Humanistic and Existential Aspects of Personality

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Humanistic and Existential Aspects of Personality

• Theories of Personality
• Prepared by Jim Messina, Ph.D.

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Humanistic/Existential Theorists

• Erich Fromm
• Carl Rogers
• Rollo May
• Victor Frankl
• Abraham Maslow

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Existentialism

• Area of philosophy concerned with the meaning of
  human existence
• Asking questions about issues of love, death and
  the meaning of life
• How one deals with the sense of value and
  meaning of ones life

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Being-in-the-World

• Martin Heidegger (1962)
• Nothing would exist in the world if people were
  not here to see it vs laws govern all behaviors
  and the behaviors their laws exist no matter if
  there people there at the time
• If a tree fell in a forest, and there was no one
  to hear it, would the tree make noise?

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Existentialists Believe

• The world changes as peoples ideas about it
  change.
• Ideas of world human construction
• Beings-in-the-World Self cannot exist without
  a world and the world cannot exist without a
  person (a being) to perceive it
• Must study human beings in their worlds

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Existentialists Dont ask why- Just accept what
is

• Do not consider why questions but
• They consider that statements
• They do not ignore or explain away the issues of
  man such as ethics or morals
• They do not concern themselves with the conflict
  of choosing ethics or morals but rather accept
  that it is essential part of humans to do so

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Phenomenological

• Peoples perceptions or subjective realities are
  considered to be valid data for investigation
• Phenomenological discrepancy two people
  perceiving save situation differently

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Nondeterministic

• Existentialist argue that it is an
  oversimplification to view people as controlled
  by fixed physical laws
• People cannot be viewed simply as cogs in a vast
  machine
• Encouragement of theories that consider
  individual initiative, creativity,
  self-fulfillment
• Focus on active, positive aspects of human growth
  and achievement

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Humanism

• Philosophical movement that emphasizes worth of
  the individual and the centrality of human values
• Attends to matters of ethics personal worth
• Gives credit to the human spirit
• Emphasis on creative, spontaneous active nature
  of humans-optimistic
• Human capacity to overcome hardship despair

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Dialectical Tension

• People having contradictory traits which produce
  this tension
• Dialectic process by which two contradictory
  forces or tendencies lead to a resolution or
  synthesis
• E.g. masculine feminine inclinations,
  extroverted introverted etc.

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I-Thou dialogue vsI-It dialogue

• Our relationship comes from our relationships
  with others (Martin Buber, 1937)
• I-thou human confirms the other person as being
  of unique value-direct mutual relationships
• I-it person uses others but does not value them
  for themselves-utilitarian

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Human Potential Movement

• Begun in 1960s
• Use small group meetings, self-disclosure,
  introspection
• People realize their inner potentials
• Encounter groups, massage, meditation,
  consciousness raising, communing with nature,
  organic food
• E.g. Environmental concerns, Quality Circles,
  Team self-management

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Erich Fromm 1900-1980

• Born Frankfurt Germany
• Only child of Orthodox Jews
• Raised in Christian community experienced
  clannishness Anti Semitism
• Anxious Moody father / Depression prone mother
  he was unbearable neurotic as child
• A woman, he was attracted to when 25, committed
  suicide-triggered need for psychoanalysis

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Dialectical Humanism

• Reconciliation of the biologically driven and
  the societally pressured sides of human beings
  with the belief that people can rise above or
  transcend, these forces and become spontaneous,
  creative loving

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Existential Needs-Fromms

• These needs must be met if ones existence is to
  be meaningful, ones talents are to be fully
  exploited, abnormality is to be avoided

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Fromms 8 Existential Needs
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Carl Rogers 1902-1987

• Born Oak Park, Illinois
• Fourth of six children
• Fundamental religious practices, little social
  mixing, belief virtue Hard Work
• Solitary boy, outstanding student
• Studied in Seminary, became child psychologist
  influenced by Adlers concepts of work with
  children and families
• Emphasized taking personal responsibility for
  ones own life

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The Experiencing Person

• Important issues must be defined by
  individual-special concern are discrepancies
  between what a person thinks of himself total
  range of things he experiences
• People tend to develop in a positive direction,
  that unless thwarted, they achieve their
  potential
• Belief in natural goodness of people-Rousseau
• Inner self-control is better than forced,
  external control

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Rogerian Therapy Client-Centered Therapy

• Necessary conditions from therapist to client
• Unconditional positive regard for client
• Accurate empathy, understanding of clients
  frame of references and communicates this to the
  client
• Congruence in relations between therapist
  client -being oneself in the therapeutic
  relationship with client

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Stages of Rogerian Client-Centered Therapy

• 1. Clients communications about externals not
  self
• 2. Client describes feelings but not recognize
  or own them personally
• Client talks about self as an object in terms of
  past experiences
• 4. Client experiences feelings in present-just
  describes them with distrust fear
• 5. Client experiences and expresses feelings
  freely in present-feeling bubble up
• 6. Client accepts own feelings in immediacy and
  richness
• 7. Client trusts new experiences relates to
  others openly freely

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Rollo May

• Sees anxiety triggered by a threat to ones core
  values of existence
• A sense of powerlessness follows
• Had polio as young man-long term
  institutionalization-isolation anxiety
• Sees human journey as a noble and dignifying one

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Victor Frankl

• Emphasizes the benefits of personal choice
• If people choose to grow develop s anxiety
  which can lead to self-fulfillment
• Was in Nazi concentration camp-found meaning in
  suffering adopting responsibility to control
  what life was lef him
• Developed logotherapy-search for meaning of
  existence

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Self-Actualization

• Innate process by which a person tends to grow
  spiritually and realize potential
• First proposed by Jung-through self-exploration
  person could live in harmony with nature and all
  of humanity by integrating various psychic forces
  to become whole person-selfish drives could be
  explored, understood integrated with the
  spiritual aspects of human

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Teleology Jung 1933

• Idea that there is a grand design or purpose in
  ones life
• Quasi-religious, spiritual integrations are key
  part of human nature

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Abraham Maslow 1908-1970

• Born Brooklyn, New York City 1908-Russian Jewish
  Family, mother 1st cousin of father
• Oldest of 7 children
• Mother-cold, vicious, superstitiously religious
  abusive to son-threats of divine
  retributionreligion is a form of superstition
• Absent father-worked all the time-father in
  depression became ward of his son-they became
  friends
• Suffered from anti-Semitism, poor body image

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Peak Experience

• Special moment when everything seems to fall into
  place
• People transcend the self and are at one with the
  world
• Completely self-fulfilled
• Positive meaningful experience

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Self-actualized People

• Spiritually fulfilled
• Comfortable with themselves others
• Loving creative
• Realistic productive
• People with ideal healthy lives
• Realistic knowledge of self accept self
• Independent, spontaneous playful
• Establish deep intimate relationships
• Have a love for human race
• Non-conformists but highly ethical

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Organismic

• Assumes unfolding or life course of each organism
• Push for self-actualization comes from within
  humans rather than from outside
• Push for self-actualization is not necessary for
  survival
• Evolved tendency of humans for growth is assumed

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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
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Maslows Organismic Deficiency Needs

• D needs deficiency needs for survival
• Survival-Physiological food, water, sex
  shelter
• Safety-Security predictable world, work,
  training, money to pay rent, etc
• Love-Belongingness intimate relationships
• Esteem respect for oneself others
• B needs, values being level correct social
  conditions needed to encourage self-actualization

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Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) Shostrum 1974

• Assessment of self-actualization-does work but it
  is
• Self-report questionnaire so it measures what
  Maslow expected these people to have
• Explores dimensions of self-actualization
• Intimate relationships
• Spontaneous vs inhibited etc