Title
The actualizing and formative tendencies: Prioritizing the motivational constructs of the person-centered approach
Abstract
The article advocates for the equal prioritization of the formative and actualizing tendencies as motivational constructs in the person-centered approach. It describes a rationale, including problems with self-determination, varied identity ideas, and the ever-changing global context. The actualizing tendency roots growth in the maintenance and enhancement of the single human individual while the formative tendency is broader and both subsumes and exists in dialogue with the actualizing tendency. The formative tendency applies to all life processes, whether individual or group, organic or inorganic. It posits growth as fundamentally interconnected. Explicit prioritizing of both tendencies aids a multicultural and ethical understanding of person-centered theory where compromise and wider applications are necessary.
Department(s)
Counseling, Leadership, and Special Education
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2007.9688436
Keywords
Actualizing tendency, Formative tendency, Multicultural, Positive interdependence, Self-determination
Publication Date
1-1-2007
Recommended Citation
Cornelius-White, Jeffrey HD. "The Actualizing and Formative Tendencies: Prioritizing the motivational constructs of the person-centered approach." Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies 6, no. 2 (2007): 129-140.
Journal Title
Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies
