Humanistic Perspective of Personality

Humanistic Psychology In the 1960’s people became sick of Freud’s negativity and trait psychology’s objectivity. Along came psychologists wanted to focus on “healthy” people and how to help them strive to “be all that they can be”.

Humanistic Theory of Personality Do not believe in Determinism (your actions are dictated by your past). They believe that humans have free will (our ability to choose your own destiny). We are innately good and as long as our self-esteem and self-concept are positive we will be happy.

Humanistic Perspective: 1.The humanistic approach focused on people’s capacities for growth and self-fulfillment. 2.Two influential theories of humanistic psychology were proposed by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

Humanistic Perspective: Focused on strivings of “healthy” people (not “sick” people like psychoanalytic) View people as whole persons (not as collections of individual traits like trait theorists) Self-Concept Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers

Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow: Proposed that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs and that if basic needs are fulfilled, people will strive to reach their highest potential, self-actualization Central feature of personality = self-concept

Abraham Maslow: 1.According to Maslow, humans are motivated by needs that are organized into a hierarchy. 2.Maslow refers to the process of fulfilling one’s potential as self- actualization.

Abraham Maslow’s Self Actualizing Person Hierarchy of Needs Ultimately seek self- actualization (the process of fulfilling our potential). Maslow developed his ideas by studying what he termed “healthy people”.

Who did Maslow study?

According to Maslow, people who fulfilled their potential & reached self-actualization were… Self-aware Self-accepting Open Spontaneous Loving Caring Not paralyzed by others’ opinions Secure Problem-centered rather than self-centered

Self-Actualized People They share certain characteristics: They are self aware and self accepting Open and spontaneous Loving and caring Not paralyzed by others’ opinions. They are secure in who they are.

Self-Actualized People Problem centered rather than self-centered. Focused their energies on a particular task. Few deep relationships, rather than many superficial ones.

Self-Actualization These are the qualities that make up a mature adult. These people have found their calling in life. Is this a goal worth striving for?

Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers: Agreed w/ much of Maslow’s thinking, adding that people nurture others’ actualizing tendencies by being genuine, accepting, & empathetic. Central feature of personality = self-concept

Carl Rogers: self theory focuses on the idea that we are all inherently good people and we all want to reach our potential- he called this our actualizing tendency. To reach this potential we need three things, genuineness, acceptance and empathy.

Carl Rogers: 1.According to Carl Rogers, a person nurtures growth in a relationship by being genuine, accepting, & empathetic. (GAE!). 2.People who are accepting of others offer them unconditional positive regard.

Carl Rogers The object of humans is to become self-actualized. We are like Acorns What do Acorns need to grow? Water sun and soil. Except to grow into healthy humans we need: Genuineness Acceptance (Unconditional Positive Regard) Empathy

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. Preschool study

Humanistic Perspective- Maslow & Rogers: 1.For both Maslow & Rogers, an important feature of personality is how an individual perceives himself or herself, this is the person’s self-concept. 2.Humanistic psychologists have influenced such diverse areas as counseling, education, childrearing, and management. 3.They have also had a major impact on today’s popular psychology, perhaps b/c the emphasis on the individual self strongly reflects individualistic cultural values. 4.Research has shown that most people tend to have high self- esteem.

Self-Concept All of thoughts and feelings about ourselves trying to answer the question…. WHO AM I?

Self-Concept Both Rogers and Maslow believed that your self- concept is at the center of your personality. 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

How does a Humanistic psychologist test your personality? You would be asked to fill out a questionnaire asking to describe yourself both as you would ideally like to be and what you actually are. When the ideal self and current-self (the way you currently see yourself) are alike- you are generally happy. How do psychoanalytic and trait assess?

Assessing your Self-Concept ME Ideal Self

Possible Selves What are your possible selves?

Self-Esteem One’s feelings of high or low self- worth.

Do minorities have lower self-esteem? NOT REALLY They value the things which they excel. They attribute problems to prejudice. They compare themselves to their own group.

Self-Serving Bias A readiness to perceive oneself favorable. People accept more responsibility for successes than failures. Most people see themselves as better than average.

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?

Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective: The Good…. Ideas of humanistic psychologists have influenced: counseling, education, child-rearing, and management

Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective: Haters gon’ hate… Concepts of humanistic psych. are  vague,  subjective,  So focused on the individual that they promote:  self-indulgence,  selfishness, and  an erosion of moral restraints The humanistic psychologists have been accused of being naively optimistic & unrealistic, and failing to appreciate the human capacity for evil. 1.Vague & subjective 2.Encourages self-indulgence & selfishness 3.Failing to appreciate the capacity of humans for evil.

Crash Course Review: Humanist Perspective on Personality…

Crash Course Review: Rogers 1.Carl Rogers ( )- rejected Freud’s pessimistic view of human nature, instead, he offered the optimistic view that people are innately good, and thus, “positive, forward-moving, constructive, realistic, & trustworthy” 2.Argued that self-concept is the cornerstone of a person’s personality. 1.Self-concept = set of perceptions & beliefs that individuals have about their own nature & behavior 3.People whose self-concept matches their life experiences usually have high self-esteem & better mental health 4.Rogers believed that people are motivated to achieve their full potential or self actualize. 5.Parents can help their children self-actualize by creating an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard- in which a child is accepted & loved w/ot any conditions.

Crash Course Review: Maslow 1.Abraham Maslow ( ) shared Rogers’ confidence in human nature. He also stressed that humans have a natural drive to find self- fulfillment and realize their potential. 2.Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 3.Maslow viewed self-actualization as an ongoing process of growth.

Crash Course Review: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Motivation & Emotion) 1.Humanistic psychologist- Abraham Maslow- created a hierarchy of needs that combines & prioritizes biological, psychological, and social needs. 2.Identified a progression of 5 needs: people begin w/basic physiological & safety needs. Once these needs are met, the individual “moves up” to high-level needs culminating w/self-actualization. 3.Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: (PS BES): Physiological needs: food, water, warmth, & maintenance homeostasis Safety needs: security, safety, & avoidance of pain Belonging needs: acceptance, affection, friendship Esteem needs: feelings of accomplishment, approval, recognition Self-actualization needs: fulfilling one’s potential by being all that you can be 4.Psychologists have criticized Maslow’s mode for its vague definition of self- actualization. In addition, it is possible for people living in poverty to nonetheless develop strong societies & self-esteem.