Transcription
Psychology is an ever-changing field due to the rapid innovations made by psychologists. A saturated field of psychology with conflicting theories and theorists is a study of personality.
According to the American Psychological Association, personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It is your uniqueness, what makes you, you, and is consistent throughout your entire life. Personality theories try to explain why you are so extroverted or conscientious, and try to explain your emotions, ambitions, dreams, fears, and sources of joy are what they are.
Personality is referred to as a key defining feature of individuals, and psychologists have put forward theories to explain human behavior for causes and the future trends of development in a person's personality. Psychological theories of personality have been divided into many schools of thought, with Sigmund Freud founding the psychoanalysis school of thought, B.F. Skinner and John Watson with the behaviors, social cognitive theories innovated by Albert Bandura, trait theory which was innovated by Georg Allport and Hans Eysenck, and humanistic theory studied by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. This may be the oldest school of thought, inspired by classical Greek philosophers Socrates, and which can be related to the study of existentialism.
In this video, we will be comparing and contrasting the limitations and benefits of humanistic theory. Humanistic psychology has its roots in classical Greek philosophy and the Renaissance. It featured a revival in the mid-20th century as a counter to the somber and non-compassionate theory pushed forward by Freud. Humanistic theory centers on the idea that humans are inherently good and has a key concept of self-actualization as its key tenant.
The early pioneers of modern humanistic theory was Carl Rogers, an acquaintance of Sigmund Freud. He split off to focus on a more positive theory of personality, focusing on creativity in expressing one's positive capabilities. Abraham Maslow later improved self-actualization theory that Carl Rogers was pioneering by creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Humanistic theory was seen as a rival to Freudian schools of thought, as Rogers and Maslow believed there was too pessimistic an outlook on human nature. We will be learning about humanistic theory through the perspective of Abraham Maslow, peak experiences, self-actualization, and positivity.
"Abraham Maslow, it is as if Freud supported the sick half of psychology, and we must now fill it out with the healthy half." Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who became a significant figure in the twentieth century and became the tenth highest cited psychologist of the twentieth century. He was a pioneer of the humanistic mood. Maslow emphasized a human-centric approach towards personality, as humans' inherent goodness and their potential to achieve positive outcomes.
Maslow developed the theory of motivation and visualized it through the hierarchy of needs in 1943. A pyramid composed of many stages of one's needs that an individual must fulfill in order to reach the desired apex of self-actualization. Beginning at the bottom of the pyramid are necessities of life such as breathing and sustenance. This is known as a physiological stage where humans' needs are met and are required for survival. The next stage is a safety stage, with individuals longing for grounding within their lives, such as employment, health, and family. The next stage is love and belonging, where the individual seeks out friendship from others and romantic interests. The next stage is esteem, where the individual seeks to be recognized for their achievements, longs for the respect of their peers. In this stage, the individual begins to strengthen their self-esteem. Finally, in the last stage, a person finally achieves their fullest potential. People may explore their creativity, begin shedding their prejudices, and tend to focus on themselves and building their image.
Self-actualized people often display similar characteristics. Maslow studied people he felt had achieved self-actualization, such as Albert Einstein and others, and identified similarities. They were open, self-aware, secure in who they are, enjoyed deep relationships, and tackled issues without worrying about others' judgments or opinions. Once a person has achieved self-actualization, they can now experience peak experiences. Maslow believes peak experiences are the most important goal in life and describes the phenomenon as rare, exciting, oceanic, deeply moving, exhilarating, elevating, and generate an advanced form of perceiving reality, and are even mystic and magical in their effect upon the experimenter. NASA uses peak experiences to explain people's religious experiences. Peak experiences are often compared to an additional stage to the hierarchy of needs called self-transcendence, which is related with mystical religions of self-reflection such as Buddhism.
Let's recap the hierarchy of needs. Human beings are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Needs are organized in a certain order in which more basic needs must be more or less met prior to the higher needs. The order of needs is not rigid, but instead may be flexible based on external circumstances or individual differences. Most behavior is multi-motivated, which may be determined by more than one basic need.
The humanistic theory has a very controversial stance in the scientific community, with critics and supporters holding very different views. Humanistic theories are often praised for not referring to people as a bundle of symptoms, but rather as a whole individual. It has shifted the attention of psychologists from the sum of a person to the person as a whole entity. Humanistic theories and humanistic approaches allowed to be applied in many contexts, such as philosophy and criminology. Humanistic theory often sees a more positive relationship between a therapist and their client due to the person-centered counseling. Therapists don't consider themselves superior or experts, but rather they are equals. It fulfills many concepts and collective ideas that humanity considers to be human self-fulfillment, and the positive nature of humanity can be applicable to the traditional concepts of religion.
Maslow's perspectives, following his death, have been falling mainly falling out of favor between the psychological academic community and are not taken as seriously as they were before. Humanistic theory is often seen as too idealistic or unattainable in the modern world. It is criticized for focusing purely on positivity and completely neglecting any negative or pessimistic viewpoints.
In conclusion, although it has many criticisms and flaws, but also many positive aspects, humanistic theory is a very valid theory of personality and has continued to be used today.
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