Humanism
From KstructIB
Humanism and Other Gibberish ' 'Phenomenological Perspective '— Stresses on the importance of our perceptions of ourselves and our world in understanding personality; the perspective emphasizes that for each individual, reality is what is perceived .
'Humanistic Perspective' — Mostly widely known phenomenological approach to personality. The humanist perspective stresses the person’s capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose one’s own destiny, and positive qualities.
- Stresses Present and future over past
- Conscious experience
- Consider whole person & the positive bent of human nature
- Personality contains a well of "potential" that can be developed into the fullest
- Clinical experiences
- Experiments
- Scorned by some humanist
- Difficult to test
- Self actualization not well defined
- No sure how to study this concept empirically
- Too optimistic
- Overestimating the freedom and rationality of human nature
- Encourage self-love and narcissism
- Intensified by the emphasis on the self and independence in American culture.
- Pendulum swung too far toward individualism in Western Civilization
- Conditional Positive Regard — Rodger’s term for love and praise being withheld unless the individual conforms to parental or social standard.
- Rodgers feels people have difficulty accepting their own true feeling
- Unconditional Positive Regard — Rodger’s term for accepting valuing, and being positive toward another person regardless of the person’s behavior.
- Self-Concept —Central theme in Rodger’s and other humanists’ views; self-concept refers to individual’s overall perceptions of their abilities, behavior, and personality.
- If we are 'empathic' and 'genuine', we can help others develop more positive self-concept
- Physiological Needs —
- Safety Needs-
- The Need for Love and Belongingness —
- The need for Esteem
- Most people stop matures after developing a high level of esteem
- Cognitive Needs
- Aesthetic Needs
- The Need for Self-Actualization
- Highest and most elusive of Maslow’s needs, is the motivation to develop one’s full potential as a human being.
- Few reach self-actualization
- Endomorph — soft, round, large stomached person who is released, gregarious, and food loving
- Mesomorph — Strong, athletic, and muscular person who is energetic, assertive, and courageous
- Ectomorph — tall, think fearful person who is fearful, introverted, and restrained.
- Stomatotype theory — precise charts of an individual’s body reveal distinct body types, which in turn are associated with certain personality characteristics.
- Problems
- (Cortes & Gatti (1970)) —No significant relationship between body type and personality
- Many people simply do not fit into the neatly packaged category.
- Only 1, 2, or 3, categories to describe individuals ignores the rich diversity and complexity of human characteristics
- Emotional stability
- Being calm rather than anxious, secures rather then insecure, self-satisfied than self-pitying.
- Extraversion
- Sociable instead of retiring, fun-loving instead of sober, and affectionate instead of reserved.
- Openness
- Imaginative rather than practical, preferring variety to routine, and being independent rather than conforming
- Agreeableness
- Being softhearted, not ruthless, trusting, not suspicious, and helpful not uncooperative.
- Conscientiousness
- Being organized rather than disorganized, careful rather then careless, and disciplined, not impulsive.
- (Walter Mischel (1968))
- Personality and Assessment '
- Criticized the trait view of personality, as well as the psychoanalytic approach
- Both emphasis the interval organization of personality
- Personality often changes according to a given situation
- Response to personality as consisting of broad, internal traits that are consistence across situations and time.
- Trait measure do a poor job of predicting actual behavior
- Situationism — Personality often varies considerably from one context to another.
- They believe that both trait (person) and situation variables are necessary to understand personality. They also agree that the degree of consistency in personality depend on the kinds of persons, situations, and behaviors sampled. (Pervin, 1993, Mischel, 1995)
- The link between traits and situations has been more precisely specified
- The narrowing and more limited trait is, the more likely it will predict behavior.
- Some people are consistent on some traits
- Personality traits exert a stronger influence on an individual’s behavior when situational influence is less powerful.
- Self-actualization–innate tendency toward growth that motivates all human behavior.
- Self–the part of experience that a person identifies as I or me
- those who accurately experience the self are on path to self actualization
- self concept–the way one thinks of oneself
- Personality shaped partly by self-actualization tendencies and partly by others' evaluations.
- conditions of worth (feeling that you have the "right attitude") are created whenever people are evaluated instead of their behavior
- he uses phenomenological approach (gives central role to immediate experience and emphasizes each person's uniqueness) is used in client-centered therapy
- relies on the creation of a relationship tat reflects three intertwined therapist attitudes: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence
- Reflection–a paraphrased summary of the client's words and esp. the feelings and meanings that appear to accompany them–is extremely important and should be done by the therapist. This confirms therapist's interest, and helps the client to perceive thoughts and feelings
- Congruence (also genuineness) therapists should try to convey this by acting in ways that are consistent with their feelings during therapy.
- Physiological needs, such as food, water, oxygen, activity, and sleep. Needs that we need to survive
- Safety, such as being cared for as a child and having a secure income as an adult, security basically
- Belongingness and love, such as being part of various social groups and participating in affectionate sexual and nonsexual relationships
- Esteem, being respected as a useful, honorable individual
- Self-actualization, becoming all that one is capable of.
- self-actualization is not just a human capacity but a human need
- we are distracted from SA because we focus exclusively on needs that are lower on the hierarchy
- most people are controlled by a deficiency orientation, a preoccupation with perceived needs for material things
- Growth orientation-in this, people do not focus on what is missing but draw satisfaction from what they have, what they are, and what they can do (essentially they don't bitch; I guess women can't ever self-actualize).
- Seeks to crate condition in which clients can become more unified, self-aware, and self-accepting, and thus ready to grow again.
- therapists use more direct dramatic methods than do Rogerians
- therapists prod clients to become aware of feelings and impulses that they have disowned and to discard feelings, ideas and values that are not really their own
- Do a lot of dialogues and pay attention to body language.
- Humanist
- Concerned with her and now. Be all one can be. Not past of future.
- Emphasized self-actualization in personality functioning and development
- Over all other concepts (oppose to Rodgers)
- Reserved for a select few ( Rodgers = all have possibility)
- Abused and neglected childhood
- Victim of Prejudice
- Suppressed Anger
- Acknowledges sinister side of human nature
- Mother cold., vicious, superstitiously religious, dedicated to make Abe. Miserable
- Cat killer
- Abe. came up with and supported: religion virulent form of superstitious.
- Father absent at first
- Later in life, Abe. and Pa becomes good friend
- He is a father’s son
- Opposed theories and other stuff from people like Fraud, and Adder
- Inferiority Complex
- Introduced to psycho. @ Cornell University.
- Loved his first cousin Bertha, latter married her
- Greatly influenced by Gestalt Psychologists
- Founded by Max Wertheimer
- Another big name = Kurt Koffka
- Simple perceptions= whole made up of integrated parts
- one could consider parts or whole, not both at once
- "Laws of organization" -Explanation how parts are forming whole
- Grouping similar object together to form a whole
- Grouping proximal (similar) objects
- Law of closure, incomplete object
- Figure-ground rule — seems divided into a figure in the foreground displayed against a background
- Vase and the face
- 'Motivation' — Process by which organisms are propelled toward goals
- Drive — A simple tension that demands to be satisfied
- Traditionally straight forward.. Maslow thinks not. (Maslow 1954)
- 'Needs' — Goal seeking for certain satisfactions that are sought by all humans regardless of their culture, environment, or generation.
- Unique POV: A given behavior, thought, or feeling may occur at the behest of multiple motivations (Maslow 1954)
- The needs a person experiences are universal, the methods used to satisfy them may be specific to the person’s culture
- Enviro. Can determine the particular form of need satisfaction
- Enviro. Over-rated
Working Definition
Methodology
Criticism
Personality Disorders
Carl Rodgers and Abraham Maslow were two of the leading architects of humanistic perspective.
'Carl Rodgers' (1902-1987) worked in the 1960’s
'Abraham Maslow' (1908-1870)
Hierarchy of Motives — Individual’s main kinds of needs must be satisfied in the following sequence: physiological needs, safety needs, the need for love and belongingness, the need for esteem, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and the need for self-actualization.
'William Sheldon (1954) 'Theory of body types and personality
' 'Trait Theories '— Personality consists of broad dispositions, called traits, that tend to lead to characteristic responses. People can be described in terms of the basic ways they behave, such as whether the are outgoing and friendly, or whether they are dominant and assertive. Basic Five Factors
Individualism — Giving priority to personal goals rather then to group goals; it emphasizes values that serve the self such as feeling good, personal distinction, and independence.
Collectivism — Emphasizes values that serve the group by subordinate personal goals to preserve group integrity.
Criticism to Trait Theory
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' ' Trait Situation Interaction Theory
Walter Mischel (1968) '— Personality and Assessment', criticized trait view of personality and psychoanalytic approach. Said personality often changes according to situations, unlike the previous approaches which show consistency. Said trait measures poorly predict actual behavior. Made view of situationism- personality varies considerably from one context to another. Most psychologists today are interactionists, believing in both trait and situation ideas to describe personality. Link between traits and situations specified: more limited and narrower a trait is, more likely it will predict a behavior; not everyone consistent on the same trait; traits give a strong influence on an individual’s behavior when situational influences are less likely to affect personality. Self-esteem- evaluative & affective dimension of self-concept. AKA self-image, self-worth. Research shows low self-esteem sufferers focus on weaknesses, rather than strengths. Carolin Showers (1992) — showed compartmentalization of pos and neg self-knowledge (i.e. "I’m a brilliant student with wonderful grades" — pos. "I’m in hard classes with hard tests and lots of homework" — neg.) also mixed compartmentalization (i.e. "I’m a brilliant student that takes hard tests and has lots of homework" and "I’m in hard classes that give me wonderful grades.") adjectives are frequent in this compartmentalization. Susan Harter (1988) — found kids with high self-worth are successful in the domains they perceive as important and discount the importance of other domains that they don’t succeed well in. Big Five Factors — emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Paul Costa and Robert McCrae (1992) made a test to check these — Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory, Revised (or NEO-PI-R) Longitudinal studies used often in assessing personality development and if it ever stabilizes (Freud 5 years… William James 30 and stops). Costa and McCrae studied 1000 college-educated men and women 20 to 96. started mid-50’s and 60’s.. still going on today. Berkeley Longitudinal Studies — 500 kids and parents studied late 20’s early 30’s. John Clausen (1993) started life hist interviews w/ 60 m’s and f’s from Berkeley long. Studies. ‘planful competence’ showed self-confidence, dependability and intellectual investment. It influenced scheduling of major social roles that were later occupied. Higher planful competence showed realistic choices in spouses, occupation and education. Lower planful competence showed unrealistic and less-satisfying jobs and schools. Showed that stability and change fit to make a personality. Palmists- (palm readers) analyze hands and use the Barnum effect — making predictions so broad that anyone can fit the description. Psychologists use testing to pinpoint exact ideas in personality, not broad ones. Most tests show stable characteristics, not situational ones. Projective test- presents individuals w/ an ambiguous stimulus and then asks them to describe it or tell a story about it. Based on assumption that ambiguity of stimulus allows individuals to project into it their feelings, desires needs and attitudes. Elicits unconscious feelings and conflicts, assessing underneath basic personality. Beyond overtly presenting oneself Rorschach inkblot test- Hermann Rorschach, 1921, uses inkblots to determine a person’s personality. Very popular. Gives freedom of response to the person. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)- Henry Murray, Christina Morgan, 1930’s, ambiguous projective test to elicit stories to reveal personality traits. Series of pictures. Other tests use incomplete sentences to finish: "I often feel…" or provide words like fear or happy and ask person to respond w/ first thought. Graphology- handwriting analysis to determine individual’s personality Self-report tests- assess personality traits by asking what they are; don’t reveal unconscious personality characteristics Face validity- assumption that the content of test items is a good indicator of individual’s personality Social desirability- we know this, right Empirically keyed test- relies on items to predict criterion. Make no assumptions on the nature of the items Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)- most widely used & researched self-report personality test. Revised in 1989, has 567 t/f/cannot say ?’s. criticized for ability to differentiate answers from normal to abnormal. Encompasses questions that apply to everyone, so lying can be shown in the testing.
Pictures and review tables follow, good to study with.. Check them out
Carl Rogers' Self Theory
Client Centered Therapy
Abraham Maslow
Maslow's Hierarchy
–Involves exploring and enhancing relationships with others, following interests for intrinsic pleasure rather than for status or esteem, and concerning with issues affecting all people, not just themselves.
PERSONALITY THEORY EXPLAINS IT TEN TIMES BETTER
Maslow's Humanistic Psychology
–These people lead a meaningless life because they are always jealous and always focus on the missing something material.
–This orientation opens the door to peak experiences, in which people feel joy, even ecstasy, in the mere fact of being alive, being human, and knowing that they are utilizing their fullest potential.
GESTALT THERAPY
Humanism: Rogers and Maslow
Rogers had a strong background in scientific knowledge b/c he studied books on agriculture when he was a teen. From books like Feeds and Feeding by: Morison, he learned how experiments were conducted, how control grps were matched w/ experimental groups, how conditions were held constant, and how to test a hypothesis. -used this scientific procedure knowledge to show his therapies effective, acknowledge the biological side of humans, and render his concepts testable
Formulated a person-centered point of view; finding Freud’s ideas in conflict w/ experimental aspects of his academic training.
Rejects the Medical Model (idea people are sick and need treatment/medication) Used the term client instead of patient
Endorsed the Growth Model (help remove whatever blocks to growth exist so one can move beyond being normal or average) Rogers’s View of the Person Humanistic Psychology = emphasizes the present experience and essential worth of the whole person, promotes creativity, intentionalism, free choice, and spontaneity, and fosters the belief that people can solve their own psychological problems.
Grew to be popular in 1950’s and early 1960’s
Emerged from Existentialism (approach to understanding a person’s most immediate experience, the conditions the person’s existence, and necessity of freedom of choice) -"get inside each person’s world" -understand how individuals live, move, and experiences his/her being in the world -value consciousness and personal responsibility -Freedom to accept responsibility --- one must make oneself
Humanists -stress unique capacities of the individual for self-realization and personal growth -study of choice, joy, love, creativity, and authenticity -DO NOT see humans beginning life with blank slate, instead the aim of life is an unfolding of inherent powers present in human nature. -stress human aspects of experience; personal choice, interpersonal relationships, intentions, purposes, and spiritual experiences
Also emerged from Phenomenology (attitude of discovery encompassing a search for essential issues; emphasis on consciousness, necessity of describing experience, and a desire to grasp reality as each individual perceives it) -subjective approach to knowledge and understanding was a large contribution carried over to humanism -if wishing to understand a person, you must get inside his/her individual world of meaning--- this is done by showing empathy
Humanists seek to validate their findings through subjective experience rather than relying solely on impersonal, objective criteria such as statistical methods and experimental tests.
Emphasize the idiographic approach (belief that meaningful and generally applicable discoveries will come from understanding one case at a time)
Roger utilizes the Organismic Approach (human viewed as total being whose physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects cannot be separated except by artificial means) -person is placed first Roger’s theory of therapy is now usually called the Person-Centered approach (previously Client-Centered therapy) Rejected the conception of learning he attributed to most universities. "…unique element is that my therapy is based on a learning that is exponential and cognitive. (universities won’t accept view)…Universities think education goes on only from neck up. Not true! Education may be limited to that, but learning is something else" Basic Concepts General Actualizing Tendency- inherent tendency of the organism to develop all its capacities in ways which serve to maintain or enhance the organism -constructive biological tendency is the one central source of energy in the human Four characteristics: -organismic (natural, biological, inborn predisposition reflected in all functioning -active process (organisms always up to something, seeking food or sexual satisfaction, initiating, exploring, producing change in the environment, playing) -directional (inclines every form of life toward growth, self-regulation, fulfillment, reproduction, and independence from external control) -selective (not all potential is necessarily developed) Self-Actualization -person’s lifelong process of realizing own potential to become a fully functioning person -involves an increased openness to experience -person lives existentially (going w/ flow of moments in life, experience life here and now, not controlling future or living in past) -place full trust in own organismic intuitions: do what feels right -appreciation of free choice, creativity, trustworthiness of human nature, richness of life
Importance of Self (basic aspect of life) Self-Perceptions of what you are Ideal Self (the self a person most values and desires to be)–successfully pursuing the ideal self gives person feelings of worth Congruence with Experience When a person is in state of congruence, their self-concept and experiences relating to self are consistent. Actualizing tendency is whole and unified. Person shows maturity and psychological adjustment
Incongruence is inconsistency b/t self-concept and experiences relating to self. Maybe b/c of distorted or unrealistic beliefs. Might have denial. Distortion involves a reinterpretation of an experience so as to make it consistent w/ how one wants things to be. Innaccurate self-perceptions contribute to experiences of inner confusion, tension, and maladaptive behavior.
Personality Development: Some Favorable Conditions ' Abraham Maslow per Personality Theories (A La Carte)
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