is that part of the external and internal world to which a person is responding. Behavior is a function of the interaction of people with their meaningful environment. to achieve. . Three need components are: (1) need potential. behavior can be predicted by the basic prediction formula. and reinforcement value. (2) destructive goals. Internal and External Control of Reinforcement The Internal-External Control Scale (popularly called “locus of control scale”) attempts to measure the degree to which people perceive a causal relationship between their own efforts and environmental consequences. The therapist is actively involved in trying to (1) change the client’s goals and (2) eliminate the client’s low expectancies for success. Rotter uses a variety of approaches. Psychotherapy In general. Maladaptive Behavior Rotter defined maladaptive behavior as any persistent behavior that fails to move a person closer to a desired goal. Changing Goals Maladaptive behaviors follow from three categories of inappropriate goals: (1) conflict between goals. It is usually the result of unrealistically high goals in combination with low ability to achieve them. giving advice. . and pointing out the long-range consequences of both positive and negative behaviors. modeling appropriate behaviors. Interpersonal Trust Scale The Interpersonal Trust Scale measures the extent to which a person expects the word or promise of another person to be true. including reinforcing positive behaviors.General Prediction Formula The general prediction formula states that need potential is a function of freedom of movement and need value. and (3) unrealistically lofty goals. Eliminating Low Expectancies In helping clients change low expectancies of success. ignoring inappropriate behaviors. the goal of Rotter’s therapy is to achieve harmony between a client’s freedom of movement and need value. Rotter’s two most famous scales for measuring generalized expectancies are the Internal-External Control Scale and the Interpersonal Trust Scale.