14.4: Humanistic Models of Personality:

14.4: Humanistic Models of Personality:

  • Behavioral and Social Learning Theories B. F. Skinner and his fellow radical behaviorists agreed with Freud that our behavior is determined and that free will is an illusion, but they maintained that the primary causes of our behavior--contingencies--lie outside rather than inside us.
    • Critics of radical behaviorism acknowledge that Skinner and his followers put psychology on a firm scientific footing.
    • From an evolutionary perspective, the claim of radical behaviorists that their thoughts do not play a role in our behavior is implausible.
  • The cerebral cortex of the daughter's personality is specialized for problem solving, planning, reasoning, and and mannerisms.
    • If our thoughts were merely the result of contingencies, the scientific jury would have evolved.
  • Social learning theorists argued that observational learning is a crucial form of learning in addition to classical and operant conditioning.
    • Social learning theory is critiqued.
    • There is a claim that observational learning exerts a powerful influence over our personality.
    • Modeling the behaviors of our parents and other relatives should help us learn.
    • Behavior-genetic studies have shown that the effects of shared environment on adult personality are weak.
  • Scientists have observed learning processes in animals with tiny cerebral cortexes, even though social learning theorists believe that learning processes depend on thinking.
    • Classical conditioning has been documented in honeybees and starfish.
  • Not all researchers have replicated the findings ofBergstrom and hydra.
    • There have been reports of observational learn, but these findings are controversial.
  • The fact that learning occurs in animals with simple nervous systems is indicative of three things.
    • Social learning theorists think that basic forms of learning depend on the brain.
    • Simple animals may rely on different mechanisms than humans.
    • There isn't a clear answer at this point.
  • Psychoanalytic theory dominated personality psychology in the first half of the 20th century.
  • The idea of free will was embraced by humanistic psychologists.
    • They maintained that we are perfectly free to choose either positive or negative paths in life.
  • Self-actualization would be disastrous for society because our innate drives, housed in the id, are potentially harmful if not controlled.
    • Freudians feel that a society of self-actualized people would result in pandemonium, with citizens expressing their sexual and aggressive urges with reckless abandon.
  • Humanistic theorists see self-actualization as a worthy goal because they view human nature as inherently constructive.
  • Carl Rogers used his personality theory as a point of departure for an influential form of psychotherapy that we'll discuss later in the text.
    • Rogers believed that if only society allowed it, we could all achieve our full potential for emotional fulfillment.
  • According to Rogers, our personality consists of three major components: organisms, self, and conditions of worth.
  • It's similar to the Freudian id, except that Rogers viewed the organisms as positive and helpful.
    • Rogers wasn't very specific about the makeup of the organisms.
  • They come from our parents and society, and eventually we internalize them.
    • Carl Rogers, pioneer of humanistic psychology, held an optimistic view of in childhood when others made their acceptance of us dependent on our human nature.
    • We accept ourselves only if we act in the accusation that he is being naive.
    • If the dark side of human nature is what motivates a child to write poetry, they may develop conditions of worth.
  • I'm not worth it when I'm teased for writing poetry.
    • Rogers reluctantly acknowledged that in modern and inappropriate behavior society, even the best adjusted among us inevitably harbor certain conditions of worth.
  • Rogers focused on individuals whose tendencies toward self-actualization were stymied and therefore ended up with psychological problems, whereas Abraham Maslow focused on individuals who were self-actualized, especially historical figures.
    • Only 2% of people achieve full self-actualization, which he regarded as a rare feat.
  • Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, and Mahatma Gandhi were self-actualized.
  • They focus on real-world and intellectual problems and have a few deep friends.
    • typi excitement and tranquility marked cally are self-actualized individuals who crave privacy and can come off as aloof or even difficult to deal with, because they've by a profound sense of connection outgrew the need to be popular.
    • They're not afraid to express unpopular opinions because they're not afraid to rock the boat.
    • One of the historical connections to the world is the sense of Mahatma Gandhi.