The Humanistic Perspective Humanistic theory Rogerian terms

Humanistic Perspective By 1960s psychologists had become discontented with Freud’s negativity and the mechanistic psychology of the behaviorists. Believed that people are basically good. Emphasis on subjective experiences http://www.ship.edu Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

Maslow: Self-Actualizing Person Maslow proposed that we as individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization Self-transcendence Peak experiences OBJECTIVE 45-1| Summarize Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization, and explain how his ideas illustrate the humanistic perspective. If people are consistently frustrated in meeting their needs, how might this impact their lives?

Rogers: Growth and Fulfillment Carl Rogers also believed in individual's self-actualization tendencies. Unconditional Positive Regard, he said, was an attitude of acceptance of others amidst their failings. OBJECTIVE 45-2| Discuss Carl Roger’s person-centered perspective, and explain the importance of unconditional positive regard.

Unconditional Positive Regard According to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person Genuineness-freely expressing one’s feelings and not being afraid to disclose details about oneself Empathy-Sharing thoughts and understanding, listening and reflecting the other person’s feelings (active listening)

Benefits of Self-Esteem Maslow and Rogers argued that a successful life results from a healthy self-image (self-esteem). There are two reasons why low self-esteem results in personal problems. OBJECTIVE 46-13| Give two alternative explanations for the positive correlation between low self-esteem and personal problems. Are there criticisms of too much self-esteem? When self-esteem is deflated, we view our self and others critically. Low self esteem reflects reality – our failure in meeting challenges or surmounting difficulties.

Self-Serving Bias We accept responsibility for good deeds and successes rather than for bad deeds and failures. Defensive self-esteem is fragile and egotistic Secure self-esteem is less fragile and less dependent on external evaluation. The Barnum Effect… a type of subjective validation in which a person finds personal meaning in statements that could apply to many people. We tend to accept descriptions of our personalities which are vague and can apply to anyone. OBJECTIVE 46-15| Discuss some evidence for self-serving bias, and contrast defensive and secure self-esteem.

Exploring the Self Research on the self has a long history, because the self organizes thinking, feelings and actions and is a critical part of our personality. OBJECTIVE 46-12| Explain why psychology has generated so much research on the self, and give three examples of current research on the self. The self-reference effect is a tendency for people to encode information differently depending on the level on which the self is implicated in the information. When people are asked to remember information when it is related in some way to the self, the recall rate can be improved Research has focused on the different selves we possess – some we dream and others we dread. Research on how we overestimate our concern that others evaluate our appearance, performance and blunders (spot-light effect). The Self-reference effect in memory.

Assessing the Self 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. OBJECTIVE 45-3| Explain how humanistic psychologists assessed personality. All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in an answer to the question, “Who am I?” refers to Self-Concept. Ideal Self vs Real Self

Evaluating Humanistic Theories Renewed interest in self-concept Criticisms Vague and subjective Individualistic and Western biased Naïve

Humanism today Humanism has influenced therapy, child-rearing, and the workplace Laid the foundation for positive psychology Applications in education