Arihant wants to become a singer even though he belongs to a family of doctors. Though his family members claim to love him but strongly disapprove his choice of career. Using Carl Rogers’ terminology, describe the attitudes shown by Arihant’s family.
According to Carl Rogers, personality development is a continuous process that is heavily influenced by social conditions. He recognises the role of social influences in the development of an individual's self-concept.
Rogers proposed that an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard must be created to ensure the enhancement of people's self-concept. In Arihant's case, his family claims to love him but strongly disapproves of his choice of career. This indicates that their love and acceptance are conditional upon him following the family profession. Thus, the family is showing conditional positive regard rather than unconditional positive regard.
When social conditions are negative, as in Arihant's case due to his family's disapproval, the self-concept and self-esteem are low. This lack of acceptance creates a negative environment for Arihant, hindering his ability to be flexible and open to new experiences.
Rogers emphasised the relationship between the real self and the ideal self. The congruence of these selves makes a person fully functioning. By disapproving of his true desire to become a singer, Arihant's family is obstructing his journey towards self-actualisation and becoming a fully functioning person.
Explanation
The answer applies Carl Rogers' concept of 'unconditional positive regard' to the case study. The family's disapproval of Arihant's career choice represents conditional regard, which creates negative social conditions that can lower his self-concept and self-esteem, thereby hindering his self-actualisation.