Chapter 9: Phenomenological Perspective Flashcards
Major Assumption
- every person is unique
- emphasis on subjective experience of each person: objective reality is not as important as subjective
- self-determination is part of human nature: freedom and power to choose
- all humans are basically good: strive for growth, perfection
Humanism: Carl Rogers
- dislikes psychoanalysis: negative, ineffective
- developed rogerian therapies: person-centered approach
- humans are inherently good
- focus on conscious processes and ability for self-direction
- humans are driven towards positive growth and actualization: tendency to improve
- process occurs naturally if there are no opposing influences
Self-Actualization
- leads to: autonomy, self-sufficiency, sense of wholeness and integration
- fully functioning person: open to experience, trust feelings: not afraid of new feelings and experiences
Need for Positive Regard
- humans are motivated by need for positive regard: love acceptance, friendship, affection
- unconditional positive regard: no strings attached: parental love
- conditional positive regard: must meet conditions of worth
Conditional Self-Regard
may interfere with self-actualization of behaviors, values, and goals that must be adapted to meet conditions of worth conflict with those that would achieve self-actualization
- often we underestimate our meaningfulness to significant others
Self-Determination Theory
- growth (self-actualization) and healthy personality can only be achieved if three needs are met:
1. competence
2. relatedness
3. autonomy
Competence
need to be effective when dealing with environment
Relatedness
need to interact, relate and connect with others
Autonomy and Self-Determination
need to be in charge of own life
Intrinsic Motivation
drive to seek out challenges and accomplishments
- leads to feelings of competence
- enhanced by praise
- diminished by negative feedback
Extrinsic Motivation
comes from external sources
- varies depending on the degree that external demands, rules, or rewards are introjected
Humanistic Psychology and the Self
- Rogers: self-theorist
- sense of self develops gradually as infants learn to differentiate self from others
- self refers to both subjective experience of being, and your self-concept: ideal self vs. actual self
Humanistic Psych and Maladjustment
- incongruity: disorganization, breakdown in wholeness of integration of self
- conflict between ideal and actual self may lead to low self-esteem
- result: pessimism, relationship problems, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation
- defense: rationalization, denial
- defense attempt to protect and enhance self-esteem
Abraham Maslow
- studied motivation: believed that motivational needs form a hierarchy
- needs vary in power
- bottom needs must be satisfied first
- higher needs cannot be satisfied with first satisfying lower needs
- higher needs are not necessary for survival but are necessary for self-actualization
Hierarchy of Needs
- physiological needs
- love and safety needs
- esteem needs
- self-actualization
Revised Hierarchy of Needs
- physiological needs
- love and safety needs
- esteem needs
- cognitive needs
- aesthetic needs
- self-actualization
- transcendence needs
Self-Actualizers are:
- efficient in perceiving reality
- accepting of self and others
- spontaneous and sincere
- problem focused
- independent
- philosophical
- creative, inventive
- related
Personal Constructs
- assumption: emphasis on subjective experience of each person
- Kelly 1950’s
- humans are natural scientists: need to understand the world
- construct a personal view of the world: personal constructs (beliefs, perceptions, own theories)
Personal Construct System
- own history
- own predisposition to perceive
The Fundamental Postulate
- human actions are determined by the constructs they use to anticipate or predict events
- some are unconscious and automatic
- some are conscious
Constructive Alternativism
- all events are open to interpretation
- people develop constructs about the world based on interpretation
- people decide which construct to apply to different situations
- people can alter events by reconstructing them
How are Constructs used?
- constructs lead to hypotheses about how an event will happen
1. apply construct
2. test hypothesis
3. confirmed: retain construct for future
4. disconfirmed: revise or abandon construct - predictive efficiency: degree to which constructs predict correctly
- constructs are based on recurring themes: no two experiences are identical
Social Relationships and Constructs
- to built relationships, must attempt to understand the construct system of others (eg. psychologist)
- role taking: who am I to this person? what do they expect of me? how must I behave for mutual understanding?
Core Roles
- major determinant for identity
- daughter, sister, wife, psychologist…
- failure to fulfill core role: results in guilt
Existential Perspective
each person is responsible for finding the meaning in life: emphasizes choice and free will
Existential Dilemma
- death is inevitable
- awareness of unavoidable death: anxiety, concern of meaningful and fulfilling lives
- every human has the choice: retreat or advance, to be or not to be
Assessment Phenomenological Approach
- structured methods contradict that every human is unique
- interview method is preferred
Humanistic and Existentialist Therapies
- client-centered therapies
- provides nurturing environment and unconditional positive regard
- nonevaluative: reflective listening
- nondirective: never tells the client what they should do: find own solution
- helps client accept responsibility for their lives
Source of Maladjustment
- incongruity
- existential anxiety
- failure to self-actualization
Problems with Humanistic and Existential Approaches
- little scientific research: in the past, existentialist and humanists have been opposed to research
- neither perspective accepted in DSM-V
