The Humanistic Perspective of Personality Abraham Maslow – The Self-Actualizing Person Carl Rogers – Person-Centered Perspective Assessing the Self Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective

Humanistic Psychology In the 1960’s, people became sick of Freud’s negativity, the mechanistic psychology of the behaviorists, and trait psychology’s objectivity (more on this later). Humanistic psychologists wanted to focus on “healthy” people and how to help them strive to “be all that they can be.”

Abraham Maslow Introduces… The Self-Actualizing Person Abraham Maslow ( )

Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow proposed that human motives are organized into a hierarchy of needs – a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused.

Self-Actualization Maslow set out to identify people who had self-actualized, healthy personalities, for study. Self-actualizing persons, according to Maslow, are people with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continued personal growth. (Psychoanalysts studied the ill, humanists studied the well). Maslow argued that humans have an innate drive toward personal growth, culminating in the need for self-actualization, which is the need to fulfill one’s potential (the highest need in his hierarchy). “What a man can be, he must be.”

Who did Maslow study? Those who seemed notable for their rich and productive lives. Mahatma Gandhi Tiger Woods… just kidding Eleanor Roosevelt Abraham Lincoln Martin Luther King, Jr.Thomas Jefferson

The Self-Actualizing Person Maslow found that these people share certain characteristics. They: –are self-aware and self-accepting (tuned in to reality and at peace with themselves) –are open and spontaneous –are sensitive to others’ needs, making for rewarding interpersonal relations –are not paralyzed by others’ opinions –are secure in who they are

Self-Actualized People Also… Are problem-centered rather than self-centered. Focus their energies on a particular task. Form a few deep relationships, rather than many superficial ones.

Figure 12.12: Maslow’s view of the healthy personality. Humanistic theorists emphasize psychological health instead of maladjustment. Maslow’s description of characteristics of self- actualizing people evokes a picture of the healthy personality. Source: Adapted from Potkay, C. R., & Allen, B. P. (1986). Personality: Theory, research and application. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Copyright © 1986 by C. R. Potkay & B. P. Allen. Adapted by permission of the author.

Carl Rogers Introduces… The Person-Centered Perspective Carl Rogers ( )

Carl Rogers Carl Rogers was one of the founders of the humanist movement, which emerged in the 1950’s as a reaction to the behavioral and psychodynamic theories. Like Maslow, Rogers believed that humans have an actualizing tendency – they strive to make the very best of their existence – if they fail to do so, it is not for a lack of desire! Also like Maslow, he believed we are innately positive. Rogers focused on 3 concepts to explain personality: self-concept, congruency, and unconditional positive regard

Self-Concept Rogers viewed personality in terms of the self- concept, a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior…a person’s mental picture of themselves. Both Rogers and Maslow believed that your self- concept is at the center of your personality. There are two parts to the self-concept: –Real self – the you that you are meant to become –Ideal self – the self we think we should be (unattainable) The goal is to become a fully-functioning individual by uniting your real and ideal self. If our self concept is positive…. –We tend to act and perceive the world positively. If our self-concept is negative…. –We fall short of our “ideal self” and feel dissatisfied and unhappy Ideal self Real self

Congruency When self-concepts don’t match reality (incongruence), they are threatened, and anxiety results. Figure 12.9: Rogers’s view of personality structure. In Rogers’s model, the self-concept is the only important structural construct. However, Rogers acknowledged that one’s self-concept may not be consistent with the realities of one’s actual experience—a condition called incongruence.

Incongruent self: neurosis REALIDEAL REAL IDEAL Incongruent self: psychosis (shattered self)

Fully-Functioning Individual Congruence! Open to experiences Freedom from society Creativity

Unconditional Positive Regard Rogers stressed the subjective nature of the self- concept…it may not be consistent with reality. Rogers believed that when parents make their affection conditional, that is, dependent on a child’s living up to expectations, the child may block out of their self-concept those experiences that make them feel unworthy of love. By acting according to other people’s standards, we lose our sense of self –As we grow up, parents and authority figures might place “conditions” on our worth. –For example, in the movie Spanglish, the mother passive- aggressively pushes her “chubby” young daughter, Bernie, to lose weight by buying her new clothes that are too small. The mother actually prefers her housekeeper’s skinnier, prettier 12-year-old daughter, Cristina. (Watch the trailer here: When this happens, we begin to operate under conditioned positive regard Unconditional love is based in assurances that a child is worthy of affection, no matter what they do. More generally, Rogers said that Unconditional Positive Regard is an attitude of acceptance of others despite their failings.

Figure 12.10: Rogers’s view of personality development and dynamics. Rogers’s theory of development posits that conditional love leads to a need to distort experiences, which fosters an incongruent self-concept. Incongruence makes one prone to recurrent anxiety, which triggers defensive behavior, which fuels more incongruence.

Carl Rogers’s Person-Centered Perspective People are basically GOOD. We are like acorns – acorns need water, sun, and nutrients to grow into big oak trees… we need genuineness, acceptance, and empathy for us to grow.

Genuineness Being open with your own feelings. Dropping your facade. Being transparent and self-disclosing.

Acceptance Unconditional Positive Regard: An attitude of acceptance regardless of circumstances. Accepting yourself or others completely.

Empathy Listening, sharing, understanding and mirroring feelings and reflecting their meanings.

Person-Centered Therapy (Client-centered or “Rogerian”) Show the client unconditional positive regard: accepting and valuing self (and people) regardless of their behavior Allow the client to take responsibility for his life Mirror the clients emotions and thoughts so that he/she can decide their path in life Be congruent (honest, genuine, vulnerable) Show empathy

Assessing the Self: How does a Humanistic psychologist test your personality? In an effort to assess personality, Rogers asked people to describe themselves as they would like to be (ideal) and as they actually are (real). If the two descriptions were close, the individual had a positive self-concept. In other words, when the ideal self and the way you currently see yourself are alike – you are generally happy. MEIdeal Self

Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective

Evaluating Humanistic Perspectives - Positives Humanistic psychology has a pervasive impact on counseling, education, child- rearing, and management with its emphasis on a positive self-concept, empathy, and the thought that people are basically good and can improve. Humanistic theories are credited with highlighting the importance of a person’s subjective view of reality. They are also applauded for focusing attention on the issue of what constitutes a healthy personality.

Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective – Criticisms 1.Concepts in humanistic psychology are vague, subjective, have poor testability, and lack scientific basis. 2.The individualism encouraged can lead to self- indulgence, selfishness, and an erosion of moral restraints (see next slide). 3.It may be an overly optimistic view of human nature (Maslow had a hard time finding live people who had self-actualized) 4.Humanistic psychology fails to appreciate the reality of our human capacity for evil. It lacks adequate balance between realistic optimism and despair.

Does culture play a part in our personality (according to humanistic psychologists)? Individualism: giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals. Defining your identity in terms of yourself. Collectivism: giving priority to the goals of a group and defining your identity as part of that group. Is individualism really better?