Congruence is the acceptance of oneself by an integral personality

Congruence is a state of complete sincerity and integrity, when all parts of the personality work in a single rhythm to achieve a single goal. When all the actions of a person are coordinated among themselves and aimed at obtaining the desired result.

In psychology, the term "congruence" was introduced by Carl Rogers to describe the correspondence of the "I", the "ideal self," and the life experience of a person. This term is also used to determine the dynamic state of the therapist when the various components of his inner experience (experiences, emotions, etc.) are freely and not distortedly recognized and expressed in the process of his work with the client.

Definition of congruence

The presence of congruence or its absence is easier to see from the side, and not feel independently. Congruence in psychology is the process of a person's comprehension of his real and actual sensations, problems, experiences, their subsequent scoring, and expression in ways that do not infringe upon the people around him.

In this state, a person is maximally freed from the need to use psychological methods of protection, to hide behind masks and roles. Congruence is observed in those cases when a person expresses by his behavior exactly what he feels. Congruence is a special state when people around him perceive it as who they really are.

How to achieve congruency

To achieve this state, it is necessary to try to voice internal and subconscious contradictions. It is not so easy to do this, because congruence is honesty before oneself and perception of oneself as a whole person. This state is ideal for the realization of our desires. After all, just imagine: I wanted to - I decided and immediately did it. Without any hesitation, doubt and hesitation.

What gives us congruence

When our actions are coordinated, they are most effective. Thanks to this process of achieving the desired result brings us the same pleasure as the result. It happens because all our personality is happy. When we are congruent, it seems to us that the whole world is helping us, and the circumstances are in our favor.

The theory of Osgood and Tannenbaum congruence

This theory belongs to the group of theories of cognitive matching. Its authors Osgood and Tannenbaum deduced the following definition: a person as a perceiving subject to achieve a correspondence in the cognitive structure simultaneously changes his attitude to both the other person and to the object evaluated by both of them.

That is, if the relation of the subject to another subject is positive, but its relation to the evaluated object is negative, then in the case of a positive relation of the second subject to the object, the first subject reduces its "negativity" in relation to this object, and at the same time reduces its "positivity "With respect to the second subject. In this case, congruence is the simultaneous change of two series of relations, in some cases due to a change in their sign.