The humanistic approach to personality.

Trait psychology historically overlapped with behaviorism as a reaction to the subjective and unscientific methods articulated by psychoanalysis. Trait personality theory is also a very heuristic approach that has generated a large body of cross-cultural research to be discussed later. However, other personality theorists also grew disquiet by the apparent negative conceptualizations of Freud and his co-thinkers about human development, dysfunction and apparent lack of self-determination. The contributors to humanistic psychology were more interested in the development of a psychology of healthy people in contrast to Freud’s focus on the neurotic. Maslow (1970) and Rogers (1951) wanted to understand the human potential and from the perspective of the individual studied and rejected the unconscious motivation and abstract personality components of Freud’s theory.

Maslow advocated a hierarchical theory of human motivation that explains how people strive toward although not all achieve self-actualization. In his theory self-actualized people were described as sharing certain traits including a high level of self-awareness and self-acceptance. They live courageous lives and do not necessarily conform to the prevailing opinions of the day and society in which they live. Self-actualized persons tend to be problem-centered and not self-centered, are spontaneous, open and loving in their relationships with others. From the struggles of life the self-actualized person develops a compassionate attitude toward the sufferings of others, feels despair deeply at the cruelty and meanness in society, and takes personal steps to remedy what is possible to change.

Rogers, also a humanist, believed in the essential goodness of people and that we possess natural self-actualizing tendencies. For humans to grow toward fulfillment requires genuineness and a rejection of the false, acceptance of self and others, and empathy in relationships. We can nurture others in their struggle toward growth by being transparent and by our willingness to self-disclose. Further we can accept others by displaying unconditional positive regard despite what might be seen as failures or shortcomings in their lives. From the humanistic theory we can also nurture growth by being empathic and non-judgmental. The importance of the self-concept derives from the central role it plays in our perceptions and reactions and is central to Rogers theory. With a positive self-concept we react to our surroundings in a affirmative way and feel happier. Although James discussed the self-concept in his seminal work (1890), it was Rogers who rescued the construct from oblivion as the pivotal center of personality and cognitive organizer in modern times (Markus & Wurf, 1987). The self-concept will be discussed later in more detail.

With a focus on the self, humanistic research has evaluated the importance of a person’s self-esteem to mental health and relationships. Positive self-esteem produces many benefits creating personal happiness and health. High self-esteem is linked to positive outcomes including less likelihood of drug use, the ability to resist pressures to conform, and a determination to persist in difficult tasks. Humanistic psychology argued that a meaningful difference existed between positive self-esteem and self-righteous and prideful thinking. Positive self-esteem is not linked to attributions of others, but based on self-determined behavior (Brown, 1998). On the other hand low self-esteem has been linked in correlational studies to a number of negative outcomes including depression and over-sensitivity to criticism (Higgins, 1987).

An overall conclusion from humanistic theory is the affirmation of the value of the self that is very adaptive in establishing a state of personal well-being. Even if positive thinking is illusionary it has value in supporting self-confidence and our sense of well-being, although Brown suggested that people perform best and with confidence when self-enhancement is based on modest illusions that are believable to self and others. Therefore a positive self-concept is a key to personal happiness and effective handling of social relations. The basic belief that people are good and the willingness to accept others as they are represent the fundamental values in the humanistic outlook. However, humanistic psychology has been criticized for promoting an individualism that justifies self-indulgence (Campbell, 1985). Furthermore, the idea that humans have the potential of self-actualization seems dependent on individual and social affluence in a world where most people face the ubiquitous presence of scarcity and evil represented by selfishness, greed and endless wars.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1152