Running Head: ANDRE AGASSI
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Andre Agassi as seen from the
Humanistic Perspective of Carl Rogers
Varun Shah
University of Charleston
Presented in partial fulfillment of requirements in PSYC-343, Dr. Marty Spiker, Fall 2013
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Considering the multitudinous number of approaches regarding personality psychology, it
appears as though one’s personality can be well defined. The theories propose variegated topics,
spanning from relationships between physiological functions and the psyche, to the
interpretations of one’s dreams. This should not lead to the misconception that one theory is
more acceptable than the other, but that each one is applicable in its own situation. Carl Rogers’
theories pertaining to personality and behavior will vigorously prove faithful to the analysis of
one’s life through autobiographical means. The life story of Andre Agassi – former professional
American tennis player – will be studied. In addition to his world-class tennis, his peculiar offcourt antics are primarily to what his fame is attributed.
Carl Rogers pioneered the Third Force of psychology known as the humanistic
perspective alongside Abraham Maslow. The First Force of psychology is known as the
psychoanalytical perspective, and is based on theories from psychologists such as Sigmund
Freud and Carl Jung. Freud studied the relationship biology and the psyche. Carl Jung focused
on the collective unconscious. The Second Force of psychology is known as the Behavior
Perspective, and involved theorists like Skinner and Watson. This force of psychology believed
that learning and conditioning shaped humanity. It supported the idea that “All behavior is a
result of conditioning or a result of thought processes and environment” (Wade, 2010).
The Third Force, humanistic perspective, was introduced based on concepts compiled
from periods such as the Renaissance, to people such as Socrates, focusing primarily on the
innate drive to achieve self-actualization and creativity. Unlike Maslow, who believed that selfactualization could only be obtained by a small number of people, Rogers proposed that
achieving self-actualization could be done by a larger group of people, and that it was a lifelong
goal (Boeree, 2006). This theory idealizes the belief that people are innately good, and it
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suggests viewing a person holistically stating, “Human beings, as human, supersede the sum of
their parts. They cannot be reduced to components” – which is one of the five pillars of
humanistic psychology (Bugental, 1964, n.p.). This belief of the intrinsic good in people lead
Rogers to also oppose political practices at the time such as McCarthyism – unwarranted
accusations of disloyalty and treason against the government - in the 1950’s. He published
various articles blaming society for its backwards-thinking beliefs (Demanchick &
Kirschenbaum, 2008).
Rogers’ theory is built on a single motivational factor, the actualizing tendency, which is
the “built-in motivation present in every life-form to develop its potentials to the fullest extent
possible” (Boeree, 2006). This, in turn, produces the need to develop and grow overcoming the
need to maintain the status quo. This growth and developing need is what Rogers described as an
enhancement. While the actualizing tendency provided a motivation for the actions of people,
Rogers also proposed an interrelated concept of the formation of the creative nature of both
organic and inorganic matters to progress from a basic form to one that is more advanced (Feist
& Feist, 2008).
Rogers developed his view of behavior that had a goal of being the “person of tomorrow”
through clinical means, deriving the non-directive approach to therapy, which he later defined as
client-centered (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 328). He focused a person’s own judgments and issues
and was simply a guide for the client to solve their own troubles, largely by implementing
reflection (Boeree, 2006). This served to be useful in assessment of clients’ perceptions of their
selfs. Rogers also postulated that in order for therapy to be beneficial, three criteria must be met:
counselor congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathic listening. At its core, positive
regard is the want to be loved and accepted. The antithetic approach Rogers coined as conditions
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of worth: “restrictions or qualifications attached to one person’s regard for another” (Feist &
Feist, 2008, p. 317).
Alongside the motivations that drive an individual, Rogers studied the versions of one’s
self to determine synonymy. The two major types of selfs – self-concept and ideal self –
established either congruence or incongruence based on their uniformity. To define the two types
of selfs, conscious effort accompanied with a “symbolic representation” of one’s experience
must occur, which Rogers defined as awareness. It is within the three levels of awareness that
congruence or incongruence is ascertained.
Ironically Rogers was incongruent himself, stating first that he believed “interpersonal
relationship between two individuals is a powerful ingredient that cultivates psychological
growth within both persons” (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 312). He then contradicted this later in an
interview conducted by Heppner (1984), that he was company enough for himself to avoid
loneliness, yet he also did not feel like he lost people because he was in the habit “to leave
people behind when [he grew] into a new phase” of his life (p. 16). Andre Agassi embodied this
contradictory philosophy throughout his life, and managed to find a way to overcome the
incongruent personality from his youth. The transformations that Agassi has gone through from
his early childhood to present resemble parallels between the growths that Roger’s perceived as
self-actualization.
Andre Agassi’s father, Emmanuel Agassi, had the greatest impact on his early life,
though it was not always such a positive influence he instilled. Andre’s father was an Olympic
boxer for Iran, and from a very young age his father had always insisted and forced him to
pursue the career of tennis. Andre hated sports throughout his childhood and well into young
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adulthood, stating “if I must play a sport to please my father, I’d much rather play soccer…
knowing the world won’t end if I don’t score” (Agassi, 2009, p. 56).
Agassi’s behavior and mentality have a stem from an early onset. He always liked to talk
to himself, especially on the tennis court – justifying it by saying that “I’m the only person who
listens to me” (Agassi, 2009, p. 27). Agassi was confident, which was largely attributed to his far
superior tennis skills over other boys his age. He attributed this to his coach and father. By
hitting 2,500 tennis balls a day, his father calculated that he would hit nearly 1 million balls a
year. “A child who hits one million balls each year will be unbeatable” he says (Agassi, 2009, p.
28). He also viewed himself as socially awkward and not having many friends, which was
mainly caused because Andre skipped school often to go to the country club to practice tennis –
the endorsement of this behavior is appropriate. His solitary discussions with himself, his
confidence, and his socially awkward tendencies are characteristics of his self-concept1. Rogers
explains this to be what the individual envisions him or her self as, including the characteristics
of the person (McLeod, Carl Rogers, 2007).
He feared his father because his father makes all the decisions in his life, without even
asking Andre of his opinion. In these soliloquys, Agassi nicknames his father “the dragon”; he
talks about how much he just wishes to please the dragon any way possible without playing
tennis. As his coach and father, Emmanuel rarely praised or showed affection towards Andre;
only when an exceptional achievement was made at practice or at a tournament, was Andre’s
father remotely comforting2. Rogers labeled this as “conditions of worth,” where approval and
affection were dependent upon the behavior that one views as correct.
Agassi recalls winning every junior ten-and-under tournament easily, apart from one
match against Tarango. It goes to a tiebreaker – best-of-nine, 4-4 in the tiebreak, and the last
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point is sudden death. After a long rally, Andre hits a shot and Tarango stops. He looks where
the ball lands and smiles while calling the ball “out.” Resulting in his first loss was only half of
the anger that Andre felt. The true anger was the power of decision making that Tarango had –
“players call balls in or out, and there is no appeal… and [Tarango] knows there’s nothing
anyone can do about it” (Agassi, 2009, p. 38). The kid who beat Agassi made the decision to end
the match, and Agassi did not even have the nerve to tell his father that he wanted to make the
decision to end his tennis career.
Andre’s hatred for tennis, while still continuing to play, is an example of incongruence at
work3. Incongruence occurs when one’s experiences and their ideal self do not match. Agassi’s
ideal self at this age is to not play a solitary sport, but rather a team sport, as well as please his
father, and become professionally equipped. The dissimilarity with the individual nature of
tennis, his father’s never ending criticism, and his amateur status rank him, according to Rogers’
theory, is incongruent (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 318).
Not only did Andre live with the pressure of his father being his coach, he also felt added
stress of his father betting on him – wagering as much as their house. When Andre was nine
years old, he and his father were at a country club, where his father overheard football superstar,
Jim Brown. He was searching to bet someone money on a tennis match. Eager to prove his son’s
worth, Andre’s father proposed to bet on his son, wagering his own home. Brown countered with
a $10,000 bet. After some negotiation, they settled on a $500 bet. Andre won easily, which put
even more fuel in Andre’s father to turn his son into a professional.
The result was sending Andre off to the best tennis academy in the country, “Nick
Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. What was only supposed to be a threemonth summer training program due to the high cost, turned into a lengthened stay free of
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charge, because Nick was captivated by Andre’s natural talent. Forced to stay somewhere he did
not want to be, and around other boys and girls his age, anxiety struck; he reacted by turning into
a rebel to try and get kicked out of the academy4. He “mutilated [his] hair… pierced [his] body,
broke rules, busted curfew, picked fistfights, [threw] tantrums, cut classes… slipped into the girls
barracks… [and] consumed gallons of whiskey” (Agassi, 2009, p.56). Patterson (1977) describes
this as a “phenomenological state of uneasiness or tension” in which the incongruence comes in
to conscious recognition (p. 8).
Agassi’s life thus far was never his – always belonging to someone else; first is father,
then Nick. He was always alone until he met Gil Reyes, a strength coach for the University of
Nevada. Not even six months passed since their first meeting, and Gil invited Andre to his house
for dinner on Christmas Eve. Andre poured out his personal story to Gil that evening, and Gil
responded with unconditional positive regard –love, respect, warmth, and a positive and
accepting attitude – towards Andre5. Andre addressed Gil’s kind invitation for dinner, going so
far as to say that “for the first time in my life… I’m where I belong” (Agassi, 2009, p. 140). A
week later Andre persuaded to Gil to leave his job and to be Andre’s full-time personal trainer.
Gil’s unique workout methods involved not only the development of the physique, but also the
psyche. Andre recalled workouts where they sat on the gym benches and just talked about life.
Agassi made a conscious effort to tell Gil about the workings of his mind: the ups, the downs, his
hatred for tennis, the dragon and even his rebel phase at the academy. Gil shares his stories of
growing up in the slums of East L.A. and getting shot, not being able to speak English which
resulted in him sitting in class being idle and unproductive. The hardships Gil endured were
meant to bring Agassi and him closer – he empathized with Andre6. Gil’s soft heart offset the
largeness of his build (Agassi, 2009, pp. 133-150).
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Additionally, Andre characterized Gil as a man who knew who he was and what he
wanted out of life; Rogers would describe this as congruence. The fusion of these three ideas
(unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence) is compiled and crucial for what
Rogers expressed as a non-directive, client centered approach to theraphy7. Gil was a friend and
not a direct therapist for Andre. Agassi even noted that Gil seemed more like a father figure than
his own father (the dragon) did to him.
With the relationship formed and developing quickly, Andre’s personality, in the
generalized sense, was more positive and spontaneous. One of his most spontaneous changes in
his life came when he shaved his head completely bald from his 1980’s mullet style. This was
unique due to the ironic slogan “Image is Everything” by one of the companies he was sponsored
by, Canon. This positivity was transmitted to his tennis game, when he won his first Wimbledon
title, the biggest Grand Slam tournament in the world. Winning this title was an occurrence,
which at one time seemed out of reach. This is because Andre set a precedent early in his career,
when he chose not to play at Wimbledon, because of their traditional “ predominantly white”
dress code. This was required of players in order to participate in the tournament. The
overcoming of the “Image is Everything” stereotype lead to one of the peaks of his career.
Agassi was playing well under new coaching under Brad Gilbert, eventually beating Pete
Sampras and obtaining the ranking of 1st in the world. Up until 1997, Andre continued to win
multiple tournaments on tour, including Grand Slams (Agassi, 2009, pp. 237-252). Then, Andre
hit the low point of his career and perhaps his life.
Agassi’s on and off wrist injury, and his surgery demanding back injuries surfaced
resulting in his worldwide ranking to plummet number 141, but this seemed to be the least of his
worries. Depression led to personal problems for Andre. He took a break from tennis, was
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fighting with his wife at the time (Brooke Shields), shutting everyone he affiliated with out
(including Gil), and experimented with drug use. Less than six months after the onset of the
depression, a phone call from a doctor of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)
informed Andre that he failed a drug test, and he tested positive for crystal methylene. Andre did
not consider this unexpected, and he was not surprised because of the legitimacy of the
accusation:
Serves me right. I lie awake until dawn, wondering what to do, whom to tell. I try to
imagine how it will feel to be publicly shamed, not for my clothes or game, not for some
marketing slogan someone hung on me, but for my utter stupidity, mine alone. I’ll be an
outcast. I’ll be a cautionary tale. (Agassi, 2009, p. 255)
Andre spent time worrying about how other people would view and judge him8. Rogers
characterizes this as an external evaluation, which is one’s own observation of how other people
view them; it does “not foster psychological health but, rather, prevent us from being completely
open to our own experiences” (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 318).
After a long night of weighing his options, he falsified an apology letter blaming a
member of his travelling tennis crew, Slim, and immediately fired him – not telling anyone,
including his best friend Gil, of what he had just done (Agassi, 2009, pp. 250-256). This
expresses another barrier to psychological health, distortion. Rogers would maintain that the
falsified letter solely served to satisfy his own abstraction from reality, which is compensated in
order to fit into some aspect of his self-concept (Feist & Feist, 2008, p. 319)
This letter served as a wake up call to Agassi, and he was even more motivated than ever
to get his life back on track. Agassi knew he could be much better than what he was9. Rogers
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would characterize the drive that aided him to overcome the setbacks of his physical injuries and
drug abuse as his actualizing tendencies. Agassi was overwhelmingly surprised with Gil when he
decided to stay on board and continue to work with him even though he had given every reason
to leave. He started over. Beginning with divorcing his wife to clear his mind of the guilt she
brought, trying to “rediscover his body” with fitness and a good diet, and stepping back on to the
tennis court (Agassi, 2009, p. 257). He eventually played minor tournaments and worked his way
back up to the top rankings, but never the best. He won multiple Grand Slams on his road to
recovery. . The pull of the regressed self-concept up to the ideal self that Andre knew he could be
and accomplish eventually culminated Andre’s achievement of his own congruence10.
Agassi’s mind was at ease when he founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in
1994, along with a preparatory academy for underprivileged children. He eventually courted
female tennis star Stefanie Graf, and they had two kids together, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle.
Agassi eventually won his final Grand Slam, the Australian Open, in 2003, and retired in 2006 at
the US Open.
Contrasts throughout Andre Agassi’s life defined him. Starting out as a boy with no
friends, and becoming to a guy with an entourage centering around him. Going from someone
who played tennis out of demand from his father, and going on to eventually being one of the
best tennis players in the world; breaking traditionalism boundaries through his image, and even
becoming one of the most influential people in the world – he exponential grew as a person. This
exemplifies the formative tendency of his being, the growth and evolution from a simple being to
one that is more complex. Though Andre has not achieved self-actualization thus far, based on
Roger’s terms, he is well on his way, and it is an obtainable goal in his lifetime.
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Carl Rogers’ humanistic approach is an appropriate method to thoroughly analyze Andre
Agassi’s life, especially because of its wide range of aspects involved. It discusses the realms of
Agassi’s mind when he was discovering his self-concept in his younger years, and battling his
struggles of rebellion at the academy and drug abuse 11 years later.
It also addresses the motivation, or lack thereof, Agassi had for playing tennis also
providing justification on how his second father and best friend, Gil, served to give Andre
therapeutic growth. Gil, embodying the congruence that Andre strived for, was also empathic
and provided Andre with unconditional love and support – aiding Agassi in his mental battles.
However, Rogers humanistic theory also proves to have limitations on what it can
analyze on the life of Andre Agassi. It is an “ethnocentric” approach that purposely disregards
biological inferences in personality and “adopts a non-scientific approach to studying humans”
(McLeod, Humanism, 2007, n.p.). The conflicts described by Rogers only assess the topical level
that is Andre Agassi – it could be exhaustively evaluated through the realm psychosocial theory
of Erik Erikson. Additionally, his marriages – both the failed one to Brooke Shields and the
current one to Stefanie Graf - cannot be described by the humanistic perspective. Rogers’
humanistic theory is limited to the emotional development of one’s self. The theory overexaggerates the innate drive to be good in people, as seen by the drug addition period of Agassi’s
life – which can be more readily explained through functional autonomy.
Rogers’ theory on humanism was based as on the principle that people were to become
the best that can be, and that they always strived for it. Andre Agassi’s life, beginning in his
contradictory childhood and spanning his acclaimed professional career, is eagerly perceived as a
drive to be self-actualized – but with the exception of a few minor setbacks that define and build
his character. His unwilling shipment to a tennis academy by the dragon, his rebel phase at the
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academy, his iconic “Image is Everything” persona, and his best friend and second father Gil,
lead to the creation of one the best tennis players and people of all time.
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References
Agassi, A. (2009). Open: An autobiography. New York, NY: AKA Publishing.
Boeree, C. G. (2006). Carl Rogers. Retrieved from Personality Theories:
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/rogers.html
Bugental, J. F. (1964). The Third Force in Psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 4, 1925.
Demanchick, S. P., & Kirschenbaum, H. (2008). Carl Rogers and the CIA. Journal of
Humanistic Psychology, 48, 1-8.
Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2008). Theories of personality (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Heppner, P. P., Rogers, M. E., & Lee, L. A. (1984). Carl Rogers: Reflections on his life. Journal
of Counseling & Development , 63, 14-20.
McLeod, S. (2007). Carl Rogers. Retrieved from Simply Psychology:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html
McLeod, S. (2007). Humanism. Retrieved from Simply Psychology:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html
Patterson, C. H. (1977). Foundations for a theory of instructional and educational psychology
(1st ed). New York: Harper & Row.
Wade, N. G. (2010). Four Forces of Psychology. Retrieved from Iowa State University :
http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~nwade/fourforces.pdf