Humanist perspective
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Transcript of Humanist perspective
Humanist Perspective
Definition
Psychologists who take a humanist approach to personality focus on our uniquely human capacity to determine our own actions and futures
The belief that biology and parental influence are real factors, but ultimately we have the free will to go beyond these forces
Each individual is responsible for his/her own outcome
History of Humanism
Created in early 1960sAbraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Rollo May This was created to replace psychoanalysis
and behaviorism with a third force in psychology
They wanted to draw a fuller picture of human potential and personality
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow
Maslow believed psychology ignored many positive aspects in life such as joy, laughter, love, happiness and beauty
He didn’t value the big five traits, but instead qualities of the self-actualized person
Self actualization – striving for a life that is meaningful, challenging and satisfying
Self Actualization
Maslow saw personality development as the slow progression toward self actualization
He argued most psychologists had an imbalanced view of human nature -ie. Studying only emotional problem and negative
traits like insecurity
The Hierarchy of Needs
Carl Rogers
Rogers, like Freud, derived many of his ideas from observing his clients in therapy
He was interested in not only why some people cannot function well but also on fully functioning individuals
Fully functioning people experience congruence, which is harmony between what they project to others and their true feelings and wishes
Fully functioning people are trusting, warm and open rather than defensive or intolerant
Rogers continued
How do we become fully functioning individuals? Unconditional positive regard – love and support
for the people we are without strings (conditions) attached Ex). Sarah kicks her brother over and over when she’s
angry with him. She also throws out her dinner from the window because she hates peas the parents can correct her behavior WITHOUT withdrawing love from the child
The child can learn through this that the behavior is bad and needs to be changed, not that Sarah herself is an awful person
Saying “violence is not allowed in this home” is very different to “Sarah, you are a horrible, stupid child”
Rogers observations
Through his extensive experience giving therapy, he observed many children are raised with conditional positive regard – this is obviously not good (if you have been listening in class!)
Ex). I will love you Sarah only if you behave wellAdults often engage in this repeatedly tooThose treated with conditional regard begin to
suppress or deny feelings or actions that they believe are unacceptable to those they love
So what happens?
Conditional love = changing what you really say you feel to someone as a result you feel out of touch with your feelings (incongruence) and realize you’re not being true to your real self = low self regard, defensiveness, and unhappiness
Rollo May
Also believed in free willBut emphasized some of the unavoidable
difficult and tragic aspects of human condition - Existentialism
Ie). Loneliness, anxiety and alienation Also, the search for meaning of life, the need
to confront death and living with the burden of responsibility for our actions
The consequences of Free Will
Free will carries a price though, which is why so many people often try to escape their freedom and blame others for their misfortunes
Our personalities reflect the way we cope with our struggles to find meaning in existence, to use our freedom wisely and to face suffering and death bravely
May made the following humanist idea popular: We can choose to make the best of ourselves by drawing
on inner resources such as love and courage but can never escape the harsh realities of life and loss