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