Self, Reality and Ideal Self

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and compares Carl Roger's concepts of self, reality and ideal self. The writer then discusses how many experiences have changed and altered her view of herself. It suggests that her conceptualization of life in some ways tends to reflect the Rogerian self -triangle where the base is the ideal self and the two sides are composed of the perceived self and the real self.

From the Paper:

"My Ideal Self, the base of my triangle, is usually the driving force of my ambitions for life, love, success, educational goals and so on. However, I sometimes wonder whether this is a construction completely of my own doing or has it been created from the interaction between others and myself. For instance my parents were very supportive and encouraging of my education and wanted me to travel to the United States to complete part of that experience. That became one of goals for the completion of my Ideal Self-concept and I am in the process of doing so. But how does one separate what one actually wants for themselves or how much that view has been influenced by others. When I look at what I perceive as myself, sometimes I would have preferred to remain in Japan and completed my studies there, I was certainly a little fearful in leaving home and my parents to come to the United States. I have found now that it has been an experience I would have not wanted to do without. So where my perceived self may have not gone ahead my ideal self and intentions persevered and the reality of the experience was achieved."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Demorest, Amy. Psychology's Grand Theorists: How Personal Experiences Shaped Professional Ideas. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005.

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