ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on person-centred theory and its main concepts - need for positive regard, conditional and unconditional positive regard, self-concept, self-structure, conditions of worth, the organismic valuing process (OVP), and fully functioning. It examines contemporary positive psychology theory and research, showing how it is consistent with person-centred theory. Initially, self-actualization is driven by the OVP. The OVP refers to the process intrinsic to the organism by which it continually evaluates experiences in relation to the actualizing tendency. The concept of unconditional positive self-regard is central to person-centred therapy. Unconditional positive self-regard refers to the individual's acceptance of all of his or her subjective experiences, without reference to either the perceived attitudes of others or to rules or values that have been internalized from the social environment. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a similar meta-theoretical perspective to person-centred personality theory. SDT defines the nutrients that the social environment must provide for intrinsic motivation to take place.
