Psych Notes: Humanistic Perspective of Personality

By the 1960's, psychologists became discontent with Freud's negativity and the mechanistic psychology of the behaviorists.This approach emphasizes an individual's inherent drive towards self-actualization and creativity. Humanistic psychology has a pervasive impact on counseling, education, child-rearing, and management with its emphasis on a positive self-concept, empathy, and the thought that people are basically good and can improve.

Abraham Maslow proposed that we as individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, beginning with physiological needs, we try to reach the state of self actualization-- fulfilling our potential.

A Person-Centered Perspective
Carl Rogers also believed in an individual's self-actualization tendencies. He said that unconditional positive regard is an attitude of acceptance of others despite their failings.

Assessing Personality
Rogers asked people to describe themselves as they would like to be (ideal) and as they actually are (real). If the two descriptions were close the individual had a positive self-concept-- our thoughts and feelings about ourselves.

Criticisms

1. Concepts on humanistic psychology are vague and subjective and lack scientific basis. 
2. The individualism encouraged can lead to self-indulgence, selfishness, and an erosion of moral restraints. 
3. Humanistic psychology fails to appreciate the reality of our human capacity for evil.
4. It lacks adequate balance between realistic optimism and despair.