lecture 7 Flashcards
lecture 7 material (35 cards)
What is humanistic psychology?
A unique object of study as the human mind is self aware
- Self awareness produces uniquely human qualities such as free will, creativity, introspection, should be the subject matter of psychology
What are the basic assumtions of humanistic psychology?
phenomenology is central
- it emphasizes that one’s conscious experience of the world is more imporant than the objective world itself
the past and the future are ideas
- only the present matters
- past, present, and future influence you through their effects on your current experience
humans have free will
What did Wilhelm Wundt do?
- established one of the first psychological labs
- research assistants analyzed their own perceptions and thought processes
Name and explain the elements of humanistic psychology
Humanistic
- study of humans, not animals
Holistic
- human system is greater than the sum of its parts
Historic
- whole person from birth to death
Phenomenological
- focus on interior, experiential, and existential aspects of personality
Real life
- person in natural enviornment
Positivity
- Joy, Happiness, Virtues
Will
- choice, decisions
Value
- what is good and desirable
What are some qualitative research methods?
- diary accounts
- open-ended questionnaires
- unstructured interviews
- unstructured observations
Explain what a construal is
a unique basis of how you live your life, and the experiences you encounter
- how you would view doing certain things
- how you interpret your world
free will
- achieved by choosing your constural; choosing how you interpret your world and experiences
- surrenduring this choice is a loss of autonomy
How does your constural impact personality?
- Narcissists tend to interpret situations as placing them in the spotlight.
- People high in openness see situations as intellectually stimulating.
- Gender trends: Men may perceive threats; women may perceive the need for support and assertiveness
Explain, in your own words, what existentialism is
the fact that human beings exist at a particular moment in time in space
- the need to connect with this existence
- your experience exists for a small moment before it disapears and gets replaced
common questions
- what is the nature of existence?
- how does it feel?
- what does it mean?
What is Binswangers theory of the conscious experience?
3 parts
Umwelt: the biological experience
- sensations you feel as a biological organism
- pleasure, pain, heat, cold
- feeling cold = the experience is umwelt
Mitwelt: the social experience
- thoughts/emotions experienced as a social being
- thinking about someone you love = the experience is mitwelt
Eigenwelt: the inner psychological experience
- reflection on ones own mind, and existential awareness
- observing your own mind/feelings = the experience is eigenwelt
What is Heideggers “thrown-nes”?
the time, place, and circumstances of you were born into determine experience in which you did not choose
Common questions:
- “why am i here”
- “what should i be doing”
difficulty/failure to answer these questions causes angst; existential anxiety
- uncertainty causes anxiety as you question wether or not your living your short life in the best way
What are the three seperate sensations of angst (sartre)
Anguish
- choices are never perfect; they lead to both good and bad outcomes
Forlornness
- you are solely responsible for your choices; no one can make them for you
Despair
- the realization that many outcomes are beyond control
- many important things in life cannot be controlled by you, leading to despair
How do you face angst directly?
- Moral imperative to face mortality & meaninglessness of life
- Requires optimistic toughness
- Can chose to live in bad faith when ignoring these issues (angst)
What are the main problems with “living in bad faith”
Living a lie
- avoiding truths is cowardly
- you are giving up the meaning of life if you refuse to examine the substance of your experiencce
Material doesnt bring true happiness
- people value meaningful experiences over wealth
Wasting lifes meaning
- by refusing to question the meaning of life, you miss out in discovering your purpose
Ignoring these existential issues is still a choice. As Sartre says, “If I do not choose, I am still choosing,”
- Choosing to not choose, is still making a choice; meaning, there’s no way to avoid making choices about how to live
What is the authentic existence?
Accepting your mortality, lifes brevity, and personal responsibiliy to shape destiny
- being honest, self aware, and morally conscious doesnt eliminate loneliness; life has no inherent meaning
- the unique human experience lies in recognizing our own mortality
those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’
What did Viktor Frankl believe?
- Meaning came from three possible sources
- purposeful work
- love/relationships
- courage in the face of Suffering
Explain what the will to meaning is
- it begins with the feeling of despair; questioning your meaning for existing which is better then nothing at all
- life would be easier if we were solely driven by instincts
- frustration occurs when man can not find meaning to life
- this frustration is shown through the will to power, or to pleasure
- will to power: violence
- will to pleasure: pursuit to happiness
Explain Jean-Pauls existential choice video
believed humans lived in anguish because we are forced to be free, exist, be aware, and make choices
Everything but humans have a know design/essence
- a car wont be a car if it didnt move
- humans do not have an essence; no set way for us to exist
existentialism is a humanism
- existene precedes essence
- you create yourself through what you do and the choice you make
anguish of existence
What is considered the eastern alternative?
- Existentialism : Western focus on the individual
- The true reality is your experience at this moment—past and future are out of reach.
Buddhism and existentialism
Anicca, Annatta/nonself, nirvana
anicca: nothing lasts forever
- the want to hold onto pleasure, and push away the pain = unnecessary suffering
- nothing good or bad lasts forever; acceptance of this brings peace
Anatta/nonelf: self as an entity is an illusion
- form, sensation, perception,consciousness
- accepting self as entity causes suffering
- are you the same person as you were 5 years ago?
- instead of being alone and powerless, you are part of the universe, as it is you, just as the present is equal parts of the past and future
Nirvana: a serene, selfness state
- state of wisdom achieved by realizing interconnectedness and selflessness
- enlightenment: well being of others matters as much as your own
- leads to universal compassion and ultimately to Nirvana
What is optimistic humanism?
carl rogers and maslow
self actualization
- an individuals innate tendency to actualize, maintain, and enhance the self
- peeople naturally strive to do this
- each persons persepctive of reality shapes their goals; the ultimate goal in life is to fulfill this drive
phenomenal field
- all experiences available at a given moment, conscious and unconscious; a person subjective reality
Personality and regard
self, self concept, positive and negative regard
Self
- personal identity developing through interactions and interpretation of experiences
Self-concept
- core component of personality; self image, self esteem, and the ideal self
Unconditional positive regard
- as self emerges, the need for love and approval, should be unconditional from others
- no anxiety, confidance, and sense of innate good
- self-actualization
conditional positive regard
- leads to conditions of worth
- limit of freedom of act and think
- self-discrepencies
What is Rogers psychotherapy
Incongruence
- because of conditions of worth, individual may deny or distrot certain experiences to receive positive regard; ideal self may come from conditions of worth
- psychological and emotional health is a function of the degree of congruence (between our self-concept and experiences)
Explain/list what the goals of person-centered therapy is
Goal: help the client become a fully functioning person
- Develop insight
- Remove conditions of worth
- Congruence between selves
Therapist
- Unconditional positive regard
- Empathy
- Genuineness
List the criticisms of person centred therapy
- Only way to understand is through subjective experience
- People may not always be truthful
- May not consciously know, deny, distort, repress, forget.
- Efficacy research
- Real and ideal self-perceptions became more closely aligned after therapy.
- Criticism of research
- Both real and ideal selves change with therapy.
- closely aligned real and ideal selves not always a good measure of