Humanistic approaches to personality Flashcards
Maslow and Rogers
- reacted against psychoanalytic and learning theory
- emphasised active, free and creative aspects of human nature
- by taking rationality and consciousness and rejection of rewards and punishments.
- view people as ‘intrinsically motivated to grow and develop in positive ways’
- environment enables growth and self-realization
- focus on here and now
Maslow & Self-actualisation
- people motivated to achieve certain needs and some needs take precedence over others (Instinctoid tendencies)
- ‘deficiency motives’ and ‘growth motives’
- individuals must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing to meet higher level growth needs
Physiological Needs
- needs for survival
- air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sleep
- if needs not met human body can’t function optimally
- most important needs
Safety Needs
- once individual’s physiological needs are met needs for security and safety become salient
- need for security, law-abiding communities , self-protection, a sense of order and predictability
-can be fulfilled by the family and society
Belongingness & Love Needs
- once physiological and safety need taken care of
- we all need to feel that we are needed and accepted by others
- refers to emotional need for interpersonal relationships, affiliating, connectedness, and being part of a group
Esteem Needs
- last of the “basic needs”
Maslow (1970) divided these into two types: - need to see ourselves as competent
- need for esteem based on the evaluation of others
The Need for Self-actualisation
- highest level of need is for ‘Self-actualisation’
- realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
- demands individuals develop themselves so they can achieve full potential
- Maslow (1964) not all individuals achieve ‘Self-actualisation’, but many aim to (rare)
Characteristics of Self-actualisers
- highly creative
- capable of deep appreciation of basic life-experience
- think differently (non judgemental form of thought)
- accept themselves and others for what they are
- perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty
- strong moral/ethical standards
- concerned for the welfare of humanity
- problem-centered (not self-centered)
- establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships
Evaluation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- neat and simple- over simplification?
- Maslow formulated characteristics of self-actualized
only looking at “self-actualized” individuals - extremely subjective
- limited sample
- difficult to test Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- assumes lower needs need to be satisfied first
- details of personality development is lacking
Carl Rogers- Self Actualisation
- optimism and belief are intrinsic human tendency to self-actualize
-suggested from birth we all have a drive towards actualising our potential - any ‘blocks’ in our actualising tendency are cause of psychological problems
- for person to develop and grow need an environment that provides empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence
Carl Rogers Person-Centred Approach
- acknowledged experience plays important role in personality development
- saw humans as future-orientated which shapes beh
- felt individuals are best experts on themselves
- goal for counselling to provide safe environment to help individuals reconnect with their ‘true self’
Evaluation of Rogers’ Theory
- overly optimistic conceptualisation of human beings
- mainly focuses on ‘conscious’ experience and neglects unconscious
- concepts like ‘unconditional positive regard’ and ‘congruence’ difficult to define and measure
Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
- recent development focuses on human motivation and personality
- examines how social contexts and individual differences facilitate different types of motivation
- Basic needs theory
- Cognitive evaluation theory
- Organismic integration theory
- Causality orientation theory
SDT: Intrinsic motivation
- completing an activity for fun, enjoyment and pleasure (Internal)
SDT: Extrinsic motivation
- completing an activity because of an ‘external’ force (e.g., to avoid punishment or receive praise)
SDT: 3 basic needs
Autonomy- extent which a person has control over their choices/actions
Competence- feeling one is effective in meeting environmental demands
Relatedness- feeling connected with and cared for by significant others
SDT: Cognitive evaluation theory
- helps understand variability in intrinsic motivation
- helps explain influence rewards have on variability in intrinsic motivation
Key functional components of rewards:
Controlling function
- If rewards are seen to be controlling beh then withdrawal of reward likely to lead to subsequent decreases in intrinsic motivation
Information function
- If reward provides info about individuals’ competence thenquite likely that intrinsic motivation can be enhanced with rewards
SDT: Organismic integration theory
Extrinsic motivation 4 types:
External regulation – motivations controlled by rewards and threats from external sources
Introjected regulation- behand attitudes motivated as a result of avoiding negative feeling
Identified regulation- involves conscious acceptance of beh as being important to achieve personally valued outcomes
Integrated regulation- involves internalisation of identified regulation so engaging in the beh is fully congruent with one’s sense of self and who one is
SDT: Causality orientation theory
- looks at role of individual differences in motivation orientations
Three different motivation orientations:
Autonomy orientation – reflects motivations towards aspects of the environment that stimulate the individuals intrinsic motivation
Controlled orientation- extent a person is orientated toward external motivation- places importance on extrinsic factors
Impersonal orientation- relates to amotivation and a lack of intention to engage in behaviour- lacks any motivation
Evaluation of SDT
- brings together multiple theories to explain individuals beh with substantial empirical research
- contradicts behaviourists view that beh is learned through intersection with stimuli in environment
- lack of explanation of what ‘amotivations’ occur
