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Humanistic Theory

Humanistic Theory. Humanistic Approach. It encompasses phenomenological and existential approaches to human nature. Phenomenological- focuses on subjective experience.

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Humanistic Theory

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  1. Humanistic Theory

  2. Humanistic Approach • It encompasses phenomenological and existential approaches to human nature. • Phenomenological- focuses on subjective experience. • Existentialism  -  focuses on the authenticity, freedom, responsibility, and choice of the individual confronted with the threat of meaninglessness and non-existence. • The height of its popularity was in the 1960s and 1970s, but it continues to have an important influence on the practice of clinical (and to a much lesser extent, academic) psychology. • Humanistic personality theorists • Abraham Maslow • Carl Rogers • Rollo May

  3. Humanistic Approach (con’t) • The emphasis by Humanistic theorists such as Rollo May, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow are different  but they all agreed on a few basic points. • Unlike Freud, they believed in the inherent goodness of human nature i.e.If people could discover their "true self" (Rogers); if they could "self-actualize" (Maslow); if they had the "courage to be" (May)-- then they would live whole, happy, worthwhile lives. • These theorists focused on the here and now,(the present) instead of the historical causes of behavior.

  4. Humanistic Approach (con’t) • This contrasts starkly with Freud's emphasis on past experience as determinants of all future behavior. • The humanistic psychologists claimed that people had responsibility, choice, and freedom in determining their own behavior (not the unconscious forces that control their behavior). • The humanistic psychologists believe that people could only be understood holistically (as wholes).

  5. Abraham Maslow • Maslow is best known for his "hierarchy of needs,“ - Described a series of needs that people need to satisfy before they could reach their full potential. • Maslow’s Humanist Pychology emphasizes personal growth,resilience, & the achievement of human potential. • Focuses on the whole person's subjective experience of life & on the person's potential for self-actualization (includes self- expression, creatively, connectedness, meaning, purpose, and direction in life.) • Maslow emphasized the particular needs that people need to satisfy before they could become self-actualized.

  6. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (con’t) • He organized these needs into a hierarchy, with the more basic, fundamental needs at the bottom and the more complex, self-actualizing needs at the top. • The levels of needs, in ascending order, are as follows: • Physiological needs: food, water, sleep, etc. • Safety needs: shelter, protection from attack, etc. • Belongingness and love needs: establishing social ties • Esteem needs: self-respect and respect from others • Self-actualization needs: self-expression, creativity, self-discovery, connectedness, and purpose.

  7. Self-Actualization Esteem Belongingness Safety Physiological Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

  8. Figure 13.1 Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

  9. What’s important is…. • Each of the lower stages needs to be relatively satisfiedfirst, before the individual can tackle the needs of the next higher level. • A person who has not satisfied basic physiological needs will not be able to work on establishing self- respect. • According to Maslow satisfaction of each needs was only relative (a person could be somewhat hungry or sleep-deprived but still working towards self-actualization)  and that multiple needs could contribute to a single action.

  10. Carl Rogers • Influence highly on views of psychotherapy: • He believe that the purpose of psychotherapy was to help patients find their "true selves." • For him, that meant helping patients discover & eliminate (as much as possible) the differences between the ways they thought, felt, and acted, & the ways they thought they should think, feel, and act; i.e. emphasizing on: • Unconditional Positive Regard • A situation in which the acceptance and love one receives from significant others is unqualified • Conditional Positive Regard • A situation in which the acceptance and love one receives from significant others is contingent upon one’s behavior • Rogers believed that human behavior and thoughts originated in their social judgments  such as parents' scolding of a child's behavior.

  11. Carl Rogers (con’t) • The focus of Rogers' personality theory was the self. • As a psychotherapist, he repeatedly heard his patients talk about discovering, or losing, their "true selves." – WHAT DOES IT MEAN? • To make sense of this Roger differentiate between a person's behavior, thoughts, and feelings, on one hand, and their self-concept, on the other. • The self-concept consisted of a set of beliefs about behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that could be more or less discrepant, or incongruous, with the person's real behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. • A person whose self-concept was radically different from his true self would always be confuse  constantly running into situations in which his behavior surprised or upset him.

  12. But, Why would someone develop such an inappropriate self- concept? • Rogers argued that the self-concept was strongly influenced by society. • And Society disapproves of a wide range of behaviors  so many choose to ignore those behaviors in themselves -to leave them out of their self- concept, instead of integrating them into a holistic understanding of their behavior. • Therefore, the goal of Rogerian therapy is to help people discover their true selves  by illuminating these "conditions of worth" and facilitating integration of previously-ignored aspects of the self.

  13. Carl Rogers’ Personality Theory • The needs for self-actualization and positive regard create a potential for conflict.

  14. Rollo May • The most important concept for May was the "courage to be," • Meaning that each person need to take responsibility for his or her own choices even though constantly threatened by failure and, more importantly… • the possibility of non-being (death or dissolution). • According to May, personal growth and self-actualization were the result of courageously facing one's anxiety about non-being by choosing to act responsibly in the world. • Shared with humanists the belief in free will and freedom of choice but also emphasized loneliness, anxiety and alienation. • Extistentialism Free will confers on us responsibility for our actions.

  15. Evaluating Humanists • Difficulty in operationalizing define many of the concepts. • Humanists have added balance to the study of personality. • The approach has encouraged others to focus on “positive psychology.” • The argument that we have the power to choose our own destiny has fostered a new appreciation for resilience.

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