The Psychology of the Person
Chapter 11 Humanistic Approach
Naomi Wagner, Ph.D
Lecture Outlines
Based on Burger, 9th edition
The “Third Force”
The Humanistic approach has emerged in the
late 1960’s, primarily as a reaction to the two
major views of humanity popular at that time
The Freudian perspective and its emphasis on
unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts
The behavioral perspective, and its emphasis
on the mechanical nature of responses to stimuli
in the environment. The humanistic perspective,
thus, as been called the “third force”.
Reaction Against the Deterministic
Perspective of Human Nature
In Psychoanalysis, the unconscious is a
hypothetical concept that cannot be empirically
validated
We are seen as captive in the “hands” of forces
unknown to us
In the Behavioral Approach, we are seen as
being manipulated without being fully aware by
classical and operant conditioning
Ideas based on studies of rats that learned to
run in a maze to find food.
The Skinner Box
Picture shows a rat pulling as lever in a box
Roots of the Humanistic Approach
1. Existential Philosophy
Existential philosophy addresses many of the
questions that later became the cornerstone of
the Humanistic approach, such as, the
meaning of our existence, the role of free will,
and the uniqueness of each individual.
The existentialists, such as Rollo May, focused
on existential anxiety- the feeling of dread
associated with the realization that there is no
meaning to one’s life.
Existential Anxiety- What is there to life?
Munch: The Scream
Picture is multicolor, shows a man standing on a bridge, covering his
ears, and seems to be screaming
2. The clinical experiences of Carl
Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
The founders of the Humanistic Approach, Carl
Rogers and Abraham Maslow, were both
therapists
At that time, the Freudian model of therapy was
popular, viewing the therapist as an expert who
tells the client what is the problem
Rogers maintained that it was only the client that
is responsible for the therapeutic direction
The therapist can create conditions for selfexploration.
The Freudian Model of Psychotherapy
The therapist as the “know- al” expert
Picture shows a woman lying on a sofa and a man is
sitting behind her.
Viktor Frankl- An Existential Psychologist
All of Frankl’s family died in the Nazi
concentration camp
Frankl survived, and struggled to search
for meaning in the face of horrible
adversity
He believed the examining the finiteness
of our existence and inevitable mortality
adds meaning to life, as we ask ourselvesWhy do we exist? What do we want from
life? How can we make every moment
count?
What is the best way to spend the time that
is left?
Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is
found in every moment of living; life never
ceases to have meaning, even in suffering
and death
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Sea
rch_for_Meaning
From the Ashes to Hope
Picture shows Jewish prisoners in Nazi death camps
Another picture of a bird perched on a barbed wire
Viktor Frankl Conclusion
“Love is the highest and ultimate goal to
which man can aspire
The Salvation of man is in love and
through love
A man who has nothing left in this world
still may know bliss, if only for a brief
moment in the contemplation of the
beloved”
Frankl's meaning in life is to help others
find theirs.
Cognitive-Restructuring
Frankl’s ideas have been translated into
the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Picture shows Viktor Frankl
Key Elements of the Humanistic
Approach
The Humanistic Perspective has not
presented a comprehensive
framework, but rather a collection of
major principles that can be seen as
directives to life.
Key Elements of the Humanistic
Perspective
Emphasis on personal responsibility (You
don’t “have to” do your homework, you
have chosen to do so). You are not a
victim of circumstances!
Picture shows a boy falling asleep on pile of books on his desk
Key Elements (cont-d)
Emphasis on functioning in the “here and
now”– Do not be a captive of your past!
Picture shows an elderly woman watching her image in the mirror,
that sews a young reflection
Key Elements (cont-d)
Acknowledging the phenomenology of the
individual- - the fact that it is only the client (in
therapy) that can make decision for him/herself.
Picture shows an elderly woman looking in the mirror and a caption
reads “Who am I?”
Key Elements (cont-d)
Emphasis on personal growth—Rogers called
this ”becoming a fully functioning, while Maslow
referred to this idea as “self-actualization”.
Picture shows a man standing on the top of a cliff raising both hands
Self-Actualization- What is it?
There is more to life than the absence of
problems
The Humanistic perspective maintains that we
all have a drive toward “self-actualization”
It means: To become that best we can become,
in the context of our life (you do not have to
receive the Nobel Prize).
Carl Rogers and Person-Centered
Therapy
The role of the therapist is to create an
atmosphere of “unconditional positive regard”
to enable the client’s self-exploration and
becoming “fully functioning”.
Paraphrasing and reflection of feelings were
methods to facilitate self-exploration
Rogers described the “fully- functioning
person” as an ideal for healthy personality.
Rogers saw anxiety as resulting from our
inability to incorporate information that is
inconsistent with our self-image
Rogers (cont-d)
Note his emphasis on socialenvironmental causes of emotional
maladjustment (in contrast to the biological
approach), when he sees parental
conditional acceptance.
The Rogerian therapist would say to a
client: “I do not like what you did, but I still
respect you as a human being”.
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow was interested in
exploring the sources of happy, healthy
personality.
His approach was optimistic, regarding
human beings as free-willed individuals,
and not as captive by unconscious drives
His contribution is in the hierarchy of
needs, and in the study of the
psychologically-healthy individuals.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow distinguished between D
(deficiency) needs and B (being) needs.
Physiological needs
Safety needs
Love and Belongingness needs
Esteem needs (you value yourself, and
others also value you)
Self-Actualization needs
Hierarchy of Needs
Misconceptions about Maslow Hierarchy
You do not have to fulfill all the needs in
one level to “climb” to the next level
Some people who starve for their loved
one, or for their life work
Te needs in each level are never fully
satisfied
There are cultural differences in the ways
the needs are regarded and are fulfilled
The “psychologically-Healthy” People
Maslow’s study of the psychologicallyhealthy people was Not empirically-based
He examined his friends, whom he judged
to be psychologically healthy, as well as
historical figures
His analysis was “holistic” and subjective
Yet, it was relevant that he called attention
to the healthy aspects of human nature
Attributes of the PsychologicallyHealthy people
Sense of humor
Creativity- not in artistic talent, but in
being able to perform mundane tasks in
a non-routine manner.
Open to new experiences
Having “peak experiences” involving the
transcendence of time and place.
Current Status of the Humanistic Approach
Many of the concepts do not lend
themselves for operational definitions
and for scientific study.
A great deal of the studies conducted by
Maslow and Rogers to support their
ideas were based on their own subjective
impressions and intuition.
The concept of free will has been
challenged.
Current Status (cont-d)
Many of the concepts do not lend
themselves for operational definitions
and for scientific study.
A great deal of the studies conducted by
Maslow and Rogers to support their
ideas were based on their own subjective
impressions and intuition.
The concept of free will has been
challenged.
Limitations'
Some researchers questioned the
effectiveness of the Rogerian therapy
(how do you measure success in
therapy?). It may be more appropriate for
people in “life transitions” than for deepseated psychological disorders
The appropriateness of relying on the
client to make accurate appraisals of
themselves has been questioned.
The naïve assumptions about the
goodness of individuals.
Applications
Rogers applied his ideas into a system of
therapy that emphasizes the creation of
the right conditions to allow the client to
accept him/herself, and to achieve
personal growth. Extending to the client
“unconditional positive regard” facilitates
this goal.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been
applied into understanding job
satisfaction and vocational choices.
The Psychology of Optimal Experience and
Positive Psychology
The legacy of the Humanistic Approach is
in the emergence of the new branch of
psychology, Positive Psychology
This branch focuses of human virtues,
strengths, resilience, and coping with
adversity
An important topic is the pursuit of
happiness- What is happiness?
Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology had emerged
gradually, and it is associated today with
the names of Martin Seligman, who
started his involvement in this field with
his studies of optimism, and Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, who coined the term
“The Flow” (see later)
The focus of Positive Psychology is on
human strengths and virtues
The study of resilience in face of adversity
is related to this issue
Historical Background
It seems that in the earlier part of the 20th
century there was interest in variables
related to positive issues, such Terman
and his studies of giftedness, or Carl Jung
and his search for the “meaning of life”
In the aftermath of World War II (19391945) the need has arisen for clinical
psychologists to take care of a host of
psychological problems
Cont-d
Clinical psychology has originally evolved
from the need to understand and
intervene in psychological disorders (e.g.
Freud and his patients).
Positive Psychology focuses on human
strengths and resilience, the ability to
bounce back from adversity.
• We tend to think of traumatic events as
disruptive and painful, and related to later
maladjustment, and there is a change now
Resilience
• Positive Psychology focuses on the search for
inner strength that may enable a person
undergoing a traumatic event to find the silver
lining around the cloud.
• The concept of post-trauma growth reflects the
translation of this idea into clinical psychology,
when we offer services to the survivors of
trauma
•
The Psychology of Optimal Experience
In searching for the meaning of happiness,
Csikszentmihlyi introduced the concept of
“flow”, quite similar to Maslow’s Peak
Experience
It involves being totally absorbed in an activity
that requires your full attention and utilizes
your skills to the utmost
You have a feeling you are in a state of “flow”
There are 8 components of the “flow” (see
textbook).
Topics in Positive Psychology
The pursuit of happiness: David Myers, in
his studies of happiness, uses the concept
of relative deprivation- a term coined
originally by researches studying the
satisfaction of American soldiers during
World War II (Merton and Kitt, 1950;
Stouffer and others, 1949)
Relative Deprivation refers to the
perception that one is less well-off than
others with whom one compares oneself
Myers (cont-d)
Frustration is often compounded by the
fact that we compare ourselves to others
who are a rung or two above us in their
level of income. One possible source of
frustration today is the affluence depicted
in TV programs.
Happiness, Where are You?
Positive psychologists argue that
happiness cannot be found solely through
material possessions (though some level
of material possessions need to be
regarded as basic for survival)
Happiness cannot be found in money
(after you have the basic necessities and
some more…) because the human mind
has a tendency to escalate or raise the bar
whenever a goal is reached- we want
more.
(cont-d)
Some authors suggest that the more
energy is invested in the acquisition of
material goods, the less energy remains to
invest in social connections and other
spheres of life that can bring happiness.
The Flow
The flow is another central concept of
Positive Psychology, and it refers to an
“optimal experience”, in which one is
engaged in an activity (that may vary
from one person to another), and is being
carried out in a natural, almost effortless
movement from one step to the next
Happiness is not seen as a specific
destination, but as a process of
challenging oneself in a meaningful
activity
Cont-d
The activity is challenging and requires
skill; one’s attention is completely
absorbed; the activity has clear goal; one
achieves a sense of personal control; one
loses a sense of time and selfconsciousness
U. Of Penn Center for Positive Psychology
The following remarks are from
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/ppintroart
icle.pdf (please read!! very interesting and
important): “Positive Psychology” : An
Introduction.
From U. of Penn Article
“Subjective Well-Being”
Edward Diener studies “subjective well-being”what people think and how they feel about their
lives, the cognitive and affective conclusions
they reach when they evaluate their lives.
This term actually reflects what is that people
mean by happiness
Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi note that even
though subjective well-being research relies
primarily on global self-ratings, its findings are
plausible.
Temperamental Correlates of Subjective
Well-Being
Temperamental dimensions were found to be
correlated with subjective well-being, especially
optimism.
Optimism seems to mediate between external
events and the person’s interpretation of these
events
Another trait associated with subjective wellbeing is self-determination. Researchers Ryan
and Deci propose that when the three related
human needs, for competence, belongingness,
and autonomy, are satisfied, personal well-being
is optimized.
Myers’ View of Happiness
David Myers sees happiness related to
funds (a basic level of income to sustain
oneself), friends (close personal
relationship) and faith (people who report
some type of spiritual/religious
connection report a higher level of
subjective well-being)
Myers (cont-d)
According to Myers, traditional values
must contain important elements of truth
if they have survived across generations.
In addition, Myers also notes that the
perception that one has control over one’s
life is related to happiness
Cerebral Asymmetry and Happiness
Recent studies of cerebral asymmetry
identified that the processing of positive
emotions occurs in the left hemisphere,
and negative emotions in the right
hemisphere
Some of us, while in resting, nonemotional state, show higher right
hemispheral activity, and some higher left,
again suggesting the heritability of
positive or negative emotional responses
Being Unrealistically Optimistic
A bit of “defenses” Might be Good for You!
Valliant suggests that mature defenses
such as altruism, sublimation (channeling
pain into some productive), creative
activity, humor, positive anticipation- can
help one overcome life disappointments.
Shelly Taylor cites studies indicating that
unrealistically optimistic beliefs about the
future can protect people from illness.
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/ppintroart
icle.pdf
Final Note on Positive Psychology
Psychology has been focused on the
negative, may be because negative
emotions may reflect more urgent
problems that need clinical attention.
This would make evolutionary sense,
because immediate problems or dangers
may require immediate attention. It has
been also suggested that people are
blinded to the survival value of positive
emotions because they seem “natural”.
Cont-d
We take for granted how much love, hope,
enjoyment, and trust are important and allow us
to go on living.
These conditions are fundamental to existence,
and if they are present, many obstacles can be
overcome.
Albert Camus, the French philosopher wrote
that the foremost question of philosophy is why
should not one commit suicide. In this
connection, one cannot answer this question just
by curing depression. There must be positive
reasons for living as well. Studying positive
human traits can help improve mental health.
Food for Thought
What is the relationship between
momentary experience of happiness and a
long-lasting experience of content, of well
being?
How much delayed gratification is
necessary to increase the chances of longterm well-being?
What is the genetic contribution
(heritability) to positive states of mind?
Food (cont-d)
Why do most people opt for pleasure
(such in satisfying homeostatic needs)
over enjoyment (when they do something
that stretches them beyond what they
are)?
What should be the relationship between
individual well-being and collective wellbeing?
More
How are positive dispositions and
negative dispositions related to one
another?
How can positive traits be encouraged in
psychotherapy?
Is positive psychology descriptive, or
prescriptive (such as clinical psychology)