PERSONALITY PSY234 Lecture 4 : Humanistic Theories

1. PERSONALITY PSY234 Lecture 4:Humanistic Theories Dr Simon Boag Email: simon.boag@psy.mq.edu.au

2. Readings • Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (2004). Perspectives on Personality. (pp. 382-411) Additional (non-assessable) • Rogers, C. R. (1961). On Becoming a Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. • Maslow, A. H. (1962). Towards a Psychology of Being. New York: Van Nostrand.

3. Lecture Outline I. Introduction to Humanistic Psychology II. Carl Rogers’ theory • The Actualising tendency & the Fully-functioning person • Evaluation III. Abraham Maslow’s theory • The Hierarchy of needs & Self-actualisation • Evaluation

4. Learning Outcomes After this lecture you should be able to: • Outline what distinguishes humanistic psychology as the ‘third force’ • Explain & describe Roger’s theory of the fully-functioning person & the development of psychopathology • Explain & describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs & its relationship to self-actualisation

5. I. Humanistic Psychology • “Third force” in psychology • (Cf. psychoanalysis & behaviourism) • Focus on “higher” end of human experience • eg. creativity, human potential • Phenomenological (subjectivity) • Introspective • Values unique person (idiographic) • Non-deterministic: advocates free-will

6. II. Carl Rogers’ theory Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

7. The Actualising Tendency “… the directional trend which is evident in all organic & human life—the urge to expand, extend, develop, mature—the tendency to express & activate all capacities of the organism, or the self” (Rogers, 1961, p.351). • ‘Acorn to oaktree’ model • Human motivation is fundamentally growth-directed & healthy

8. The Core of Personality is Positive “One of the most revolutionary concepts to grow out of our clinical experience is the growing recognition that the innermost core of man’s nature, the deepest layers of his personality, the base of his “animal nature,” is positive in nature—is basically socialised, forward-moving, rational and realistic” (Rogers, 1961, p. 91).

9. Why Human Problems? • Negative socialisation • Conditional positive regard: • Children accepted by parents when ‘good’ & rejected when ‘bad’ • We develop the view: ‘I ought to be good’, ‘I have to be good’ • We lose touch with our true nature (‘real self’ & actualising tendency) • Develop anIdeal self:Who we feel we should be (cf. superego)

10. Incongruity • Conflict between real & ideal self • ‘I am this but I should be that’ • Real self evaluated as a threat • Psychopathology & defence mechanisms • Defensive masks (False selves) • Repression/denial: denying awareness to ourselves of who we really are • Therapy: reconnecting with who we really are

11. Defensive Living Unsatisfying “It seems to me that at bottom each person is asking, “Who am I, really? How can I get in touch with this real self, underlying all my surface behaviour? How can I become myself?” (Rogers, 1961, p. 108).

12. Unconditional Positive Regard • Healthy/positive socialisation • Parent etc. regards the ‘person’ positively irrespective of their behaviour • ‘Person’ distinct from ‘behaviour’ • Allows child/client to explore their experience & potentials • Outcome:Fully functioning person

13. “… the therapist feels this client to be a person of unconditional self-worth: of value, no matter what his condition, his behaviour, or his feelings” (Rogers, 1961, p. 185)

14. Fully-Functioning Person (1) Openness to experience • Non-censoring/non-defensive attitude • Receptive to both subjective/objective experience (2) Existential living “… an increasing tendency to live fully in each moment” (Rogers, 1961, p.188) • Living in the present; not past or future • Non-static, constant process of becoming • “… a direction, not a destination” (p. 186)

15. Fully-Functioning Person (cont). (3) Organismic trusting • Trusting oneself; not relying on others • “… doing what ‘feels right’” (Rogers, 1961, p. 189) (4) Experiential freedom • Subjective freedom of choice in each moment (5) Creativity • Creative products: eg. arts, science • Creative living: living non-habitually

16. Evaluation of Roger’s Theory • “It has been my experience that persons have a basically positive direction” (Rogers, 1961, p. 26). • Naïve, overly-optimistic view of human nature? • What of wars, brutality etc?

17. Rogers’ Response: “I am quite aware that out of defensiveness & inner fear individuals can and do behave in ways which are incredibly cruel, horribly destructive … anti-social, hurtful. Yet one of the most refreshing and invigorating parts of my experience is to work with such individuals and to discover the strongly positive directional tendencies which exist in them, as in all of us, at the deepest levels” (Rogers, 1961, p. 27).

18. Evaluation of Roger’s Theory • “Unconditional positive regard irresponsible” • eg. Greater drug experimentation in children Client-centered Therapy: • Contributed therapeutic techniques • eg. uncond. pos. regard • Testable therapeutic concepts • eg. measurement of self-perception, ideal-self, and therapeutic effectiveness

19. Abraham Maslow’s Theory Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

20. Maslow’s Approach • Rejection of mainstream psychology & scientific method • Science too limited for studying human nature • ‘Scientific attitude’ pathological (eg. Skinner’s) • Began psychology career studying ‘dominance’ in monkeys • “Psychopathology of the average”

21. Psychopathology of the Average “Certainly it seems more & more clear that what we call “normal” in psychology is really a psychopathology of the average, so undramatic & so widely spread that we don’t even notice it ordinarily” (Maslow, 1968, p. 21)

22. Maslow’s Approach • We need to study psychologically healthy people to understand human nature, not psychopathological ones (cf. Freud) • Identified colleagues & historical figures that he considered psychologically healthy (reaching ‘full potential’) • eg. George Washington, Albert Einstein • Looked for common elements & identified self-actualising qualities

23. Self-Actualisation & the Hierarchy of Needs • Self-actualisation:“… to become everything that one is capable of becoming” (Maslow, 1968, p.46). • Persons must pass through various lower levels before attaining this highest stage • Each level has a basic need that must be met before moving up the hierarchy • If lower needs are not met then growth stops

24. Hierarchy of Needs Self-actualisation  Esteem needs  Love & belongingness needs  Safety needs  Physiological needs

25. Deficiency Motivation Each need involves overcoming deficiency (1) Physiological needs • Food, water, sleep, sex etc. (2) Safety needs • Safe environment (3) Belongingness & love needs • Love, friendship, social life (4) Esteem needs • Respect from others & self-respect

26. Frustration & Anti-social Behaviour • Like Rogers, humans are basically good natured & growth directed • Human problems arise not simply from socialisation (ie. Rogers’ theory) • Frustration of deficiency needs leads to anti-social emotions (eg. hostility, jealousy etc) • Choice b/w safety & growth (free-will) • Jonah Complex: belief that we cannot achieve anything important

27. ‘Being’ Motivation • (5) Need for Self-actualisation • Requires first meeting deficiency needs • Pinnacle of development • Person needs to ‘actualise’ their potential • Aesthetic & truth potentials • Maslow (1968): 1 in 3000 uni students • >1% of population • Metapathologies: depression, alienation, cynicism

28. Self-Actualisers (1) Efficient perception of reality • Seeing the world accurately • Judging people accurately/detecting deception (2) More accepting • More accepting of themselves & others (3) Spontaneous (4) Problem-centred • Not self-centred; focus on problem’s outside of themselves eg. environmental concerns

29. Self-Actualisers (cont). (5) Need privacy (solitude) (6) Enjoy intimate relationships (7) Act Independently of culture • Non-conformists (8) Peak experiences • Intense experiential states of harmony, joy, beauty (9) Creative (10) Humour

31. Evaluation of Maslow’s Theory • Maslow’s methodology: identified self-actualisers based on his own personal preference/bias • Hierarchy of needs: some empirical support that lower level needs are stronger than high-level when deprived (eg. Wicker et al, 1993; Hagerty, 1999) • Exceptions to the hierarchy of needs • eg. ‘starving artist’

32. Summary • Humanistic psychology is the ‘third force’ in psychology • Emphasises mental health: fully-functioning (Rogers); self-actualising (Maslow) • In Roger’s theory, negative socialisation (conditional positive regard) prevents mental health • Maslow’s hierarchy of needs proposes that lower needs must be met before higher levels are obtained