Psychology 213
Exam Summary
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Psychology 213
Summary of ALL content for exam
Chapter 9: The Radical Behaviourism of BF Skinner
Chapter 10: The Social Cognitive Learning Approach
Chapter 11: The Self-Actualisation Theory of Abraham Maslow
Chapter 12: The Self Concept Theory of Carl Rogers
Chapter 14: The Existential Theory of Viktor Frankl
Chapter 6: The Socially-orientated Psychoanalytical Theories
Chapter 17: African Perspectives
+
Summaries of All 4 Essay Questions
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Page
Chapter
Section
1-7
9
The Radical Behaviourism of BF Skinner
8 - 13
10
The Social Cognitive Learning Approach
14 - 21
11
The Self-Actualisation Theory of Abraham
Maslow
22 - 32
12
The Self Concept Theory of Carl Rogers
33 - 40
14
The Existential Theory of Viktor Frankl
41 - 45
6
The Socially-orientated Psychoanalytical Theories
46 - 48
17
African Perspectives
49 - 58
EXTRA
Summary of Essay Questions
* NOTE: The section on Jacques Lacan is not included as there is only one essay question on
his work, it is covered in the Summary of Essay Questions.
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Chapter 9
The Radical Behaviourism of BF Skinner
1. Introduction to Behavioural and Learning Theory Approaches

Behaviourism rooted in specific philosophical and historical origins:
 1. Empiricism
 2. Environmental determinism
 3. Positivism
 4. Elementalism
 5. Evolutionism

Empiricism (John Locke) holds that at birth the human mind is without knowledge or
any other content, and that all knowledge is acquired by means of sensory
experience

Environmental determinism holds that environmental influences account for all of
an individual's attributes and behaviour

Evolutionism (Charles Darwin) states that human behaviour can be explained along
the same principles as lower animals, and it should be studied in the same way

Classical conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov

John Watson is the father of behaviourism, which views psychology as a purely
experimental branch of natural science

Positivism - science can concern itself only with knowable matters. Behaviourists
therefore only study observable behaviour

Elementalism - holds that a phenomenon is explained by analysing it until its
smallest, simplest building blocks have been uncovered

The goal of positivist scientific practice is to predict and control relevant events
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2. Background

BF Skinner constructed a radical behaviourist theory in which behaviour is explained
as the lawful result of environmental factors

Provides an explanation of behaviour from a completely different perspective to that
of conventional personality theories

Differs from depth personality theories - does not conceptualise personality as
something that occurs within the individual (mentalistic explanations) but still an
important ‘personality theory’ in that it attempts to explain human functioning
through environment oriented explanations
3. The View of the Person

Skinner provides a view of humanity based on the principles of evolutionism and
environmental determinism

No essential difference between humans and animals, except for the complexity of
the behaviour between the species

Regards it unnecessary to ascribe goal orientation and conscious planning to any
organism.

Environment determines what behaviour will or will not be repeated in future.

Behaviours only survive because they are environmentally reinforced

All behaviour is lawful and can therefore be controlled

Hence behaviour can be manipulated by manipulating the environment

Personality is seen as a "black box" whose internal structure and functioning are not
accessible to scientific inquiry

Refuses to regard the use of subjective matters as scientific explanations of
behaviour

Humans have no freedom of choice regarding control of their behaviour
4. The Structure of the Personality

Skinner does not use any structural concepts to describe the personality; he regards
behaviour as the central concept of the personality.
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
Respondent behaviour refers to behaviour that is stimulated by something to which
the organism then responds
 Stimulus - the occurrence or thing that precedes and controls the behaviour
 Response - the behaviour that follows the stimulus
 Cause and effect = Stimulus → Response

Operant behaviour is not preceded by any specific identifiable stimuli and appears
to be produced spontaneously by the organism
 It is thus sometimes called emergent behaviour
 Has an effect on the environment and is controlled by this effect
 Example: If some organism behaves “accidentally” but persistence of that
behaviour is controlled by its effect on the environment
 Behaviour → Effect on the environment (outcome)
5. The Dynamics of the Personality

Skinner regards subjective matters such as motivation unacceptable to science

Focuses on which environmental factors control behaviour and the acquisition of
behaviour

The organism learns by producing behaviour randomly – may or may not be
repeated depending on the outcome.

When behaviour is repeated, or its frequency increases, the behaviour has been
learnt or reinforced.

Reinforcers usually associated with the organism’s survival – explanation for why
behaviour reinforced by some consequences and not by others

Skinner refers to Pavlov’s classical conditioning method as respondent conditioning
as it teaches the organism to associate a familiar response with a new stimulus:
 Unconditioned stimulus (US) is a stimulus that produces a response naturally
 It leads to an unconditioned response (UR) which is a reflex
 Neutral stimulus - a stimulus not associated with the unconditioned response
 NS + US → UR
 NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) through repeated association with
the US, leading to a conditioned response (CR)
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
Operant conditioning is when behaviour is controlled by the stimuli that succeed it
 Leads to an increase/repeat in behaviour – repeated because behaviour
satisfies a need/experienced as positive or pleasant.
 Behaviour increases under certain conditions due to environmental
reinforcement and not due to intrapsychic drives or motivations

Reinforcer - any environmental condition or stimulus which increases the probability
that a behaviour will be repeated when that condition or stimulus follow the
behaviour
 Primary reinforcer - anything of biological value to the organism
 Secondary reinforcer - stimulus which has acquired reinforcement value
because of its association with primary reinforcers

Reinforcement - occurs when an environmental condition or stimulus which follows
behaviour, increases the probability that the behaviour will be repeated
 Positive reinforcement - is aimed at increasing behaviour by administering a
positive stimulus
 Negative reinforcement - is aimed at increasing behaviour by removing a
negative stimulus
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
Punishment - is aimed at decreasing behaviour
1. Administration of a negative stimulus after the behaviour has been
performed in order to decrease the behaviour
2. Removal of a positive stimulus after the behaviour has been
performed in order to decrease the behaviour

Extinction - when a specific type of behaviour decreases and eventually disappears
because stimulation is withheld/followed by neither positive nor negative stimuli
 Extinction burst - a behaviour will initially increase in frequency (due to a lack
of reinforcement) before it finally disappears

Summary of processes in operant conditioning:
Administration
Removal
Withholding stimulus

Positive stimulus
Negative stimulus
Positive reinforcement:
Punishment: behaviour
behaviour increases
decreases
Punishment: behaviour
Negative reinforcement:
decreases
behaviour increases
Extinction: behaviour decreases
Schedules of reinforcement - programmes according to which reinforcers are
offered. Can be divided in to two broad types:
 Continuous reinforcement - a reinforcer follows immediately after each
desired response. Behaviour learnt rapidly but easier to extinguish. Possible
in lab experiments, more difficult to reinforce in everyday life
 Intermittent reinforcement - Desired behaviour is not always reinforced.
Behaviour learnt slower but more difficult to extinguish. Common feature of
everyday life. Reinforcer may be administered according to interval or ratio
schedule

Intermittent schedules of reinforcement (interval/ratio) can follow a fixed or variable
pattern:
 1. Fixed interval reinforcement: reinforcer presented at regular intervals.
Behavioural response increases just prior to reinforcement and then
decreases immediately after reinforcement. Slowest response rate
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 2. Variable interval reinforcement: reinforcer presented at irregular intervals
regardless of behaviour
 3. Fixed ratio reinforcement: reinforcer is presented after a fixed number of
correct or desired responses
 4. Variable ratio reinforcement: reinforcer is presented after an irregular
number of desired responses. Most difficult behaviour to extinguish as
organism cannot predict when behaviour will be reinforced. Fastest response
rate

Shaping - step-by-step conditioning of complex behaviour
 Dividing final desired behaviour into smaller steps, where each step
approximates the final behaviour.
 Primary manner in which human being acquire complex behaviours
6. Development of the Personality

Optimal development lies in learning to behave in a manner that one receives
primary and secondary reinforcers and avoids aversive reinforcers

Individual does not have ability to contribute to own optimal development due to
environmental determinism

However individuals can make decisions to improve their own and other people’s
environments in ways that encourage optimal development
7. Views on Psychopathology

Psychopathology is undesirable behaviour that stems from the usual learning
processes

Those with maladapted behaviour have learnt fewer effective behaviours that have
lead to positive or negative reinforcement in their environment
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8. Elimination or weakening of behaviour

Systematic desensitisation - eliminates reactions of fear by teaching the individual
to relax in the presence of the feared stimulus through reciprocal inhibition



Punishment and aversive counter-conditioning - ACC entails the arrangement of a
situation in which the client consistently experiences an aversive stimulus whenever
the response which they regard as undesirable occurs
Removing or changing stimuli - when undesirable behaviour has been coupled with
specific discriminatory stimuli through conditioning, it can sometimes be
extinguished by removing the relevant stimuli
Extinction - when behaviour is consistently not reinforced, it weakens and eventually
disappears completely
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Chapter 10
The Social Cognitive Learning Approach
1. Background

Social cognitive learning theory regards behaviour as primarily learnt and focuses on
studying observable behaviour. However, it is not radical as it takes in to account
several unobservable matters

Observational learning - the behaviour of a person which changes as a result of
observing other people's behaviour

Julian Rotter:
 Behaviour is mainly learnt
 Salience given to expectations and values attached to outcome of specific
behaviour
 Behaviour acquired mainly in social situations and though the mediation of
other individuals
 Internal locus of control - people believe that they can exercise considerable
control over what happens to them
 External locus of control - people who believe that circumstances beyond
their control determine their fate
 Prediction formula BP = f(E,RV)
 Behaviour potential (BP) is a function of expectancy (E) and reinforcement
value (RV)

Albert Bandura:
 Most important representative of SCLT
 Social cognitive learning theory - an individual's behaviour is the outcome of
a process of interaction between the person, the environment and the
behaviour itself
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
Walter Mischel:
 Interactional approach - the assumption that behaviour is the result of
interplay between person and situation

Not on measurable attributes as that varies from context to context

Not a narrow focus on either person or context, but interaction of
both
 Heavily criticised the personistic view (the assumption that behaviour is
determined by the personality attributes of the individual)
 Emphasis on role of expectations and self-control in human behaviour
 Cognitive-social person variables:

Encoding strategies - People have different ways of coding a context.
People develop characteristic ways of encoding

Expectancy - person's expectations regarding the outcomes of their
behaviour

Subjective values - two people can see the outcome having different
specific values to them

Self-regulation - includes plans, goals and thought patterns

Competencies - ability to deal with the environment
2. Structure of the Personality

Behaviourists do not regard the personality as consisting of a set of parts

Behaviour is the result of an interaction between the person and the situation

Motivation stemmed in learning and interaction

Bandura believed behaviour can be explained by interaction of the environment and
cognitive processes

Behaviour is motivated by outcomes
3. The Social Cognitive Learning Theory

The individual and the whole situation are regarded as co-determinants of behaviour

Humans are capable of influencing their behaviour, but always in interaction with
the situation. There is an element of human freedom
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
Reciprocal determinism - behaviour is determined by the interaction between
person, environment and behaviour

G=F(PxSxB)

People are active participants who perceive and evaluate stimuli, strive towards
goals and devise plans to achieve them, plan their future behaviour and judge their
past behaviour and re-plan and change their behaviour in light of their selfevaluation

Response repertoire - various behaviours at their disposal in every situation and are
results of the following factors:
 Nature of situation
 Learning experiences
 Expectations and goals
 Behaviour

Subjectivity - individual can choose what they value or find rewarding

Individuals possess capabilities that distinguish them from animals:
 Symbolising capability enables humans to conserve and manipulate
experiences in the form of cognitions. It allows individuals to formulate ideas
about matters that they themselves have never experienced
 Forethought capability implies that people do not simply react only to the
immediate situation and are also not simply programmed by their pasts
 Vicarious capability is the capability to learn from the experience of others
 Self-regulatory capability refers to people's ability to live by their own
standards and be independent
 Self-reflective capability is the ability to have a self-image, t be able to reflect
on oneself and to evaluate oneself
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
Self-efficacy perception is a person's beliefs about their capabilities to
function effectively in a given situation:

Will you make an attempt?

Influences choice of situation  choose a context where you can
succeed


People with high self efficacy are more successful
Types of reinforcement and punishment:
 Direct - occurs when individuals receive rewards or punishment from an
external agent
 Vicarious - when one person observes another being rewarded or punished
for their behaviour
 Self - occurs when individuals reward or punish their own behaviour
 Bandura believed the third form to be the most important

Learning through direct experience:
 When people learn through direct experience, their behaviour changes as
result of performing a behaviour, for which they are rewarded or punished by
someone else
 Learning and conditioning is not automatic
 People don’t just produce behaviour, they think and perceive
 Direct reinforcement only works in conjunction with self reward

Observational learning:
 Social learning refers to all learning phenomena in which social and cognitive
factors play a role
 Model is the thing whose behaviour is observed
 Observer is the person who observes someone else's behaviour
 Reinforcement agent is the person who rewards or punishes the model's
behaviour
 Modelling is the behaviour of the model
 Imitation is the behaviour of the observer
 Counter-imitation refers to cases where the observers do the opposite of
what they have observed in the model
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 Observational learning is not automatic as it depends on the attention,
retention and reproduction of the observer
 Factors influencing observational learning:

Nature of behaviour

Characteristics/status of model

Characteristics of observer

Self efficacy

Results of model’s behaviour
 Vicarious consequences provide information and influence motivation
 Models reaction can influence emotional reactions and values of observer
 Influence observers perception of model and reinforcing agent
 Retention of reward and punishment is equal
 Reproduction = more reward
 Might not be a direct reproduction but something transposed

Learning through self-regulation:
 Individual's ability to regulate their own behaviour, particularly their learning
processes
 Includes self-reinforcement and self-punishment
 Internal self--regulation - subjective emotional or mental punishment or
reward
 External self-regulation - involves arranging the situation and the outcome of
behaviour so that individuals reward or punish themselves in concrete ways
4. Development and Psychopathology

Individual develops throughout their entire lifespan without developmental stages

Optimal development results in people being able to recognise and take in to
account the factors that are relevant to effective functioning

Pathological behaviour is learnt
 Lack of self efficacy
 Ineffective cognitive styles and encoding strategies
 Learnt helplessness and pessimism
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 Depression – learnt negative thought patterns

Seligman - individuals develop characteristic styles in their attempt to explain
events/explanatory style
 External/internal locus of control
 Stable/transient
 Global/limited
5. Psychotherapy

Improve clients functioning in problematic situation (subjective)

Techniques brief and economical
 Therapy modelling
 Systematic desensitization
 Covert modelling

Stress inoculation –constructive ways of coping with stress

Self regulation- people become their own therapists

Does not solely rely on valid and reliable tests

A person may exhibit more of a characteristic, than others in one situation, but not
necessarily in another situation

S-R tests (person to situation interaction)
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Chapter 11
The Self-actualisation Theory of Abraham Maslow
1. Background to Person-Orientated Approaches

Existentialism - a human being who is becoming or emerging; humans can be more
than what they are and they can transcend their limitations and rise above their
circumstances

Phenomenology- explores phenomena as they manifest – reality is the world that
we perceive it to be, hence it emphasises the importance of subjectivity in
experience

Holism - emphasises an integrated view of the person

Humanism - humans are seen as beings with worth and dignity who, as a whole,
integrated persons, actively and consciously strive towards the actualisation of their
potential
2. Background of Abraham Maslow

Maslow founded the ‘third force’ of psychology the humanistic movement –
originated in America in 1955

Maslow was initially a behaviourist but Pearl Harbour left a deep impression on him
and encouraged him to rethink his views on human nature

Maslow emphasises the actualisation of human potential and possibility of humans
to influence their own behaviour by choice

Focuses on understanding why some people are exceptional (self-actualisers)

Healthy functioning forms the basis of his theory
3. The View of the Person

Maslow's view of the person is essentially optimistic as it acknowledges the positive
aspects of human nature
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
Acknowledges person’s dignity, their active will to develop, and their functioning as
an integrated whole

Tendency towards self-actualization is the motive that underlies all behaviour; an
individual’s ultimate goal is to achieve their full potential

Lies within every individual and requires no change in a person’s basic nature

Behaviour can be explained in terms of need gratification:
 Humans are yearning beings who are seldom satisfied
 Need gratification is the basis for growth and self-actualisation
 Basic human needs are arranged in a hierarchy
 Person depends strongly on the environment for need gratification
4. The Structure of the Personality

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs:
5. The Dynamics of the Personality

Needs are arranged hierarchically as development progresses through successive
stages of need gratification towards the goal of self-actualisation

The lower the need is on the hierarchy, the more urgent it is

Lower needs generally need to be regularly gratified first, before needs at a higher
level begin to present themselves

Needs not always gratified in strict accordance with the hierarchy. Higher needs may
sometimes motivate behaviour when lower needs have not been gratified yet
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
Deficiency motives - the first four levels are related to basic needs for survival.
Gratification brings about a decrease in tension, objective of meeting these needs
merely to evade unpleasant circumstances and to survive

Growth motives - self-actualization needs

1. Physiological Needs:
 Have to do with survival e.g. hunger, thirst, need for oxygen, sleep, activity,
sex and sensory stimulation
 These are the most basic needs and need regular gratification otherwise they
dominate all other needs
 Usually homeostatic, gratification restores equilibrium in the body

2. Safety Needs:
 Manifest themselves once physiological needs are regularly gratified.
 Achieving security, stability, protection, structure
 Safety needs especially dominant in young children (dependent on adults for
survival) hence children feel safe in environments with some kind of
structure, with set limits and boundaries
 Measured rather than unbounded freedom seems to be ideal for gratifying
the needs for safety
 Unfulfilled security needs could lead to obsessive-compulsive neurosis –
world arranged in a precise manner to reduce possibility of insecurity

3. Need for Affiliation and Love:
 Become more apparent once physiological and safety needs are regularly
gratified
 Become aware of the need to belong somewhere, to belong with someone,
to receive and give love
 Important to feel a sense of identification with a home or a neighbourhood
 Always a reason behind the formation of groups
 Unfulfilled needs for love are often the cause of mental disturbance
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
4. Need for Self-esteem:
 Self-esteem is the need to evaluate oneself positively
 Personal achievements: related to a sense of efficiency, capability,
achievement, confidence, personal strength and independence
 The esteem of others: includes social standing, honour, importance, dignity,
appreciation and the need to be recognised by others as competent
 If satisfied: Feel confident, competent, useful and needed.
 If unsatisfied: Feel inferior, weak, helpless
 Deserved respect from others is the healthiest basis for self-esteem – must
be based on one’s actual worth and not on external factors

5. Need for Self-actualisation:
 Once deficiency motives are regularly satisfied than the growth motives
appears
 Self-actualisation is an umbrella concept which includes 17 growth
motivations known as meta-needs or B-values
 These meta-needs are also innate and need to be fulfilled for maximum
growth
 Need to know and understand, need for truth, justice and meaningfulness,
need for beauty and perfection, need for wholeness, aliveness, autonomy etc
 Self-actualization is the process of achieving one’s maximum potential as a
human being
 Achieving a state of self-actualization will differ from person to person
6. The Development of the Personality

Development generally proceeds in accordance with the needs hierarchy

The higher in the hierarchy the level of motivation, the higher the individual’s
development and the healthier their functioning

Highest level of development is someone functioning on level of self-actualisation

There are no specific stages of development, the gratification of each set of needs is
one step closer to self-actualisation

Gratification of each basic need does not automatically ensure self-actualisation
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
Levels of development could be depicted as a ladder as individuals can ascend or
descend

Someone who has already functioned on a higher level can make a temporary return
to a lower level

Person’s behaviour not necessarily motivated by needs on only one level

The are many paths towards healthy development (some people reach for higher
values despite having basic needs unmet)

Acknowledges there may be other paths to healthy development, apart from needs
hierarchy

Why self-actualisation is not always attained:
 1. Lack of self-knowledge and self-insight - being unaware of own needs and
relying on others for direction in life
 2. Obstructions/obstacles - that prevent the gratification of important basic
needs - retarding influence of ungratified safety needs
 3. Jonah complex - running away from one’s talents and responsibility due to
feeling inferior. Results in the individual not showing true capabilities
 4. Being afraid of overestimating our abilities – suspect we have a
superiority complex. Integration of humility and pride
 5. Lack of integration of seemingly opposing needs within individual – leads
to unfulfilled potential (e.g. being ‘manly’ and being able to show sympathy,
tenderness etc.)
7. Optimal Development

Ideal functioning characterised by the achievement of self-actualisation which this
requires that all four lower-level needs are regularly gratified

Overcome the environment and can regularly meet the deficiency needs

Acceptance of responsibility of self-actualisation and being the best one can be

15 characteristics that describe self-actualisers based on Maslow’s study of 49 well
known people, considered to be self actualisers
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
1. Accurate observation of reality
 Ability to see reality for what it is and can observe humanity, culture, science
and politics with accuracy
 Their views are not affected by stereotypes, own desires or anxieties
 Do not fear reality or unknown. Prepared to take risks in the search for truth
and are not handicapped by safety needs

2. Self acceptance, accepting others and human nature
 Recognise human nature for what it is rather than what they would prefer for
it to be. Accept themselves and human nature unconditionally
 On a biological level, they enjoy their food, sleep well and enjoy sex
 Accept natural bodily processes, as well as illness and death more readily

3. Spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness
 Are not superficial or pretentious in their behaviour
 Reveal their thoughts in an often unconventional and spontaneous way
 They do not let rules and regulations stop them from achieving their goals
 Ethical code might contradict that of community

4. Task involvement
 Involved in a career or task that is not aimed primarily at self-satisfaction but
rather for a greater good
 They are not egocentric, rather immersed in philosophical and ethical
matters that concern human kind and avoid petty matters

5. Exclusiveness: The need for privacy
 Enjoy isolation and privacy
 Less dependent on the support, warmth and reassurance of others
 Handle uncomfortable situations calmly, objectively and with dignity – can
make them seem cold/stand-offish or even antagonistic

6. Autonomy: Being independent of culture and environment
 Function independently of physical and social environment
 Development and continued growth does not depend on external rewards
such as popularity or prestige
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
7. Consistent renewal of appreciation
 Always enjoy the simple, basic enjoyments of life (as in nature and family)
 Continue to enjoy them with delight, surprise and ecstasy throughout life

8. Peak experience
 Often experience moments of intense excitement, tension, peace, bliss, and
serenity
 Often the result of love, sexual climax, bursts of creativity, insight, etc.
 More prevalent among creative self-actualisers

9. Social feeling
 Not concerned with deficiencies of humankind – more concerned about them

10. Interpersonal relationships
 Deep, meaningful interpersonal relationships and are more intense with
committed partnerships.
 Small circle of close friends
 May acquire admirers or disciples

11. Democratic character structure
 Does not discriminate on grounds of race, gender or class, qualifications,
beliefs or orientations
 Willing to learn from anyone who is their superior in a given field

12. Discrimination between means and goals, good and evil
 Distinguish clearly between a goal and the means by which it may be
achieved
 Regard means as inferior to the goal they wish to achieve – but still derive as
much enjoyment from a journey as the moment of arrival at destination
 Generally not religious in orthodox sense, but strong ethical and moral codes,
no uncertainties about right or wrong

13. Philosophical, benevolent sense of humour
 Enjoys humour that provokes a smile rather than a hearty laugh. May find
amusement in absurdities. Enjoy subtle humour with a message
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
14. Creativity
 Possess a certain kind of originality or ingenuity
 Naïve and child like sense of relating to the world

15. Resistance against enculturation
 Live by their own rules rather than that of the broader community
 Live in harmony with community but also detach themselves from it
 They resist convention when it is really important to them
 Oppose useless, ineffectual rebellion - would rather operate from within the
system to bring about social change than launch attacks from the outside
8. Views on Psychopathology

Maslow speaks of human limitation rather than neurosis

Anyone who has not yet achieved self-actualisation is functioning on a limited level –
limitation manifests in various forms and degrees

High priority placed on the gratification of basic needs, and failure of environment to
provide for these needs is important for level of development individual achieves

Pathology develops when needs are left ungratified or are over gratified

Unfulfilled meta needs can lead to pathological conditions – meta-pathologies

Over-gratification of meta-needs can lead to boredom
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Chapter 12
The Self Concept Theory of Carl Rogers
1. Background

Carl Rogers’ theory is based on three central assumptions:
 The individual has constructive potential
 The nature of the individual is goal-directed
 The individual is capable of changing

Rogers emphasises the importance of people’s subject experience of themselves
(self-concept) and its influence on personality

Individual is central figure in actualisation of their potential with environment as
either a facilitating or inhibiting role

Only achieved in an environment in which the individual feels accepted

Rogers' theory originated mainly from his experience with people in a clinical
therapeutic situation and from his own personal life experiences
2. The View of the Person

Humanistic-phenomenological view - places a high premium on the freedom and
constructiveness of human nature and emphasises the person's role as the architect
of their life
 Humanistic - emphasises the study of the individual as a whole and the
active role they play in actualising their own inherent potential
 Healthy people are aware of their positive and negative attributes and his
theory is not deterministic
 Phenomenological - stresses the importance of the individual's subjective
experience of their world and how this influences their self-concept

Individuals can be trusted to follow the best course in order to become the best they
can be
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
Individuals not unconditionally accepted as the environment lays down certain
conditions for accepting the individual

Ideal environment allows individuals to see themselves exactly as they are – in which
all potential can be realised

When an individual acts in accordance with the environment to gain acceptance
instead of their potential, it negatively effects their self-concept

Appear to be endowed with freedom but individual freedom is constrained by the
conditions set by the environment

Freedom of change - those who function in terms of the conditions of others can
become free and can then realise their potential

This will require the experience of unconditional acceptance

Rogers has 19 propositions in existence, in which he set out certain assumptions
fundamental to his approach. These propositions will be discussed in the following
sub-sections
3. The Structure of the Personality

The propositions underlying Rogers' theory:
1
All individuals exist in a continually changing world of experience of which they
are the centre
2
The organism reacts to the field as experienced and perceived. This perceptual
field is 'reality' for the individual
3
The organism reacts as an organised whole to the phenomenal field
4
5

A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the
self
As a result of interaction with the environment and environmental interaction
with others, the structure of the self is formed - an organised, fluid, butt
consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships
of the 'I' together with values attached to these concepts
Three structural elements: the organism, the phenomenal field, and the self
concept
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
The organism
 The total individual with all physical and psychological functions
 Central figure who interacts constantly with the dynamically changing world
 Organism's behaviour is determined by subjective perception of their world

The phenomenological field
 Represents the totality of a person's perceptions and experiences
 Includes perceptions of objects or events outside the person and inner
experiences that relate to the organism

The self concept
 A separate/differentiated part of the phenomenal field that concerns the
person themselves
 Develops through accumulated perceptions of the characteristics that relate
to the ‘I’ or the ‘Me’
 Refers to the ‘mental picture’ that individuals have of themselves and the
value they attach to themselves and is highly subjective
 An individual’s conscious experience of themselves
 Though it is relatively stable pattern of perceptions, it is flexible and open to
change – change in one part of the self concept results in change in the self
concept as a whole
 Ideal self - the self concept the individual would most like to have
 Psychologically healthy - Ideal self is realistic, attainable and in harmony with
these self-concept. Ideal self provides valuable guidelines for growth and
development as it is congruent
 Psychologically unhealthy - self-concept and ideal self do not correspond.
Ideal self represents extreme forms of the ideals set by others for the person.
Not in tune with person's real potential as it is incongruent
 Therapy is aimed at bringing the self-concept closer towards the ideal self
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4. The Dynamics of the Personality

The propositions underlying Rogers' theory:
6
Organism has one basic tendency and striving - to actualise, maintain and enhance
the experiencing organism
7
Best vantage point for understanding behaviour is from the internal frame of
reference of the individual
8
Behaviour is the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as
experienced, in the field as perceived
9
10

Emotion accompanies and facilitates such goal-directed behaviour, the kind of
emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behaviour for the
maintenance and enhancement of the organism
The values attached to experiences, and the values that are part of the selfstructure are either values experienced directly by the organism or values taken
over from others
11
As experiences occur in life, they are symbolised, perceived and organised in to
some relationship with the self
12
Most of the ways which are adopted by the organism are those which are
consistent with the self-concept
13
Behaviour may be brought about by organic experiences and needs which have
not been symbolised
Actualising tendency - basic motive that underlies all behaviour
 All organisms strive for utmost development of their potential,
regardless
of their environment – it is an inherent tendency
 In humans this tendency is called the actualizing tendency – the tendency to
maintain ourselves and continue growing to become the best we can be
 Self-actualisation in Rogers’ theory refers to the actualisation of the selfconcept only
 Therapist aims to lead their clients towards discovering their own potential
and helping them to develop that potential as fully as possible

Need for positive regard from others:
 Basic need for approval, love and respect and validation from others
 To fill need individual may adopt the values and wishes of others or behave in
certain way to earn esteem
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
Need for positive self-regard:
 People require esteem from others in order for them to earn esteem and feel
good about themselves

The need for positive regard can inhibit the actualising tendency - quest for
appreciation from others is in conflict with organisms potential

Individuals strive to achieve their full potential, and they generally know what
behaviour is required to actualise their potential – capacity to be aware of all
relevant experiences and attributes

Congruence - occurs when there is no difference between a person's experiential
world and their view of themselves
 The ideal in which individual is open to and conscious of all experiences and
can incorporate them in self concept

Congruent people see themselves as they truly are

The individual’s self concept corresponds with their actual potential
 When we behave in a way which maintains and enhances self concept –
harmony with attaining self actualization

Conditions of worth - are values taken over from others and can hinder
congruence

Incongruence - occurs when experiences contrary to the self concept form part of
the phenomenal field
 Have experiences that are in conflict with the self concept
 Individual’s then exclude these incongruent experiences from their
consciousness as they are inadmissible experiences
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
There are 3 ways in which people deal with experiences (specific needs of the self
concept determine which possibility is most appropriate). Experiences can be:
 Ignored - irrelevant to person's needs
 Symbolised - allowed in to consciousness as they correspond with the
individual's needs
 Denied or distorted - not allowed in to consciousness as they are contrary to
the self-concept

Role of self-concept in determining behaviour:
 Actualising organismic potential is the basic motive for behaviour but most of
what a person actually does will correspond with the self concept
 Problems arise when an individual’s needs do not match their self concept
and these needs are then denied
 Denied needs can result in behaviour that directly satisfy these needs in a
distorted way, but the individual is not willing to ‘own’ their behaviour
afterwards
 Psychologically healthy when the self concept is congruent with an
individual’s needs and feelings – behaviour then corresponds with self
concept and reflects needs and feelings
5. The Development of the Personality

Most important area of human functioning are the interaction between a person’s
subjective experience of reality and their self-concept

The primary focus of personality development for Rogers is the formation of the self
concept and its crucial role in behaviour

Infants are unable to distinguish between themselves and environment as the
phenomenal field is undifferentiated

With increasing interactions with the environment the individual begins to
distinguish themselves as separate from their environment

Organismic evaluation process is directed at fulfilling own positive and negative
biological needs, gradually leading to development of self-concept
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
Individuals attach specific personal meanings to experiences which involve them and
these are incorporated in the self concept

Meanings and values which are not based on people’s own experiences are also
incorporated into the self concept

Need for positive regard and actualizing tendency fundamental to functioning of all
organisms

Significant others - people closely connected to individual play an important role in
the development of the individual's self-concept

Unconditional positive regard - when people are accepted by significant others for
what they are, just as they are
 Do not feel the need to fulfill particular requirements to receive esteem from
others and are able to acknowledge all their own needs and express all
feelings
 Self concept is free to include all experiences
 Congruence between individual potential and the self concept

Ideal environment that can lead to the actualisation of potential
 Distinction between unconditional acceptance of the person and
unconditional acceptance of the person’s behaviour
 Individuals themselves and needs and feelings can be consistently accepted –
specific behaviour can be disproved of
 Rarely experience complete unconditional positive regard

Conditional positive regard - often experience non-acceptance from significant
others – will only feel worthy when certain conditions laid down for them have been
fulfilled
 Conditions of worth - the values (based on the values of others) that a
person includes in their self concept
 The greater the conditional positive regard experienced, the more conditions
of worth are included in the self concept, leading to greater incongruence
 Limits the ability to achieve actualisation and impairs development
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6. Optimal Development

Propositions underlying Rogers' theory
14

Psychological adjustment occurs when the self-concept is such that all of the
individual's experiences are, or can be, assimilated at a symbolic level in
relation to the self concept
Individual sees themselves as they truly are. Congruent people whose self concepts
accord with their actual potential

Wider spectrum of experience available to people, and the more integrated
experiences are in the self concept, the better they know themselves, and the better
they are able to use abilities and talents to achieve full potential

The “good life” is not a static phase but a dynamic process to self-actualise

Fully functioning people display the following characteristics:
 1. A growing openness to experience

Person moves away from defensiveness and is increasingly open to
experience - this is a process of psychic adaptation

Can experience all experiences consciously as part of themselves and
their world
 2. An increasingly existential lifestyle

Increasing tendency to live each moment fully

Approaches experience without a preconceived structure, each
moment is new and unpredictable

Self concept and personality emanate from experience, experience is
not distorted and remodeled to fit the self concept
 3. Increasing organismic trust

Greater trust in the self for choosing appropriate behaviour than in
relying on social codes/norms, or the judgment of others
 4. Freedom of choice

Feel responsible for their choices and determining their own
behaviour

Feel free to exercise any choice based on the organismic evaluation
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 5. Creativity

Stems from being open to a wide range of experiences, the freedom
to make choices and the ability to live fully in the moment

Ability to adjust to changing environments relatively easy and in a
creative way
 6. Basic reliability and constructiveness

Individual can be trusted to act positively and constructively

Able to admit and accept all needs and maintain a realistic balance
between them

Fully functioning person can give full recognition to rationality –
capable of controlling different needs and living in harmony with
others
 7. A rich, full life

Lives are rich, full and exciting and that they experience joy and pain,
love and heartbreak, fear and courage intensely

Can see experiences as “enriching, exciting, rewarding, challenging,
and meaningful” = the good life
7. Views on Psychopathology

Incongruent person who is always on defensive and cannot be open to all
experiences can never function ideally and may malfunction

Incongruence can lead to tension: large parts of subjective experience is denied
inclusion into the self concept

Anxiety is the emotional response when the self-concept is threatened

Threat to the self-concept and accompanying anxiety triggers defence mechanisms:
 Freud: defence mechanisms ensure the survival of the individual
 Rogers: defense mechanisms protect the self concept from incongruent
experiences
 Rogers: Ideal would be for individual to be aware of all experiences and to
assimilate them into self concept so that defense mechanisms become
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unnecessary – ideal never attained, defense mechanisms preserve self
concept

Distortion - incongruent experiences are distorted to fit the self
concept so that it can remain intact in the face of the incongruent
experience

Denial - incongruent experiences are ignored and excluded from the
consciousness

Malfunctioning:
 Defensive behaviour lowers person’s consciousness of threat
 Leads to a complex network of misconceptions about the self and increases
the possibility of threatening experiences
 Incongruence leads to greater perception of threat, which leads to greater
defensiveness, which leads to a more rigid structure of the self-concept
 Certain degrees of malfunctioning could be distinguished
 Eventually defense mechanisms may no longer be able to fully protect self
concept from incongruent experiences, resulting in psychosis
8. Implications and Applications

Psychotherapy:
 Person-centered Therapy - provide clients with the opportunity to get to
know themselves better and to reveal their full potential in an environment
where the therapist accepts the client unconditionally
 Emphasis on the quality of the client-therapist relationship in the therapy
setting
 Criticised for doing no more than reflecting the feelings of his clients

The therapeutic process:
 Client is central and must take responsibility for their own change
 Therapist acts as a facilitator who creates a climate of unconditional positive
regard, warmth and empathy
 Focus on empowering the client with the freedom of choice
 The task of a therapist is to create a growth-facilitating climate
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 The therapeutic climate is characterised by:

Sincerity/Congruence - of the therapist – the therapist does not hold
up a façade in client-therapist relationship

Unconditional acceptance - of the client

Empathy - therapist is able to put themselves into the shoes of the
client - the therapist is able to observe the world from the client’s
frame of reference, putting aside external observations

Spiritual dimension - moment when you are closest to your inner,
intuitive self and the therapist-client relationship transcends itself
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Chapter 14
The Existential Theory of Viktor Frankl
1. Background

Frankl's whole life was earmarked by a deep contemplation of the meaning and
purpose of human existence

Frankl opposes efforts to reduce human functioning to the level of machines or
animals

He felt that Freud placed too much emphasis on the will to pleasure and Adler
overemphasised the will to power (Frankl was a student of both)

Frankl believed humans are primarily motivated by a will to meaning

His experiences as Jewish prisoner in WWII convinced him of the significant role of
values in people's lives

Frankl has a positive, transcendent view on existentialism
2. The View of the Person

1. The freedom to be responsible
 Humans are primarily spiritual beings that have freedom and responsibility
 Humans are not merely highly developed animals shaped by their genes and
their environment
 We constantly face choices and have the freedom of choice and are thus not
compelled to act in a particular way
 We have free will so can be held responsible for our choices and cannot
ascribe our actions to conditioning
 This freedom to choose represents the spiritual or noögenic dimension of the
human being – it is what makes us human
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
2. A level of being beyond animal existence
 The central issue for humans is not the struggle to survive, but rather the
struggle to find and experience meaning in life
 True fulfillment is not possible without a sense of purpose (spiritual direction)
in life
 Every situation of life contains a unique challenge to live our lives
purposefully, with meaning
 Frankl disagrees with the psychoanalytic and behavioral views that behaviour
on a subhuman level of being by ignoring our will to meaning
 Self-transcendence - uniquely human capacity of having the freedom to rise
above conditions in being able to think abut them and do something
 Humans want to live their lives purposefully - for a good cause, for some
sensible reason

3. The transhuman dimension
 Frankl's view of the person is embedded in the view that life has meaning
 Meaning is not something that we create or invent, meaning is found and
exists in an objective sense
 The conscience is the vehicle through which we detect meaning – it gives us
the ability to know what the one right thing is to do in a particular situation
 Conscience has transcendent qualities and allows us to discern higher values
and meanings
 Life is unconditionally meaningful (meaning can be found by anyone at
anytime and anywhere) and can be illustrated by the concept of faith

4. A personalised way of being
 The meaning of life cannot be incorporated by any one or a specific religious
dogma
 Each person must find and experience life’s meaning for themselves –
meaning cannot be prescribed by others (it is personal)
 We have the inalienable right and freedom to decide before what or whom
we feel accountable
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3. The Structure of the Personality

Frankl believes there are three levels of existence: physical, psychological and
spiritual

The physical and psychological dimensions have needs and drives, similar to animals

The spiritual level is unique to humans and provides freedom of will

We are open systems to both ourselves and the world and can initiate change

As spiritual beings we are free to direct our behaviour and we can use our body and
psyche to achieve the ends that we ourselves have determined

Humans possess self-awareness

The human personality has a spiritual core. It is not our genetics or environment that
determines our personalities, but what we do with what we have been given
4. The Dynamics of the Personality

Frankl speaks of the noödynamics that are orientated towards meaning

The dynamics of the personality are based on:
 the freedom of will


the will to meaning

the meaning of life
1. The freedom of the will
 Each of us experiences our will as free and we continually face choices that
we have to make
 Even a decision to do nothing is a decision which represents a specific
approach to life
 We are not absolutely free as we must contend with our own limitations and
constraints placed upon us by our own particular environments

2. The will to meaning
 People want to experience their lives as meaningful and worthwhile in order
to find significance
 The will to meaning is deeper and more powerful than any other human
motivation
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 Because our wills are free, because we can think and make decisions, we
want to know why, for whom and for what we exist
 Frankl made 4 observations to prove that our basic motivation is our will to
meaning:
 The will to meaning is manifested in circumstances of destitution as well as n
circumstances of plenty

People who have terrible living conditions but continue to have the
will to live do so because it is the most pressing need

Even rich and successful people can experience depression when they
lose the will to live, it is the strongest motivator of human behaviour
 Satisfying physical and psychological needs provides the means to be free
and strive towards achieving spiritual goals

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs we only aim to satisfy lower level
needs so that we can focus on achieving self-actualisation

The will to meaning can break through or take over the attainment of
lower level needs

Frankl believes a person's primary need is the for meaning in life
 Happiness is the outcome of attaining meaning, and not an end in itself

Happiness, joy or pleasure is a by-product of having completed a task
or having experienced something of value - if we seek happiness as a
goal in itself, it will evade us

So too are a clear conscience and self-actualisation
 When the will to pleasure and the will to power are dominant it suggests we
are frustrated in our will to meaning

The will to pleasure or power is a sign of spiritual emptiness – an
existential vacuum

3. The meaning of life
 The meaning of life can be found in 3 principal ways: the creative things we
do, the uplifting things we experience, and the kind of attitude we have
towards situations of unavoidable suffering
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 Creative values - values we experience through what we contribute to life

Any creative contribution allows us to feel meaningfully part of
something
 Experiential values - blessings we receive from life and are manifested in
what is good, beautiful and true. Love is the greatest of these values
 Attitudinal values - values which we experience through the right attitudes
we have towards life, especially towards inescapable suffering

3 inevitable facts confronting us at all time: pain, guilt, and death –
the tragic triad of human existence

Suffering is suffering precisely because it is inevitable

Suffering does not deprive of us of our freedom to decide how we
will deal with suffering, that is, what attitude we adopt to suffering

To find meaning in suffering is, according to Frankl, to find the
ultimate meaning in life

When suffering has a reason, it loses it’s unbearable quality and
becomes another one of life’s tasks – because it asks so much of us it
offers us the opportunity to achieve moral greatness
5. The Development of the Personality

Frankl does not provide a detailed developmental theory

The core of the spiritual nucleus of the personality is present at birth

The personality develops over the entire lifespan

At birth, life is given to us an open possibility and all we have is potential

Self-determining - we are the force behind what we become in spite of genetics and
the environment

Only in maturity are we fully developed and it is then that our uniquely human
characteristics manifest. Person is seen as a 'time-Gestalt'

If we continue to search for pleasure and power as adults, then we can justifiably be
called childish or immature. We have been frustrated in our search for meaning
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6. Optimal Development

We achieve optimal development when we function on the spiritual level – when
we exercise our freedom of will (we take responsibility for our choices) and we find
and experience meaning in our lives

Very few people achieve this optimal development because it takes courage and
boldness to be optimally human

Optimal development is characterized by the following:
 1. Self-determining action

Individuals take responsibility for themselves and their circumstances
and freely decide what they should do

Realise that they cannot attribute to their fate to intrinsic factors
 2. Realistic perception

Ability to separate and distance oneself from what is happening - to
view matters objectively and critically

Can perceive themselves and their circumstances realistically
 3. Humour

Mature people can distance themselves from their problems and
weaknesses and laugh at themselves
 4. Self-transcendence

People are outward-looking rather than turned in on oneself –
involved in activities that give their life meaning

Feel that they have a calling in life

The healthy human is dedicated to values and ideals

Satisfaction and happiness is the outcome of meaning fulfillment
(incidental side effects)
 5. Future directedness

Actively future-directed and do not live a day-to-day existence

They have goals and a vision for the future

Every day is an unique opportunity to find meaning and their pasts a
rich treasure-house of fulfilled possibilities

Do not fear death as it is a meaningful conclusion to life
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 6. Work as a vocation

Through their work they respond to the demands of responsibility

Work is an opportunity to make a worthwhile contribution to life
 7. Appreciation of goodness, beauty and truth

Receptive to experiences of the good, the beautiful and the genuine

An openness to each new moment in life
 8. Respect and appreciation for the uniqueness of others

Will not make people objects for their own satisfaction or use others
to achieve their own selfish ends

They strive for meaningful encounters with others

Free from prejudice and discrimination
 9. Meaning in suffering

Have accepted tragic faculties of life – deepens their belief in the
meaning of life

Meaning can be found in guilt, suffering and death

Reached highest potential of development
7. Views on Psychopathology

Most people do not achieve optimal development because they
lack the courage
to respond to the challenge of life to exercise their freedom of responsibility

Responsibility is avoided or passed on to others and this leads to a frustration of the
will to meaning (struggle to find own unique meaning in their life - noögenic
neurosis)

Noögenic neurosis - the mental or spiritual anguish and existential despair people
suffer who see no meaning in their lives. Characterised by:
 An unplanned day-to-day existence- people live aimlessly and have no real
purpose in life

A fatalistic attitude towards life – helpless victims of circumstance and
believe their fate is out of their hands

Conformism – in an effort to avoid stress of authenticity

Totalitarianism – suits those who prefer to be blind followers
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
Frankl reinstated the humanity of the mental patient

An incurably psychotic individual may lose their usefulness but yet retain the dignity
of a human being
8. Logotherapy

Logotherapy - a psychotherapeutic approach that not only recognises man's spirit,
but actually starts from it

Logotherapy means 'therapy through meaning'

The essence of logotherapy is to challenge people to become aware of things which
require them to be responsible and which demand their love, care or involvement

Socratic dialogue - technique evoking critical and creative thought where people
come up with their own answers

Logotherapy is not problem-centred but meaning-centred and on the patient's
freedom to deal with their problems

Paradoxical intention - a logotherapeutic technique designed to break the vicious
cycle of hyper-intention by encouraging the person to wish or intend, with much
humour, what the person fears, thereby deflating or defusing the fear

Dereflection - a logotherapeutic technique designed to shift the attention of a
person away from obsessive hyper-reflection and to focus on something meaningful
instead
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Chapter 6
The Socially-orientated Psychoanalytical Theories
1. Introduction

Socially-orientated psychoanalysis that rejects Freud's views of biological
determinism

Focuses on the social dimension of human existence and emphasise the roles of
social and cultural factors

Focus on the consciousness and its manifestation in the concept of the 'self'

Individuals can strengthen the self – and not be swamped by society’s demands for
conformity

Regarded more as philosophical theories than personality theories
2. Karen Horney

Background:
 She is initially followed the Freudian beliefs of psychoanalysis and biological
determinism
 When she moved to America her views changed from intrapsychic to an
interpersonal, even psychosocial foundation
 People have an inherent drive and capacity to grow and realise their
potential to the fullest
 Optimistic view of humanity - personality inherently tends towards
development, growth and realisation of potential. Individuals are able to
consciously change and shape their personalities
 Neurotic people need to be liberated from that which blocks their growth
potential
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
Structure of the personality:
 Horney does not elaborate in any detail on the structure or development of
the personality as she only focuses on structural elements that have a role in
the dynamics of the personality
 Idealised self - the product of a feeling of inferiority; common in societies
that place high value on prestige and competition
 Actual self - How we consciously act in daily life; we often reject this self
because it does not meet the demands of the ideal self
 Real self - emerges once the person has relinquished all the techniques
developed for dealing with anxiety and resolving conflict

Dynamics of the personality:
 Growth principle - all energy is naturally channelled in such a way as to
ensure that the individual will develop her or his unique potential, unless it
becomes blocked by some ‘anti-natural’ influence
 Growth principle replaces Freud’s id
 Horney distinguishes two crucial needs:

Need for security - need to be free from anxiety or threat

Need for satisfaction - basic physiological needs
 Factors promoting/inhibiting growth:

Parents act with real love and warmth → promotes growth

Parental irresponsibility and 'neuroticisng cultural influences' →
inhibit growth
 Inhibited growth leads to:

Basic hostility - the result of children's conflicting experiences in
interaction with the environment

Basic anxiety - a pervasive feeling of helplessness when a child is
unable to cope with their environment

Both methods are repressed and unconscious and manifest as
neurotic needs
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 Interpersonal styles - when needs become linked with a particular way of
relating to other

People develop these styles as a means of coping with basic hostility
and anxiety

Interpersonal reactions are irreconcilable and preclude one another

Interpersonal styles underlie three basic personality types:

Movement towards others - (submissive) people acknowledge their
own helplessness and seek affection and support from others

Movement against others - (aggressive) do not accept their
separateness and take it as axiomatic that hostility must be met with
hostility. People in this category have an expansionist interpersonal
style which is either narcissistic, perfectionist or arrogant

Movement away from others - (detached) avoid being dependant n
others, but have no wish to be hostile towards them
3. Erich Fromm

Background:
 Fromm psychoanalytical approach was humanistic psychoanalysis and was
influenced by Freud and Karl Marx
 Humanistic psychoanalysis - revolves around the relationship between the
individual and society
 The struggle for freedom against society’s pressure to conform: alienation
 Fromm described his own view as sociobiological
 Human being is dualistic - has animal as well as human nature
 Physiological needs such as sex and hunger are shared with animals
 People transcend their purely instinctive animal nature by having selfconsciousness, reason and conscience
 People have to confront the existential and historical dichotomies inherent in
human existence
 Existential dichotomies - insoluble conflict inherent in human existence (e.g.,
mortality)
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 Historical dichotomies - conflicts that can be overcome (e.g., poverty,
racism, inequality)

Structure of the personality:
 Self-consciousness - process whereby people are conscious of the fact that
they are conscious
 Fromm regarded people as 'creation's joke', because it is self-consciousness
that makes people aware of their existential and historical dichotomies
 Two purely human processes which control behaviour are reason and
conscience
 Reason - allows people to transcend animal nature and deal with the
dichotomies of their existence
 Conscience - the regulating agent of the personality; evaluates own
behaviour according to norms and values. Two types:

Authoritarian: voice of internalised external authority (parents)

Humanistic: person's own inner voice
 Temperament - behavioural responses that are constitutionally determined
and cannot be changed
 Character - behavioural component of the personality that is shaped by
personal experience and socialisation and can be changed

Dynamics of the personality:
 Five main human needs:
 1. Relatedness

Humans have a need to belong and a need for unity

Sadistic relationship - destructive unity through dominating other
people

Masochistic relationship - destructive unity through submitting to
other people

Unity is accomplished constructively through love
 2. Transcendence

Need to transcend natural, instinctual existence by creating or
destroying
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
Benign aggression - phylogenetically programmed impulse geared at
self-protection

Malignant aggression - where aggression becomes an end in itself
 3. Rootedness

Need to be protected and to form part of an historical past
 4. Personal Identity

Need to know themselves and determine their place in society as
free, unfettered individuals
 5. Frame of reference

Need for people to orientate themselves within the world and give
meaning to their lives within a specific frame of reference

Primitive systems - natural objects and the influence of the ancestors
give meaning to people's lives

Nontheistic systems - no specific concept of deity, but which do
involve a general philosophy of life

Monotheistic systems - involve a specific concept of God around
which people can orientate themselves and direct their lives
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Chapter 17
African Perspectives
1. Introduction and Background

Various aspects of Western psychology resonate with Africans but some theories are
overly Western in their orientations, assumptions and focus

Indigenous psychology - the way people in other societies and from other cultures
make sense of themselves and their relationships and make sense of psychic distress

Scientific racism - the use of science to provide justification for racist ideas

Western culture has become the cultural norm

Scientific colonialism refers to the ethnocentric nature of psychology both in terms
of who produces it and where it is produced

African perspectives function to critique existing psychology and as an alternative
psychology responsive to Africans

A paradigm based on indigenous African concepts does not yet exist

Impetus for the quest to Africanise psychology:
 Psychology collaborated in the oppression of American blacks and Africans
through the comparison between 'primitive' and 'modern'
 Psychology has had little relevance to the problems facing the blacks and the
poor
 Psychologies imported to Africa do not accurately portray African life and
mentality
2. The View of the Person
 Anthropocentric ontology - implies that humans form the point of departure as well
as the centre of the universe

There are three cosmic orders of reality that can be distinguished, namely the
macro-, meso- and micro-cosmos
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 Macro-cosmos - the domain of God and religion
 Meso-cosmos - a kind of no man's land where coincidence, the ancestors and
the forces of malignant sprits and sorcerers hold sway
 Micro-cosmos - the domain of the individual person in their everyday
collective existence

Ubuntu - a code of ethics governing one's interaction with others, implying that a
person is only a person because of other people
3. Augustine Nwoye's Account of the Fabric of the African Self

Nwoye strives to develop a psychology that is developed from the perspective of and
in relation to the culture and worldview of Africans relevant to their lives

For Nwoye, the Western notion of the self is incompatible with the African view and
that it is not an inclusive and extensive as the African view

African self is an extensive entity - projects itself with varying degrees of intensity
into other realms of human existence

Synoptic theory - a theory that aggregates rather than isolates constituent factors,
and thus functions as a holistic rather than a reductionist account

African self is a synoptic aggregate and made up of eight complementary dimensions
The 8 Personality Dimensions
Embodied Self
Generative Self
Communal self
Narratological Self
Melioristic Self
Structural Self
Liminal Self
Spiritual self
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
1. Embodied self - the aspect of self that is open and visible to others

2. Generative self - the agentic and enterprising characteristics of a person and
contains self's ambitions and plans

3. Communal self - the relational and inclusive character of the African self

4. Melioristic self - assists the individual in finding meaning in life

5. Narratological self - reflects the sediments and influence of the cultural memory
of the people on the modern African imagination

6. Structural self - the inner seat of an individual's thinking, feeling and will

7. Liminal self - the part of the self that is in a state of transition

8. Spiritual self - the sacred dimension of everyday life
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Extra
Summary of Essay Questions
1. Discuss Maslow and Rogers as representatives of humanistic psychology,
focusing on their ideas about the optimal development of personality

The main points that need to be addressed for EACH Maslow and Rogers are:
 A brief introduction of the theorist, their views and their contributions
 The major aspects each theorists believes are behind the dynamics of the
personality
 What each theorist believes constitutes ideal functioning
 The various characteristics of a fully functioning person at optimal
development
 A comparison between the two theories about optimal development, leading
to a conclusion backed up by evidence
MASLOW

Maslow emphasises the actualisation of human potential and possibility of humans
to influence their own behaviour by choice. Focuses on understanding why some
people are exceptional (self-actualisers)

Describe Maslow's hierarchy of needs and that deficiency motives (physiological,
safety, love/belonging & esteem) must be met before growth motives (selfactualisation) and optimal development can be achieved

Optimal development:
 Ideal functioning characterised by the achievement of self-actualisation
which this requires that all four lower-level needs are regularly gratified

15 characteristics:
 1. Accurate observation of reality
 2. Self acceptance, accepting others and human nature
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 3. Spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness
 4. Task involvement
 5. Exclusiveness: The need for privacy
 6. Autonomy: Being independent of culture and environment
 7. Consistent renewal of appreciation
 8. Peak experience
 9. Social feeling
 10. Interpersonal relationships
 11. Democratic character structure
 12. Discrimination between means and goals, good and evil
 13. Philosophical, benevolent sense of humour
 14. Creativity
 15. Resistance against enculturation

No point going in to detail on each characteristic

Mention the reasons self-actualisation is rarely achieved:
 1. Lack of self-knowledge and self-insight
 2. Obstructions/obstacles
 3. Jonah complex
 4. Being afraid of overestimating our abilities
 5. Lack of integration of seemingly opposing needs within individual
ROGERS

Rogers emphasises the importance of people’s subject experience of themselves
(self-concept) and its influence on personality

Individual is central figure in actualisation of their potential with environment as
either a facilitating or inhibiting role

Humanistic-phenomenological view - places a high premium on the freedom and
constructiveness of human nature and emphasises the person's role as the architect
of their life

The self concept - refers to the ‘mental picture’ that individuals have of themselves
and the value they attach to themselves and is highly subjective
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
Optimal development:
 Psychological adjustment occurs when the self-concept is such that all of the
individual's experiences are, or can be, assimilated at a symbolic level in
relation to the self concept
 Individual sees themselves as they truly are. Congruent people whose self
concepts accord with their actual potential

7 characteristics:
 1. A growing openness to experience
 2. An increasingly existential lifestyle
 3. Increasing organismic trust
 4. Freedom of choice
 5. Creativity
 6. Basic reliability and constructiveness
 7. A rich, full life

The “good life” is not a static phase but a dynamic process to self-actualise
CONCLUSION

Evaluate Maslow's theory:
 Relatable
 Too limited
 Under-emphasises, and even denies, the negative aspects of humans
 Tentative
 Gives recognition to the spiritual dimension
 Very holistic

Evaluate Rogers' theory:
 Made a valuable contribution to therapy and subjective experience
 Unrealistic views on freedom
 Does not address hostile human tendencies
 Cannot recreate research
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2. Discuss Frankl as a representative of existential psychology, focusing on his
ideas about meaning and optimal development

Basic points to discuss:
 Give a brief introduction of Frankl, his views and his contributions
 Define existential psychology
 Describe what the dynamics of the personality are based on
 Explain when optimal development is reached and why very few people
achieve it
 Describe the different characteristics of optimal development
 Evaluate the theory and come to a conclusion
FRANKL

Frankl believed humans are primarily motivated by a will to meaning

Existential psychotherapy is a philosophical method of therapy that operates on the
belief that inner conflict within a person is due to that individual's confrontation with
the givens of existence

His theory is based on the 4 basic assumptions:
 1. The freedom to be responsible
 2. A level of being beyond animal existence
 3. The transhuman dimension
 4. A personalised way of being

Dynamics of the personality are based on:
 1. The freedom of the will
Each of us experiences our will as free and we continually face choices that
we have to make
 2. The will to meaning
People want to experience their lives as meaningful and worthwhile in order
to find significance
 3. The meaning of life
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The meaning of life can be found in 3 principal ways: the creative things we
do, the uplifting things we experience, and the kind of attitude we have
towards situations of unavoidable suffering

Optimal development:
 We achieve optimal development when we function on the spiritual level –
when we exercise our freedom of will (we take responsibility for our choices)
and we find and experience meaning in our lives
 Very few people achieve this optimal development because it takes courage
and boldness to be optimally human

9 characteristics:
 1. Self-determining action
 2. Realistic perception
 3. Humour
 4. Self-transcendence
 5. Future directedness
 6. Work as a vocation
 7. Appreciation of goodness, beauty and truth
 8. Respect and appreciation for the uniqueness of others
 9. Meaning in suffering
CONCLUSION

Evaluate Frankl's theory:
 Not strictly based on research
 Spiritual dimension cannot be ideally studied
 Not a complete personality theory
 He highlights the spiritual dimension of human existence
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3. Critically assess the contribution of 'the African perspective', and in
particular that of Nwoye, as a corrective to ethnocentrism and scientific
colonialism in psychology

Basic ideas that should be discussed:
 Define ethnocentrism and scientific colonialism
 Discuss the impetus and functions of African perspectives
 Give a brief introduction on Nwoye, his views and his contributions
 Describe the importance of Nwoye's account of the fabric of the African self
 Describe the eight personality dimensions and how they are linked

Scientific colonialism - refers to the ethnocentric nature of psychology both in terms
of who produces it and where it is produced

Ethnocentrism - evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating
in the standards and customs of one's own culture

African perspectives function to critique existing psychology and as an alternative
psychology responsive to Africans

Impetus for the quest to Africanise psychology:
 Psychology collaborated in the oppression of American blacks and Africans
through the comparison between 'primitive' and 'modern'
 Psychology has had little relevance to the problems facing the blacks and the
poor
 Psychologies imported to Africa do not accurately portray African life and
mentality

Nwoye 's eight personality dimensions:
 1. Embodied self - the aspect of self that is open and visible to others
 2. Generative self - the agentic and enterprising characteristics of a person
and contains self's ambitions and plans
 3. Communal self - the relational and inclusive character of the African self
 4. Melioristic self - assists the individual in finding meaning in life
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 5. Narratological self - reflects the sediments and influence of the cultural
memory of the people on the modern African imagination
 6. Structural self - the inner seat of an individual's thinking, feeling and will
 7. Liminal self - the part of the self that is in a state of transition
 8. Spiritual self - the sacred dimension of everyday life

African self is an extensive entity - projects itself with varying degrees of intensity
into other realms of human existence

Nwoye believes that the African view of the self is more inclusive and extensive than
the Western view

Western and African views do not need to exist in isolation

Evaluate Nwoye's theory:
 African perspective lends momentum to existing critiques of personality and
the distorted, reductive views of personal, relational and social life that it
supports, in critical and human science approaches to psychology
 Gives a voice to previously disadvantaged, misunderstood Africans to now
not only understand psychology in their own context but change it
 Fairly new field and no definite concept has been put forward yet
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4. Critically compare Lacan's conception of the ego and the self with those
of Fromm and/or Horney (representatives of self psychology)

Basic points that must be discussed:
 Give a brief introduction on the background, views and contributions of each
Lacan, Horney and Fromm
 Discuss how each theorist related their views to those of Freud
 Describe the dynamics of each theorist's view on personality
 Evaluate and compare the different views and come to a conclusion
LACAN

Background:
 Developed a language-centred theory
 Studied medicine and neuropsychiatry and focused on paranoia
 Believed the unconscious is structured like a language
 Departs from notions of “I think, therefore I am”
 Seeks to undermine this view by relating the self to the other
 Does not regard people as free agents

Relationship to Freud's work:
 Lacan: theoretical views were not intended to cover the entire range of
human experience; developed with the goal of reinterpreting Freud’s work –
a return to the true spirit of Freud’s text
 Believed that Freud overestimated the power of the ego

Structure and Dynamics:
 The linguistic sign is defined as the combination of the signifier (the phonetic
image) and the signified (the underlying concept)
 Lacan used the terms ‘signifier’ and signified’ to describe the relationship
between what is conscious and what is unconscious
 Three topographic categories:

Imaginary order – associated with images/imagery

Symbolic order – associated with words and language
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
The Real – proceeds from the imaginary order and symbolic order
(lies outside the boundaries of language
 Three concepts:

Need: physiological and directed towards a particular object

Demand: directed not towards an object, but towards a person

Desire: like a need, but unlike a demand, is directed towards an
object – but object of desire cannot be specified, changes according
to the lack that has to be overcome
HORNEY

Background:
 When she moved to America her views changed from intrapsychic to an
interpersonal, even psychosocial foundation
 People have an inherent drive and capacity to grow and realise their
potential to the fullest

Relationship to Freud's work:
 She is initially followed the Freudian beliefs of psychoanalysis and biological
determinism

Structure and Dynamics:
 Structural elements:

Idealised self

Actual self

Real self
 Interpersonal styles - when needs become linked with a particular way of
relating to other

Movement towards others

Movement against others

Movement away from others
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FROMM

Background:
 Humanistic psychoanalysis - revolves around the relationship between the
individual and society
 Human being is dualistic - has animal as well as human nature
 Existential dichotomies - insoluble conflict inherent in human existence
 Historical dichotomies - conflicts that can be overcome

Relationship to Freud's work:
 Fromm psychoanalytical approach was humanistic psychoanalysis and was
influenced by Freud and Karl Marx
 Did not believe in Freud's biological determinism and emphasised a
sociobiological view

Structure and Dynamics:
 Five main needs:

Relatedness

Transcendence

Rootedness

Personal Identity

Frame of Reference
CONCLUSION

Evaluate Lacan's theory:
 Difficult to evaluate
 Always changing and often contradictory and used selectively
 Popularity of his theory rises and falls
 Advances critical thinking

Evaluate Horney's theory:
 Oversimplifies complex phenomena and makes self-actualisation normalised

Evaluate Fromm's theory:
 Views have not been quantitatively verified
 Description of character types is clear and comprehensive
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