Prominent Humanistic Theories

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Chapter 11 Personality
4. Personal dispositions are more important in some situations than in others. Where
many different behaviors would be appropriate—at a picnic, for example—what
people do can usually be predicted from their dispositions (extraverts will probably play games and socialize while introverts watch). However, in situations such as
a funeral, where fewer options are socially acceptable, personal dispositions will not
differentiate one person from another; everyone is likely to be quiet and somber.
Today, social-cognitive theorists are attempting to discover how person variables
develop, how they relate to stress and health, and how they interact with situational
variables to affect behavior.
Evaluating the Social-Cognitive Approach
The social-cognitive approach to personality is valuable because it blends behavioral learning theories with concepts from cognitive psychology and applies them to such socially
important topics as aggression, the effects of mass media on children, and the development of techniques that enhance personal control over behavior. Social-cognitive principles
have also been translated into cognitive-behavioral treatment procedures (O’Donohue,
Fisher, & Hayes, 2003; see the chapter on treatment of psychological disorders).
The social-cognitive approach has not escaped criticism, however. Psychodynamic
theorists point out that social-cognitive theories leave no role for unconscious thoughts
and feelings in determining behaviors (e.g., Westen, 1998). Some advocates of trait theory complain that social-cognitive theorists have focused more on explaining why traits
are unimportant than on why situations are important and that they have failed to identify what it is about specific situations that brings out certain behaviors (Friedman &
Schustack, 2003; Funder, 2001). Finally, some critics feel that the social-cognitive
approach cannot capture the complexities, richness, and uniqueness that are inherent
in human personality (Carver & Scheier, 2004). For these critics, a far more attractive
alternative is offered by the humanistic approach to personality.
The Humanistic Approach
䉴 Is everyone basically good?
Unlike theories that emphasize the instincts and learning processes that humans seem
to share with other animals, the humanistic approach to personality focuses on mental capabilities that set humans apart: self-awareness, creativity, planning, decision making, and responsibility. Those who adopt the humanistic approach view human
behavior as motivated mainly by an innate drive toward growth that prompts people
to fulfill their unique potential. And, like the planted seed whose natural potential is to
become a flower, people are seen as naturally inclined toward goodness, creativity, love,
and joy. Humanistic psychologists also believe that to explain people’s actions, it is more
important to understand their view of the world than their instincts, traits, or learning experiences. To humanists, that world view is a bit different for each of us, and it
is this unique phenomenology (pronounced “feh-naw-men-ALL-oh-gee”), or way of perceiving and interpreting the world, that shapes personality and guides behavior (Kelly,
1980). Because of its emphasis on the importance of looking at people’s perceptions,
this approach to personality is also sometimes called the phenomenological approach.
humanistic approach A view of behavior as controlled by the decisions
that people make about their lives
based on their perceptions of the world.
actualizing tendency An innate inclination toward growth and fulfillment
that motivates all human behavior.
Prominent Humanistic Theories
The most prominent humanistic theories of personality are those of Carl Rogers and
Abraham Maslow.
Rogers’s Self Theory In his extensive writings, Carl Rogers (1961, 1970, 1980)
emphasized the actualizing tendency, which he described as an innate inclination
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The Humanistic Approach
Parents are not usually this obvious
about creating conditions of worth, but
according to Rogers, the message gets
through in many more subtle ways.
toward growth and fulfillment that motivates all human behavior (Raskin & Rogers,
2001). To Rogers, personality is the expression of that actualizing tendency as it unfolds
in each person’s uniquely perceived reality (Allen, 2006).
The centerpiece of Rogers’s theory is the self, the part of experience that a person
identifies as “I” or “me.” According to Rogers, those who accurately experience the self—
with all its preferences, abilities, fantasies, shortcomings, and desires—are on the road
to self-actualization. The progress of those whose experiences of the self become distorted, however, is likely to be slowed or stopped.
Rogers saw personality development beginning early, as children learn to need the
approval, or positive regard, of others. Evaluations by parents, teachers, and others soon
begin to affect children’s self-evaluations. When these evaluations by others are in agreement with a child’s own self-evaluations, the child reacts in a way that matches, or is
congruent with, self-experience. The child not only feels the other person’s positive
regard but also evaluates the self as “good” for having earned approval. This positive
self-experience becomes part of the self-concept, which is the way one thinks of oneself. Unfortunately, things may not always go so smoothly. If a pleasurable self-experience
is evaluated negatively by others, the child must either do without their positive regard
or reevaluate the experience. So a little boy who is teased by his father for having fun
playing with dolls might adopt a distorted self-experience—deciding, perhaps, that “I
don’t like dolls” or that “Feeling good is bad.”
In other words, said Rogers, personality is shaped partly by the actualizing tendency
and partly by other people’s evaluations. In this way, people come to like what they are
“supposed” to like and to behave as they are “supposed” to behave. This socialization
process helps people to get along in society, but it often requires that they suppress
their self-actualizing tendencies and distort their experiences. Rogers argued that psychological discomfort, anxiety, or mental disorder can result when the feelings people
experience or express are incongruent, or at odds, with their true feelings.
Incongruence is likely, Rogers said, when parents and teachers lead children to
believe that their personal worth depends on displaying the “right” attitudes, behaviors,
and values. These conditions of worth are created whenever people are evaluated
instead of their behavior. For example, parents who find their child drawing on the wall
are not likely to say, “I love you, but I don’t approve of this behavior.” They are more
likely to shout, “Bad boy!” or “Bad girl!” This reaction suggests that the child is lovable
and worthwhile only when well behaved. As a result, the child’s self-experience is not
“I like drawing on the wall, but Mom and Dad don’t approve,” but instead, “Drawing
on the wall is bad, and I am bad if I like it, so I don’t like it.” The child may eventually show overly neat and tidy behaviors that do not reflect the real self but, rather, are
part of an ideal self that is dictated by the parents.
As with Freud’s concept of superego, conditions of worth are first set up by external pressure but eventually become part of the person’s belief system. To Rogers, then,
rewards and punishments are important in personality development not just because
they shape behavior but also because they so easily create distorted self-perceptions and
incongruence.
Like Rogers, Abraham Maslow (1954, 1971a, 1971b)
viewed personality as the expression of a basic human tendency toward growth and
self-actualization. In fact, Maslow believed that self-actualization is not just a human
capacity but a human need; as described in the chapter on motivation and emotion,
he placed self-actualization as the highest in a hierarchy of needs. Yet, said Maslow, people are often distracted from seeking self-actualization because they are focusing on
needs that are lower in the hierarchy.
Maslow saw most people as controlled by a deficiency orientation, a preoccupation
with perceived needs for material things. Ultimately, he said, deficiency-oriented people come to see life as a meaningless exercise in disappointment and boredom, and they
may begin to behave in problematic ways. For example, in an attempt to satisfy the
need for love, many people focus on what love can give them (security), not on what
Maslow’s Growth Theory
self-concept The way one thinks of
oneself.
conditions of worth According to
Rogers, circumstances in which an
individual experiences positive regard
from others only when displaying
certain behaviors or attitudes.