1. Humanistic Psychology
August 12, 2015

2. Objectives Humanistic Theories
1. How did humanistic psychologists view personality, and what was their goal in studying personality?
2. How did humanistic psychologists assess a person’s sense of self?
3. How have humanistic theories influenced psychology? What criticisms have they faced?

3. Humanistic Perspective
Maslow
Pyramid
Rogers
Genuine, acceptance, empathy
Assessing the self
Self-Concept
Ideal vs. Actual Self

4. Humanistic Theories of Personality
Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers
In the 1960’s, some psychologists began to reject:
the dehumanizing ideas in Behaviorism, and
the dysfunctional view of people in Psychodynamic thought.
Maslow and Rogers sought to offer a “third force” in psychology: The Humanistic Perspective.
They studied healthy people rather than people with mental health problems.
Humanism: focusing on the conditions that support healthy personal growth.
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5. Maslow: The Self-Actualizing Person
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6. Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective
Genuineness: Being honest, direct, not using a façade
Acceptance, a.k.a Unconditional Positive Regard: acknowledging feelings without passing judgment;
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Note: Empathy is NOT sympathy: what is important to nurture growth is to have someone understand you, consider your feelings and hold them for you. This is more vital to growth than having someone feel sorry for you.
Empathy: tuning into the feelings of others, showing your efforts to understand, listening well

7. Critiquing the Humanist Perspective What about evil?
Some say Rogers did not appreciate the human capacity for evil.
Rogers saw “evil” as a social phenomenon, not an individual trait:
“When I look at the world I’m pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic.” –Rogers
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About the capacity for evil, it doesn’t necessarily contradict the humanistic model: it is possible to say that some people are not moving far up the hierarchy, are stuck pursuing basic survival and security needs even if they already have enough money to survive, or are stuck seeking and defending self-esteem.
Humanist response: Self- acceptance is not the end; it then allows us to move on from defending our own needs to loving and caring for others.

8. Humanistic Perspective
Maslow
Pyramid
Rogers
Genuine, acceptance, empathy
Assessing the self
Self-Concept
Ideal vs. Actual Self
Critiques
Evil?
Self-centeredness

9. Critiquing the Humanist Perspective Too much self-centeredness?
self-indulgence
self-centeredness
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10. Learning Check
1. How did humanists view personality, and what was their goal in studying personality?
2. How have humanistic theories influenced psychology? What criticisms have they faced?
Personality: potential for healthy growth, self-determination, self-realization. What kinds of environments support healthy personal growth?
Influence: Renewed an interest in the concept of the self; criticisms: vague, subjective, self-centered, overly optimistic

11. Homework
1. ½ page notes summary
2. Skim trait section