December 2016

The distinction proposed here between the ideal self and the ought self is reflected in various distinctions suggested in the literature (e.g., Colby, 1968; James, 1890/1948; Piers & Singer, 1971; Rogers, 1961; Schafer, 1967). In an extensive discussion of the difference between moral conscience and personal ideals, Schafer (1967) cogently argued that "ideals and superego morality have been confined together when each should long ago have had a place of its own" (p. 131). A classic literary example of the difference between the ideal self and the ought self is the conflict between a hero's "personal wishes" and his or her "sense of duty." A current real-world example is the conflict some women have between their own wishes to be successful professionals and some other persons' beliefs that they ought to be housewives and mothers.

When we speak of human experience, we mean two interrelated processes. On the one hand, we, like all other living beings, adapt to the world, on the other hand, (which is our totally human trait), we change the environment. As a simple example we can use the Earth that has been looking completely different since the human race began its expansion. Naturally, when dealing with our internal world, we’ve the same two options: to change or to adapt. 0

The results suggest that an important contributor to the development of motivation for change is a perceived conflict between being an addict and holding other important and positively valued identities, or between being an addict and becoming the person one had hoped to become. Average scores on identity-related motivation for abstinence were higher in this sample than were comparable scores for motivation arising from social influence, health, and legal issues.

In our previous conversations we described learning at the example of interaction of a human with the world around him or her. Apart from the world outside us there’s another one inside us. And in this inner world, we can find multiple components on an absolutely conditional basis. The first one is the sphere of automated reactions. They take place in the body beyond any control: the heart pumps blood, the lungs pumps air, the stomach digests food, the kidney remove the products of our vital processes out of the body. This normally works invisibly to our consciousness and can be compared to such well-known processes as the Earth rotation round the Sun or the water cycle.