Humanistic Theories

Some psychologists at the time disliked psychodynamic and behaviorist explanations of personality. They felt that these theories ignored the qualities that make humans unique among animals, such as striving for self-determination and self-realization. In the 1950s, some of these psychologists began a school of psychology called humanism. Humanistic psychologists try to see peoples lives as those people would see them. They tend to have an optimistic perspective on human nature. They focus on the ability of human beings to think consciously and rationally, to control their biological urges, and to achieve their full potential. In the humanistic view, people are responsible for their lives and actions and have the freedom and will to change their attitudes and behavior. Two psychologists, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, became well known for their humanistic theories. Abraham Maslows Theory The highest rung on Abraham Maslows ladder of human motives is the need for self-actualization. Maslow said that human beings strive for self-actualization, or realization of their full potential, once they have satisfied their more basic needs. Maslows hierarchy of needs theory is described on page 247. Maslow also provided his own account of the healthy human personality. Psychodynamic theories tend to be based on clinical case studies and therefore lack accounts of healthy personalities. To come up with his account, Maslow studied exceptional historical figures, such as Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as some of his own contemporaries whom he thought had exceptionally good mental health. Maslow described several characteristics that self-actualizing people share:

Awareness and acceptance of themselves Openness and spontaneity The ability to enjoy work and see work as a mission to fulfill The ability to develop close friendships without being overly dependent on other people A good sense of humor The tendency to have peak experiences that are spiritually or emotionally satisfying

Carl Rogerss Person-Centered Theory Carl Rogers, another humanistic psychologist, proposed a theory called the person-centered theory. Like Freud, Rogers drew on clinical case studies to come up with his theory. He also drew from the ideas of Maslow and others. In Rogerss view, the self-concept is the most important feature of personality, and it includes all the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs people have about themselves. Rogers believed that people are aware of their self-concepts. Congruence and Incongruence

Rogers said that peoples self-concepts often do not exactly match reality. For example, a person may consider himself to be very honest but often lies to his boss about why he is late to work. Rogers used the term incongruence to refer to the discrepancy between the self-concept and reality. Congruence, on the other hand, is a fairly accurate match between the self-concept and reality. According to Rogers, parents promote incongruence if they give their children conditional love. If a parent accepts a child only when the child behaves a particular way, the child is likely to block out experiences that are considered unacceptable. On the other hand, if the parent shows unconditional love, the child can develop congruence. Adults whose parents provided conditional love would continue in adulthood to distort their experiences in order to feel accepted. Results of Incongruence Rogers thought that people experience anxiety when their self-concepts are threatened. To protect themselves from anxiety, people distort their experiences so that they can hold on to their self-concept. People who have a high degree of incongruence are likely to feel very anxious because reality continually threatens their self-concepts. Example: Erin believes she is a very generous person, although she is often stingy with her money and usually leaves small tips or no tips at restaurants. When a dining companion comments on her tipping behavior, she insists that the tips she leaves are proportional to the service she gets. By attributing her tipping behavior to bad service, she can avoid anxiety and maintain her self-concept of being generous. Criticisms of Humanistic Theories Humanistic theories have had a significant influence on psychology as well as pop culture. Many psychologists now accept the idea that when it comes to personality, peoples subjective experiences have more weight than objective reality. Humanistic psychologists focus on healthy people, rather than troubled people, has also been a particularly useful contribution. However, critics of humanistic theories maintain several arguments:

Humanistic theories are too navely optimistic and fail to provide insight into the evil side of human nature. Humanistic theories, like psychodynamic theories, cannot be easily tested. Many concepts in humanistic psychology, like that of the self-actualized person, are vague and subjective. Some critics argue that this concept may reflect Maslows own values and ideals. Humanistic psychology is biased toward individualistic values.

Humanistic theories
In humanistic psychology it is emphasized people have free will and they play an active role in determining how they behave. Accordingly, humanistic psychology focuses on subjective experiences of persons as opposed to forced, definitive factors that determine behavior. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers were proponents of this view, which is based on the "phenomenal field" theory of Combs and Snygg (1949). [30] Maslow spent much of his time studying what he called "self-actualizing persons", those who are "fulfilling themselves and doing the best they are capable of doing". Maslow believes all who are interested in growth move towards self-actualizing (growth, happiness, satisfaction) views. Many of these people demonstrate a trend in dimensions of their personalities. Characteristics of self-actualizers according to Maslow include the four key dimensions: 1. Awareness - maintaining constant enjoyment and awe of life. These individuals often experienced a "peak experience". He defined a peak experience as an "intensification of any experience to the degree there is a loss or transcendence of self". A peak experience is one in which an individual perceives an expansion of his or herself, and detects a unity and meaningfulness in life. Intense concentration on an activity one is involved in, such as running a marathon, may invoke a peak experience. 2. Reality and problem centered - they have a tendency to be concerned with "problems" in their surroundings. 3. Acceptance/Spontaneity - they accept their surroundings and what cannot be changed. 4. Unhostile sense of humor/democratic - they do not like joking about others, which can be viewed as offensive. They have friends of all backgrounds and religions and hold very close friendships. Maslow and Rogers emphasized a view of the person as an active, creative, experiencing human being who lives in the present and subjectively responds to current perceptions, relationships, and encounters. They disagree with the dark, pessimistic outlook of those in the Freudian psychoanalysis ranks, but rather view humanistic theories as positive and optimistic proposals which stress the tendency of the human personality toward growth and self-actualization. This progressing self will remain the center of its constantly changing world; a world that will help mold the self but not necessarily confine it. Rather, the self has opportunity for maturation based on its encounters with this world. This understanding attempts to reduce the acceptance of hopeless redundancy. Humanistic therapy typically relies on the client for information of the past and its effect on the present, therefore the client dictates the type of guidance the therapist may initiate. This allows for an individualized approach to therapy. Rogers found patients differ in how they respond to other people. Rogers tried to model a particular approach to therapy- he stressed the reflective or empathetic response. This response type takes the client's viewpoint and reflects back his or her feeling and the context for it. An example of a reflective response would be, "It seems you are feeling anxious about your upcoming marriage". This response type seeks to clarify the therapist's understanding while also encouraging the client to think more deeply and seek to fully understand the feelings they have expressed.

Humanistic Theories of Personality Carl Rodgers's theory of self suggested that there is an inherent tendency of each of us toward self-actualization. Each of us under ideal conditions would develop our full capacity that was heredity available. His paradigm consisted of a triangle:

Real self

Congruence results when there is a fit among the aspects of self. Simplistically, Real, Ideal and Perceived self related to each other. Problems occur when there is not a productive relationship. Abraham Maslow focused on the study of healthey people and he developed his hierarchy of needs and as the person developed he or she would attempt to meet these needs. The inability to meet these needs caused anxiety and self actualization was threatened. He believed the self actualized person was realistic in their interaction with the world and made appropriate accommodation when goals were not attainable. Behavioral and Social Cognitive theories B.F. Skinner, a behaviorist, believed that personality was "learned" ways of behaving. He did not address drives, inner conflict or identity issues. Rather he focused on learned behavior and the environment. He injected the idea that we are not free but rather products of environment. Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory emphasized the role of observation and imitation/modeling. He viewed the self as a set of "cognitive structures" that direct perception, thinking, and behavior.

Actual reinforcement was not as important as perceived reinforcement. He argued that behavior and the situation interacted and influenced each other. He called this reciprocal determinism. A person's self worth was derived from adjustments to the environment and successful realization of goals. Failure resulted in helplessness. A person's personality was the set of behaviors acquired to successfully or unsuccessfully interact with the environment. Jullian Rotter proposed that reinforcement is influential in shaping behavior and personality but expectations and cognitions were equal or more important. He views "behavioral potential" as the probability that a particular behavior will happen in a specific situation. He looked at the concept of "Locus of Control". Individuals who perceived that reinforcement as contingent on their behavior and attributes had Internal Locus of control. Persons who perceived that reinforcement is independent of their behavior and was controlled by external forces had External Locus of control. Personality Assessment There are a number of personality tests used by psychologists. Often a psychologist[s] will use structured or unstructured interviews, naturalistic observation and use some form of a rating scale. Self rating scale may also be used. Objective personality tests are also used. Some examples are: Strong Interest Inventory which was developed in 1927. it matches and measures a person's interest and activities with those of people in various occupations. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI] originally developed in 1940 by Starke Hathaway and Charneley Mckinley. It was used to identify personality disorders. Currently it is the most widely used test for general personality assessment. It was revised in 1989 and called the MMPI II it consists of 567 items that are answered true or false. In

1992 a form of the MMPI for adolescents was developed, it is call the MMPI-Adolescent. It has 478 true or false items. California Psychological Inventory [CPI] was first published in 1956 and it was developed to measure personality in normal populations. In 1996 the 3rd editions was completed and consists of 434 true or false items. Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire [16PF] Developed by Raymond Cattell in 1949. Using Cattell's factor analysis it consists of 185 multiple choice questions. It has been revised 5 times. NEO Personality Inventory [NEO-PI] developed by Paul Costa Jr. and Robert McCrae in 1985. it is used to measure five major factor in adult personality: Neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. It contains 240 items that are answered on a 5 point scale [strongly agree- strongly disagree] Meyer-Briggs Type Indicator Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother , Katherine Briggs first published this test in 1921. It utilized Carl Jung's theory of personality. It was last revised in 1998 and consists of 126 two choice items. Projective Personality Tests Projective personality tests present ambiguous stimuli that allow the subject to respond with projections of his or her own personality. Rorschach Inkblot Test is one of the best known projective tests. It was developed by Hermann Rorschach in 1921. it consists of 10 cards [5 black and white - 5 colored] containing blots of ink. The subject is asked to describe what he/she sees. This is compared to a data base of other responses. Holtzman Inkblot Technique [HIT] developed in 1961 used 45 cards in the assessment of personality. Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] uses pictures of people in everyday settings and the subject is to describe what is going on or to make up a story about the pictures.

Psyco-dynamic Theories

Carl Jung, a contemporary of Freud, developed a variation of psychoanalytic theory called analytical psychology, which includes two well-known concepts. o The collective unconscious, in contrast with Freud's unconscious, contains latent memory traces from a person's ancestors. o Archetypes, emotionally charged images and thoughts that have universal meaning, may be manifested in a culture's symbols, art, religion, and so forth. Alfred Adler's approach to personality theory is called individual psychology, which de-emphasizes the importance of sexual motivation and focuses on socially based motives. Adler believed that the behavior of adults is motivated by striving for superiority, a drive for perfection. Karen Horney proposed that many adult characteristics are produced by attempts to deal with basic anxiety, a feeling of being isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world. Horney was also a pioneer in the study of psychology of women. She suggested that outside the family, women experience harmful effects because society places a greater value on being male, an attitude that contributes to women's feeling of inferiority and lack of self-esteem.

Carl Jung's Theory

Among psychodynamic theorists, the name Carl Jung is probably second only to Freud in terms of popular recognition. Though at one time he was a close friend of Freud, and seen by Freud as his potential successor, Jung was already a practicing therapist before he first made contact with Freud. As the text notes, Freud had a poor track record in terms of mentoring, with many of his best students ultimately separating from him on bad terms, usually because of disputes about the theory of psychoanalysis. (Freud was a pioneer, but he seemed to have little tolerance for critics.) Jung ultimately developed his own theory, which differed in important respects from Freud's. Most significant were his de-emphasis of the importance of sexuality and aggression as motives, and his division of the unconscious into the personal (much like Freud's original concept) and the collective (a universal unconscious, containing symbolic patterns called archetypes). (For more information, see text and or links below.)

Resources
Carl Jung--A chapter from an electronic book, detailing Jung's life and theory, by George Boeree of Shippensburg University. Carl Gustave Jung--Site includes biography, discussion of Jung's theory, and on-line essay by Jung on the relation of analytical psychology to poetry. The C. G. Jung Page--Commercial site about Jung and Jungian analysis, includes a good collection of web links. The Shadow Exercise--A simple exercise to explore the Shadow, one of the basic elements of Jung's theory of personality; by John Suler of Rider University. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter--An online personality test, based on Jung's concept of psychological types. The test is similar to the Myers-Briggs test, and has the same 16 basic types. NOTE: including this link implies no sanctioning of the test's validity or reliability, but it may nonetheless be instructive and/or entertaining. An updated version of the test can be found here.

Jungian psychodynamics
At the turn of the 20th century, during these decisive years, a young Swiss psychiatrist named Carl Jung had been following Freuds writings and had sent him copies of his articles and his first book, the 1907 Psychology of Dementia Praecox, in which he upheld the Freudian psychodynamic viewpoint, although with some reservations. That year, Freud invited Jung to visit him in Vienna. The two men, it is said, were greatly attracted to each other, and they talked continuously for thirteen hours. This led to a professional relationship in which they corresponded on a weekly basis, for a period of six years.[15] Carl Jung's contributions in psychodynamic psychology include:
1. The psyche tends toward wholeness. 2. The self is composed of the ego, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious.[16] The collective unconscious contains the archetypes which manifest in ways particular to each individual. 3. Archetypes are composed of dynamic tensions and arise spontaneously in the individual and collective psyche. Archetypes are autonomous energies common to the human species. They give the psyche its dynamic properties and help organize it. Their effects can be seen in many forms and across cultures. 4. The Transcendent Function: The emergence of the third resolves the split between dynamic polar tensions within the archetypal structure. 5. The recognition of the spiritual dimension of the human psyche. 6. The role of images which spontaneously arise in the human psyche (images include the interconnection between affect, images, and instinct) to communicate the dynamic processes taking place in the personal and collective unconscious, images which can be used to help the ego move in the direction of psychic wholeness. 7. Recognition of the multiplicity of psyche and psychic life, that there are several organizing principles within the psyche, and that they are at times in conflict.

Adlerian Theory
There are several similarities between Jung and Alfred Adler. Both men trained as doctors, over time sought out Freud to learn about psychoanalysis, were seen as potential successors by Freud, but eventually broke from him over theoretical disputes. While both men disagreed with the emphasis Freud placed on sexuality as a motive, the similarities in their views end there. To Adler, the most important motive is the feeling of inferiority, which he felt originated in the sense of dependence and helplessness which infants experience. (Many biographers see a parallel between Adler's theory and his often experience of being sickly as a child.) Adler's theory in many ways seems more straight-forward than Jung's, since his focus on striving for superiority seems less abstract than Jung's concept of individuation as the goal of growth. This is also seen in other aspects of this theory, such as style of life as a n individual's pattern of personality and adjustment. (Note Adler had little interest in Jung's concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious.) In the end, his theory faces many of the same difficulties as other psychodynamic theories, in terms of evaluating its validity. (See text.) Nonetheless, there is little doubt that Adler has had significant influence within the psychodynamic approach, and as the following links illustrate, his theory still has many supporters.

Resources
Alfred Adler--Another chapter from Boeree's online personality text, detailing Adler's life and theory. Alfred Adler--A briefer biography and overview of Adler's theory, along with a timeline and set of links to other Adler sites.

Classical Adlerian Psychology--Website of Adler Institute of San Francisco; contains variety of background material related to Adler, as well as articles on Adlerian therapy. A Conversation with Harry Stein--Interview with a contemporary Adlerian therapist; from BehaviorOnline website.