Psychology of Personal Motivation - Essay Example

?Running Head: Motivation and Personality Motivation and Personality [Institute’s Motivation and Personality Background of Humanistic Psychology History For much of the first half of the 20th century, behaviorism and psychoanalysis remained the dominant force in the field of psychology. However, during the second half of the 20th century, a “third force” of humanistic psychology emerged in response to the prevalent behaviorism or psychoanalysis (Kalat, 2010). Humanist thinkers felt that both, behaviorism and psychoanalysis failed to undertake a holistic perspective of the human character or personality and was too pessimistic in the fact that it only took into account the most tragic emotions of people. Furthermore, humanists argue that both of these schools of thoughts have dehumanized people (Smith, 1991). Definition and Brief Description According to the humanistic theory, all humans have an inherent desire to explore and reach their maximum possible potential, and they continue to do so to the point where financial, social, security related, physical and psychological obstacles are put in place restricting the potential of that person. Furthermore, the fundamental idea within humanistic psychology is that people are inherently good, and the mental or physical problems that they encounter are highly likely to be a result of their deviation from their basic nature. Moreover, it is unjust to reduce human beings into components because they as humans in themselves supersede the sum of their parts (Cohen, 2000, p. 82). Influential figures; Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers Although, American psychologist Carl Rogers is widely believed to be the founder of the humanistic psychology, one can trace its roots in the writings of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Protagoras, and others. Their writings do not present a picture of the modern humanistic psychology, but as compared to the philosophers of their time, their ideas were much more humanistic in nature (Grogan, 2008). Nevertheless, Carl Rogers’s contribution to the field of psychology remains imperative in laying the official foundation stone of humanistic psychology. Carl Rogers propagated a strong belief in free will and self-determination in an era where psychoanalysts were focusing their attention on unconscious impulses, and behaviorists were consumed by environmental stimulus (Kalat, 2010). Carol Rogers, as a clinical psychologist argued that in order to ensure that a child could achieve growth and self-actualization, parents, elders, and authority figures should provide the child with unconditional love and support. Furthermore, Rogers also developed client-centered therapy, the central idea of which is rooted in the idea that the therapist should provide positive regard to the client regardless of what the client says to the point where he or she resume the self-actualization process and internalize conditions of worth (Coon & Mitterer, 2008). Most people before Maslow focused their studies on the abnormal and ill within the society and many psychologists even used animals to understand human behaviour. Maslow did not appreciate such an idea and believed that we need to study healthy and well functioning people, in other words, people who have already achieved self-actualization. With his hierarchy of needs, Maslow put forward some key ideas of humanistic psychology that all people have an inherent desire to find inner happiness and satisfaction, in other words self actualization and when people fail to reach that stage it is because their basic safety, security, social and physical desires become an obstacle in the process (Goble, 2004). Humanistic Aspects and Therapies Motivations in Humanistic Psychology As mentioned earlier, the biggest and the most significant motivation for any individual, according to humanistic psychology, is their desire for self-actualization and inner growth. In fact, all people have this inner spark and the only reason that they fail to reach the top is that they are too occupied with other needs (Shaffer, 1978). Personalities in Humanistic Psychology It was mentioned earlier that humanists believe in the inherent goodness of all people. Furthermore, humanists do not confine individuals to a few traits or characteristics but believe that their free will and derive for self-actualization allows them to create their own personalities. These personalities are influenced by environmental factors, but they do not succumb to the pressures of these environmental factors (Nevill, 1977). Therapy Methods The most influential therapy method within humanistic psychology is of client-centered therapy, and it has already been mentioned earlier in the paper. The basic idea here is that the therapist could focus his or her energies on creating a comfortable and non-judgmental environment for the client so that he or she could develop the confidence and find the direction to solve his or her own problems (Grogan, 2008). Existential Therapy has its roots in the humanistic view, but it is more titled towards the philosophical idea that when a person is encountering a conflict it is a result of the confrontation of that person with the realities of existence. These are the responsibilities of freedom, the inevitability of death, meaninglessness within life and existential isolation. The major responsibility of the therapist is to explore which of these factors are causing dissatisfaction and conflict in the mind of the client and address them (Cohen, 2000). In the true sense, only when an individual realizes his or her consciousness, free will and determination that he or she would face these conflicts (Wertz, 1994, p. 182). Lastly, humanistic psychology argues that one should rely on more qualitative than quantitative methods in therapy. In theory, quantitative methods are used to test some hypothesis and apply specific theories to general circumstances. However, human emotions, feelings, characters, personalities and thought processes are unique, and they can be counted or measured through mathematical or statistical techniques (Smith, 1991). Since every person is unique, he or she is likely to associate different subjective meanings to entities and elements. People hold different biases, assumptions, predispositions, inclinations, and others and; therefore, there is no ultimate truth or universal process to uncover the truth. The best approach is to treat every individual as unique and different as he or she possibly could be and reply on qualitative methods to move from the unknown to the known rather than using fixed and predetermined quantitative methods (Feist, 2005). Research As mentioned earlier, right from day one, experts in the field of humanistic psychology have remained critical of the traditional scientific methods in understanding human personality, behavior, and consciousness. They believe that these methods are a better fit for physical sciences and their universality cannot assist in understanding the complex and unique entities of human behavior and decision-making (Shaffer, 1978). However, the fact is that, at various instances, many leading figures in Humanistic psychology have presented their hypothesis for testing and validation to the rest of the world. For example, when Maslow proposed his theory of hierarchy of needs, he encouraged the rest of the world to test his hypothesis. Furthermore, Donald Polkinghorne also confessed that humanistic psychology does not entirely reject the contribution of base human desires and environmental factors in shaping the behavior and personality of the people, but it believes that people have the ability to rise above these pressures and forces and determine their own responses. More importantly, Polkinghorne noted that humanists need research to prove the same (Coon & Mitterer, 2008). Case Studies Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, for most part, stems from the case study research pattern where Maslow studied exemplary people of the society such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frederick Douglass, and others. He believed that other psychologists of that time had reached horrific and evil conclusions about human nature because they have studied mentally ill and neurotic people (Nevill, 1977). Empirical Studies Much empirical research has been directed at the client centered therapy of Rogers and the results have revealed, overwhelmingly, that his ideals are imperative conditions in successful therapy. This has led to therapists from all backgrounds and school of thoughts to give particular importance to empathy, warmth and acceptance as the core conditions of therapy (Nevill, 1977). As mentioned earlier that Maslow wanted other experts to test the validity and reliability of his hypothesis. When the same happened, it yielded mixed results. Some studies provide strong support for the ideas of Maslow; however, there are also studies that believe that many of the assumptions and conclusions of Maslow are flawed. For example, in one study, researchers placed subjects in stressful conditions, which threatened their physiological and safety needs with the assumption that the same would not allow them to self-actualize and engage in actions that relate to self-actualization (Schneider, et al., 2001). Shortly after that, researchers undertook various tests of the participants to measure their creativity with the assumption that creativity strongly correlates with self-actualization. Majority of the subjects did remarkably well at those tests (Wertz, 1994). The empirical research conducted on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has found enough evidence for the presence of these needs, but they have failed to find conclusive evidence for this hierarchy or arrangement for this hierarchy. For example, Hofstede, based on his research, has criticized the hierarchy of needs as individualistic and lacking a collectivistic perspective (Feist, 2005). According to Hofstede, Maslow came from an individualistic society of US where collective values of social acceptance and bonding are not given the utmost importance but in many collectivistic countries, it is imperative for individuals to fit in within their groups. Conclusion Various experts argue that one should not see humanistic psychology as a sub field with psychology, but it is merely a perspective on human conditions that influences psychology and psychological practice. They believe that the real contribution of the humanistic perspective is the fact that it is leading to the development of transpersonal psychology, which is quickly emerging as an influential field of study within psychology. Even his last days, Abraham Maslow was intrigued by the questions that why people do not achieve self actualization when after all of their other needs have been met. The point here is that humanistic psychology is a relatively new field, and it still has much room for research and debate (Schneider, et al., 2001). References Cohen, D. (2000). Carl Rogers: A Critical Biography. Constable & Robinson Limited. Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2008). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior. Cengage Learning. Feist, G. J. (2005). Theories of personality. McGraw Hill. Goble, F. G. (2004). The Third Force: The Psychology of Abraham Maslow. Maurice Bassett. Grogan, J. L. (2008). A Cultural History of the Humanistic Psychology Movement in America. Proquest. Kalat, J. W. (2010). Introduction to Psychology. Cengage Learning. Nevill, D. D. (1977). Humanistic psychology: new frontiers. Gardner Press. Schneider, K. J., Bugental, J. F. T., & Pierson, J. F. (2001). The handbook of humanistic psychology: leading edges in theory, research, and practice. Sage Publications. Shaffer, J. B. P. (1978). Humanistic psychology. Prentice Hall. Smith, M. B. (1991). Values, Self, and Society: Toward a Humanist Social Psychology. Transaction Publishers. Wertz, F. J. (1994). The Humanistic movement: recovering the person in psychology. Gardner Press. Read More