HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
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Stress the persons capacity for personal
growth, freedom to choose ones own
destiny, and positive human qualities.
Emphasize personal control and
optimism in personality.
People have an inborn nature that is
essentially good or at least neutral. It is
not inherently evil or dark.
Personality unfolds through maturation
by active efforts on the part of the
person to realize their nature.
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CARL ROGERS APPROACH:
Person-Centered Approach
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Most people have
considerable
difficulty accepting
their own true,
innately positive,
feelings.
As we grow up,
people who are
central to our lives
condition us to move
away from these
positive feelings.
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X: we often hear our parents,
siblings, teachers, etc. say
thats wrong, you did not
do that right, dont do
that...
When we dont do
something right, we often
get punished. Parents may
even threaten to withhold
their love unless we conform
to their standards.
The result = Lower Selfesteem
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These constraints
and negative
feedback continue
during our adult
lives.
As we struggle to
live up to societys
standards, we
distort and devalue
our true selves.
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Self...the I or me of our existence
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Rogers did not believe
that all aspects of the
self are conscious, but
he did believe they are
all accessible to
consciousness.
The self is WHOLE,
consisting of ones selfperceptions (how
attractive I am, how well
do I get along with
others, how good a
student I am...) and the
values we attach to
these self-perceptions.
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Self-concept
...a central theme in humanists views
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Refers to
individuals overall
perceptions and
assessments of their
abilities, behavior
and personalities.
According to Rogers,
a person who has an
inaccurate selfconcept is likely to
be maladjusted.
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Real self/Self
Image the
self resulting
from our
experiences
Ideal self
the self we
would like to
be
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According to Rogers, we want to feel,
experience and behave in ways which are
consistent with our self-image and which
reflect what we would like to be like, our
ideal-self.
The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to
each other, the more consistent or congruent
we are and the higher our sense of selfworth. A person is said to be in a state of
incongruence if some of the totality of their
experience is unacceptable to them and is
denied or distorted in the self-image.
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mmmuyargas.psy10
The greater the
discrepancy between the
real self and the ideal
self, the more
maladjusted we will be.
To improve adjustment:
(1) we can develop more
positive perceptions of
our real self; (2) not
worry much about what
others want; and (3)
increase our positive
experiences in the world.
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mmmuyargas.psy10
UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD
Rogers term for accepting,
valuing and being positive
toward another person
regardless of the persons
behavior.
This elevates the persons
self-worth.
This should be directed to the
persons worth, not at his
behavior. (I dont like your
behavior but I accept you,
value you and care about you
as a person)
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EMPHATIC
Being a sensitive listener and understanding
anothers true feelings.
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GENUINE
Being open
with our
feelings and
dropping our
pretenses
and facades.
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characteristics of the fully
functioning person
1. Open to experience:
both positive and
negative emotions
accepted. Negative
feelings are not denied,
but worked through
(rather than resort to
ego defence
mechanisms).
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2. Existential living: in
touch with different
experiences as they occur
in life, avoiding prejudging
and preconceptions. Being
able to live and fully
appreciate the present,
not always looking back to
the past or forward to the
future (i.e. living for the
moment).
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3. Trust feelings:
feeling, instincts and
gut-reactions are
paid attention to and
trusted. Peoples
own decisions are
the right ones and we
should trust
ourselves to make
the right choices.
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4. Creativity:
creative thinking and
risk taking are
features of a
persons life. Person
does not play safe all
the time. This
involves the ability to
adjust and change
and seek new
experiences.
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5. Fulfilled life:
person is happy
and satisfied
with life, and
always looking
for new
challenges and
experiences.
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For Rogers, fully functioning people are
well adjusted, well balanced and
interesting to know. Often such people
are high achievers in society.
Critics claim that the fully functioning
person is a product of Western culture.
In other cultures, such as Eastern
cultures, the achievement of the group
is valued more highly than the
achievement of any one person.
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ABRAHAM MASLOW: Hierarchy of Needs
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Hierarchy of Needs a theory of human
motivation; as needs are satisfied, new
and higher needs emerge.
The hierarchy of needs ascends from the
basic biological needs to the more
complex psychological motivations that
become important only after the basic
needs have been satisfied.
Self actualization is the highest form of
motivation
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mmmuyargas.psy10
mmmuyargas.psy10
mmmuyargas.psy10
The needs at one
level must be at least
partially satisfied
before those at the
next level become
important
determiners of
action. When food
and safety are
difficult to obtain, the
satisfaction of those
needs will dominate
a persons actions,
and higher motives
(e.g. esteem) are of
little significance. mmmuyargas.psy10
Only when the basic needs
can be satisfied easily will the
individual have the time and
energy to devote to aesthetic
and intellectual interests. (i.e.
Artistic and scientific
endeavors do not flourish in
societies in which people
must struggle for food,
shelter, and safety).
However, the ordering of
needs is somewhatmmmuyargas.psy10
subjective.
mmmuyargas.psy10
mmmuyargas.psy10
Self Actualization:
The highest and most elusive of
Maslows needs, is the motivation to
develop ones full potential as a human
being.
An important aspect of personality
Maslow cautions that most people stop
maturing after they have developed a
high level of esteem and thus do not
become self-actualized
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mmmuyargas.psy10
Self Concept >>
SELF-ESTEEM is
a persons
overall
evaluation of his
or her selfworth or selfimage.
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Is self-esteem something very general
or does it consists of a number of
independent
self-evaluations in different areas?
People do have a general level of selfesteem but can have fluctuating levels of
self-esteem in particular domains of their
lives.
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How does the lack of self-esteem affect
the individuals ability to cope with
the demands of life?
Low self-esteem is linked with
depression.
The failure to live up to ones own
standards is especially implicated in
connection between love self-esteem and
depression.
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Are there sometimes costs
associated with seeking high
self-esteem?
Seeking high self-esteem because of a
motivation to look physically attractive to
others was linked with stress, drug and
alcohol use, and disordered eating.
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Humanistic
perspective is difficult
to test and focuses
mainly on clinical
experiences rather
than from controlled,
experimental studies.
It is too optimistic
about human nature,
overestimating the
freedom and
rationality of
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humans.
ARGUMENT!!!
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Thank you for a
fun semester!
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