The Humanistic Approach to
Personality
Humanistic Approaches
• Humanistic theories developed in the 1960s
• Opposed the deterministic psychoanalytic and behavioral
approaches that then dominated
• The humanistic approach emphasizes the following in personality
development
– conscious free will in one’s actions,
– the uniqueness of the individual person,
– and personal growth
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Abraham Maslow is
considered the father of
the humanistic movement
Born: April 1, 1908, Brooklyn
Died: June 8, 1970, Menlo Park
Education: Columbia University,
– He studied the lives of very
healthy and creative
people to develop his
theory of personality
What motivates you to take action and
make decisions in life?
• Think of three things
Imagine…
• You are being sent to live inside a bubble for
one year. Write a list of 25 things you will need
to take with you to survive.
• When finished turn your paper over
How important are these things?
Setting goals
• Why are goals so important for our personal
well-being?
What is a need?
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A lack of something required or desired
Needs motivate us to act!
Some needs are necessary for our survival
Others, only necessary for our personal
fulfillment
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an
arrangement of innate needs that motivate
our behavior,
• Strongest, most basic survival needs at the
bottom of the pyramid
• As you go up pyramid, needs are less crucial
but important for personal fulfillment
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-Actualization
SelfEsteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Write each statement and determine
which level of need is being met
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I’m starving
Please lock the door
I hope I won’t get fired for that mistake
I will succeed with that new program
I hope he likes me
I wish they’d invite me to the party this Saturday
I want to lead that committee on campus improvement
I hope they like my idea
I feel amazing when I play my guitar
I’m exhausted
I’m glad I can afford to take a taxi home instead of walking
I’m really proud of who I’ve become as a person
Self-Actualization
• Characteristics of self-actualized people include
– Accepting themselves, others, and the nature of world for what
they are
– Having a need for privacy
and only a few close,
emotional relationships
– Being autonomous and
independent, democratic,
and very creative
– Having peak experiences,
which are experiences of deep
insight in which you experience
whatever you are doing as fully as possible
Self actualized?
Class collage – Maslow’s hierarchy
• Flip through the magazines provided
• Find images that pertain to each level of
Maslow’s pyramid
• Cut out the images, place them on the class
collage at the appropriate level
• Find as many as you can!
Criticism of Maslow
• Maslow hierarchy of needs is criticized for
– being based on non-empirical (non-scientific)
vague studies
– small number of people
– Maslow subjectively selected as being selfactualized
Carl Rogers Self Theory
• One of the founders
of the humanistic
approach to
personality and
therapy
• Born: January 8,
1902, Oak Park
• Died: February 4,
1987, San Diego
Roger’s Self Theory
• Carl Rogers was a client-centered therapist
who dealt with young, bright college students
with adjustment problems
– Emphasized self-actualization
– Believed people have a strong need for positive
regard – to be accepted by/receive affection from
others
– Need for congruence (matching, overlap)
between their ‘ideal’ self and ‘actual’ self
Carl rogers video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m30jsZx_
Ngs
Therapeutic Approach
• Not directed, client simply expresses his/her
self and unravels their own problem
• Therapist listens and shows:
– Genuineness
– Unconditional positive regard
– Empathy
• Client feels safe, valued, heard
• Much research to show this method works
Roger’s Self Theory
• Our parents set up conditions of worth, the behaviors
and attitudes for which they would give us positive
regard
– Meeting conditions of worth continues throughout life, and a
person develops a self-concept of what others think he should
be
• Unconditional positive regard – acceptance and
approval without conditions
– Empathy from others, and having others be genuine with
respect to their own feelings is necessary if we are to selfactualized
• Note that neither Maslow nor Roger’s theories are
research-based
College Reading
• If you didn’t read last class’s assignment, catch
up! 302 – 305, humanistic approach (Maslow
and Rogers)
• This class’s reading: 306 – 316 social-cognitive
approach to personality, trait theories,
projective tests
Projective tests
• Look at the two images on your paper.
• ABOVE the images, write what you see.
Mention a story, emotions, what happened
before, how things will turn out.
• Exchange and analyze. What can you tell
about the person who analyzed each image.
Please be fair and mature about this!
How accurately were you analyzed?
1. Do you think this was an accurate way to
assess your personality?
2. What were some biases in this process?
Projective Tests
• Contain a series of ambiguous stimuli
• Test taker describes what they see
• Response analyzed, person’s inner conflicts and
motivations revealed
• Sample tests
– Rorschach Inkblots Test
– Thematic Apperception
Tests (TAT)
– Sentence completion test
Rorschach Inkblots Test
• Contains 10 symmetric inkblots - need
mutliples
• Examiner asks the test taker to clarify her
responses by identifying the various parts of
the inkblot that led to the response
• Assumes the test taker’s responses are
projections of their personal conflicts and
personality dynamics
• Widely used but not demonstrated to be
reliable and valid - too subjective
Projective tests
• Not valid – cant be said to accurately measure
what they say they measure
• Not reliable – don’t get consistent results over
time or across analysts
Write your impression of this inkblot
• Describe what you see
• Describe any feelings associated with the
image
• DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE CARD
Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)
• Consists of 19 cards ambiguous black and white
pictures
• Test taker has to make up a story for each card he sees
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what happened before,
What is happening now,
what the people are feeling and thinking,
and how things will turn out
• Looks for recurring themes in the responses
• Scoring has yet to be demonstrated to be either
reliable or valid
What are the pros and cons of
projective tests?
• Pros
• Cons
Applications – how can projective tests
be used in the real world?
LAB 11 sentence completion
• Go to this page, do lab 11 (skip 10)
http://tinyurl.com/mw74oc7
What’s your MB type?
Take the test:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Read your type:
https://www.personalitypage.com/html/portraits.html
MBTI overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQoOqQiVzwQ
Who are you in relationships?
http://tinyurl.com/mnman8w
Read your MB type and answer…
• Is your type description accurate?
• Are any statements inaccurate? Which ones?
• Who is the best match for you as a lover/life
partner?
Homework due next class
• Find a personality quiz online or in a magazine
• Take it. Screenshot proof of completion.
• Think about the questions asked in the test.
Test question correlation
• Mark each question with the MBTI dimension it is trying to
measure
– EI
– NS
– TF
– PJ
• Put a dot under the letter (of the 2) that would agree with the
statement
• Q1 Ex: You are almost never late for your appointments
MBTI Line up!
• What is the personality make up of this class?
Who cares?
1. Why is knowing your personality type useful?
2. MBTI is a trait test, not a projective test.
What does this mean?
Big 5 Personality test
• http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/
Big 5 Facets
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Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
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Tom’s Big 5 score
• Tom is a musician who likes to go on road trips in
his truck and play music at bars around the
country.
• He enjoys meeting people at the bars, he’s the
life of the party.
• He sleeps in his truck which is a mess.
• He owes money on his car payments but doesn’t
worry too much about late payments and
damaging his credit score.
• His mom asks him to come home often. He
ignores her and does what he wants.
Create your own Big 5 character
• Describe a person of your creation
• Draw a Big 5 facet scale and place them on it
each facet, explaining why.
• O - ----------------------- +
• C - ----------------------- +
• E - ----------------------- +
• A - ----------------------- +
• N - ----------------------- +
Matchmaker activity
• Sandy, heterosexual female, 31
• “Serial monogomist”, has a long
list of long term relationships,
little single time in-between
• Small circle of close friends she
would do anything for
• Generous with time, money,
advice, affection
• Plans beautiful parties for loved
ones’ birthdays, weddings,
special events
• Detail-oriented, notices what
people are wearing each day
and other observations
Answer the following questions about
Sandy
• What’s her myers briggs type?
• What types would be a good match for her?
• Whats the best combo for her on each facet?
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II or IE
SS or SN
FF or FT
JJ or JP
• How would she FEEL and REACT if her best friend
picked her up for “brunch” but then took her to the
airport and whisked her off on a surprise vacation?
• Design the perfect man for Sandy. Describe his name,
age, family background, personality and their wedding.
Matchmaker activity II
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Simon, homosexual male, 25
Outgoing, friendly and down to earth
Likes to debate
Gets annoyed with his slobby
roommates who are willing to live in a
pig sty! Not afraid to complain to them
either!
• Already has internships lined up, job
applications written, well-organized
computer files, ready to graduate from
college and get to work!
• Decided to move to east coast because
that’s where the jobs are… even though
it upsets his parents and friends that
he’s going so far
• What’s his myers briggs type?
• What types would be a good match for him?
• How would he FEEL and REACT if his best bud
told him that he was gifting his other ticket to
the Grammy’s to his disabled brother (even
though they’re not that close)
• Design the perfect man for Simon. Describe
his name, age, family background, personality
and their wedding.
Take this online personality quiz
Color personality quiz, youtube (doesn’t work
on ipad)
http://tinyurl.com/lcslhaf
1. What color did you choose?
2. Is the description of your personality
accurate?
3. Is any part of the description inaccurate?
We are all fortune
tellers!
• Create “stock spiel” - a personality description that ANYONE
would agree describes them
• Mention at least 5 characteristics
• At least 1 should be mildly negative (seems more realistic that
way)
Observations of a person
Now, add 2 more comments based on your
observation of ME, TODAY that describe my
personality (imagine you’ve never seen me
before and I’m paying you to read my fortune)
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Clothes – style, cost, condition
Wedding ring?
Car
Posture
Eye-contact
Nails/hands (manicure?)
Make your own personality test!
• Will be included in exhibition magazine
• Groups of 4 – 4 personality tests or fewer?
• Different formats?
Generate a character!
• Fold a paper in thirds
1st minute – draw character’s head. Include
appearance, and a speech bubble with
character quote.
2nd minute – pass paper to left. Draw character’s
torso. What are they holding? Draw an item
that reflects their job, hobbies or eating
habits.
3rd minute – draw their bottom half. Include a
mode of transportation, maybe a background
that tells us something about the person.
4th minute – decide as a group what this
character’s name, gender, age, occupation and
Myers Briggs type are.
Brainstorm
• What types of people are there?
Create your own personality quiz!
• Read handout – this is your unit deliverable
• It is your LAST exhibition piece at Da Vinci
Design – make it good!
• Do 17 magazine quiz (link on sheet)
What valentine’s day type of person
are you?
• http://www.seventeen.com/fun/quizzes/prom
/valentines-day-personality-quiz
First step – create 4 detailed
characters/personality types
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What does your character do on weekends?
What does their house look like?
How do they eat? Sleep? Dress?
Who are their friends?
What job do they have?
How are they in relationships?
What Myers Briggs type are they?
Personality type, and their response to Q 
ANSWER CHOICE 1
Ex : Social butterfly
Q1 Ex: You bump into your teacher on a night out –
awkward – how do you react?
Smile big, say hello and ask what they’re
doing here
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q6
Q7
Q8
Q9
Q10
ANSWER CHOICE 2
ANSWER CHOICE 3
ANSWER CHOICE 4
Al and Bill – projective test analysis
• Read the answers to the 12 questions by two
men, Al and Bill
• Dispositional or situational?
Can a leopard
change its spots?
(Homework)
Is personality fixed? Do people change their fundamental perspectives,
values, emotional responses throughout life? Create a table such as the one
below, and categorize each theorist as either fixed (deterministic) or flexible
(nondeterministic). Explain why.
Theorist
Freud
(psychoanalyst)
B.F. Skinner
(behaviorist)
Maslow (humanist)
Rogers (humanist)
Determin Nondete
istic
rministic
Why? Detailed explanation with
evidence from their theory
-What is a Rorschach test?
-Who created the Rorschach test, and how was it
originally used?
-How has the use of the Rorschach test changed
over time?
-In what ways is the world a different place now
than it was 80 years ago, when the
test was first created?
-What are some other examples of psychological
tests that are used in our society
today?
-How, in general, do these tests work?
-What are some arguments for and against the
a. How long ago was the Rorschach test first created?
b. How often is this test used today? Chapter 10: Psychological Assessment
www.nytimes.com
Jackie Glasthal, The New York Times Learning Network
c. Why is this test considered controversial?
d. What is a "projective" test? In addition to Rorschach, what are some other
examples of projective tests?
e. To what purposes do some psychologists recommend these tests be limited? Why
do other psychologists disagree?
f. Where did Dr. Hermann Rorschach first get the idea for this inkblot test baring his
name?
g. What are some of the criteria that experts use to help them score Rorschach tests?
h. Who developed systematic rules for scoring Rorschach tests that are still used
today? About how long does it take to train a clinician in the use of these systematic
rules?
i. In what types of situations do some experts consider Rorschach tests to be most
useful?
j. In what situations are Rorschach tests used today that can dramatically affect
peoples' lives?
k. What does the term "overpathologize" mean, as it is used in this article?
l. What does Dr. Weiner means when he says, "Tests don't 'overpathologize.' That's
done by the person who interprets them"?
m. How does Dr. Meyer compare psychological tests like the Rorschach with medical