Psychodynamic vs Humanistic Theories - Research Paper Example

?Comparing Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories This essay purports to answer the research question: “How does Freud’s psychodynamic theory of personality compare with humanistic theories of personality?” by delving into a thorough research on theories from available literature. It will critically discuss each psychological theory independently at first and then compare them as to their features. The Psychoanalytic theory is premised on the belief that human nature is greatly affected by a person’s early childhood experiences and conflicts between impulses and prohibitions. From Freud’s early work (1910), he already introduced his theory as stemming from an individual’s sexual impulses from which he based his Psychosexual Stages of Development. He theorized that as a person grows, he derives satisfaction from stimulating a particular part of his body which he named “erogenous zones”. From the time a child is born until around age 2, his erogenous zone is his mouth, so Freud termed it the Oral Stage. This is the stage when the baby puts everything in his oral cavity or mouth in order to learn about the world. The next stage is a time of toilet training and mastering muscle control for defecation, so the anus becomes a source of pleasure. This stage is termed the Anal Stage. At around the age of 4 to 7, the child discovers that his genitals give him pleasure, so he learns to stimulate it. This is called the Phallic stage. This stage dies down into a latency period from the ages of 7 to about 12, when interest in discovering bodily pleasures cool off and children tend to look outwards in the hopes of making friends. The final Psychosexual stage is the Genital stage when adolescents up to adults confirm that genital stimulation in masturbation or the sexual act gives utmost pleasure. This is the time when people take interest in the opposite sex in the hopes of finding a mate. Freud theorized that experiences of individuals in each particular stage will have a significant effect on his or her personality when they grow up. For example, if during the Anal stage, the child experiences frustration in toilet training due to having “accidents” that embarrass him, then as a grown up, he would be very conscious keeping control not only of his bodily urges but of his words and actions, to avoid embarrassment of “letting go”. The same goes for every psychosexual stage. However, if the individual chooses to “sublimate” such urges into higher goals, then he gets to exchange their sexual goal for a more socially more valuable one. Freud’s views human behavior as determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations and biological and instinctual drives evolving throughout his life (Weiten & McCann, 2006). Quite different from Psychodynamic theories, Humanistic psychologists wanted to analyze people’s personalities with the exploration of the nature of the self, self-actualization, health, creativity, being, becoming, individuation, and meaning (De Carvalho, 1990). Abraham Maslow, one of the proponents of Humanistic Psychology conceptualized the Hierarchy of needs which illustrates that a person goes through a ladder of needs for survival. His needs for safety is basic, as it encompasses biological and psychological needs of security –his hunger is satiated, he is clothed and sheltered and he does not feel threats to harm his cocoon of security. When these basic needs are met, then he goes up to the need for affection as he seeks warm and satisfying personal relationships to make him feel loved and to love others in return. Upon satisfying that need, he feels a need to build up his esteem, as how he feels about himself and how others think of him becomes essential to his survival. Finally, he reaches self-actualization which is the “full use of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc..” (Weiten & McCann, 2006). Since humanistic psychology focuses more on personal improvement instead of dwelling on frailties, much has evolved as concepts that support it. Several proponents have been named for humanistic psychology. Carl Rogers espoused his views in his Person-Centered theories that emphasized unconditional positive regard and the quest for congruence of self to achieve authenticity. This approach has great respect for a person’s subjective views and potential for self-actualization. It offers a fresh and hopeful perspective on its views on human nature. (Weiten & McCann, 2006). Another psychologist being associated with humanistic theories is Gordon Allport who is known to coin the term “humanistic”. However, due to the breadth and depth of his theories, he is more accurately characterized as an “eclectic” or “open” theorist (Nicholson, 1997). However, Allport did not totally agree with existentialist influences on humanistic psychology, thinking existentialism was “intellectually pretentious, self-indulgent, and unduly pessimistic” (Allport cited in Nicholson, 1997). This may have been because he was into including spirituality and religion in his theories which espoused faith in a higher being instead of just one’s self. That is why although he thought humanism had noble intentions for a better Psychological force, he admitted that he cannot totally embrace it as representing his own philosophy because it was not complete for him. It did not speak of human aspects of sin or guilt or provide answers as to what happens beyond one’s life experiences (Nicholson, 1997). Psychological Humanism theories emerged as the Third Force in contrast it to the prevailing major forces of Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis. Its conception was a reaction to humanists’ criticism that the prevailing theories of Psychology reduced people to mechanical parts, and so, their theories were considered dehumanizing. (De Carvalho, 1990). Humanists see reductionistic mindsets as hindrances to true healing. Humanists argue that people should be seen as whole beings and not as parts of the whole that can overrule the individual’s personality. This theory of Psychology realized that most psychological research studied the implications of something negative – abnormalities, maladaptive behavior, depression, learning disabilities, mental illness – to name a few. Most of these have been explained by Psychodynamic theories as effects of untoward experiences in certain psychosexual stages. Goldberg (2010) for one, came up with a list of his observations as to the problems in the discipline of Psychology that is making it lose its credibility. He believed that the pessimistic theories that prevailed over the years reflected the psychoanalytic emphasis on people’s loss and pathological circumstances. He contends that Psychology should focus more on more humanistic goals such as the quest for “personal identity, significance and unification” (p. 678). They are better understood when their experiences are made more meaningful for themselves. Conclusion The Psychodynamic and humanistic theories were developed in an attempt to understand human behavior, motivations and personality. Both theories, as well as Behavioristic theories have been influential to Psychology in the recent decades and have enjoyed their share of followers. However, upon careful research, Psychodynamic theories focused more on the negative consequences of people’s behaviors in each Psychosexual stage while humanistic theories urged on the positive side of people to surface, grow and work towards self-actualization. References Decarvalho, R. J. (1990). A history of the “Third Force” in psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 30(4), 22-44. Freud, S. (1910). The origin and development of psychoanalysis. American Journal of Psychology, 21(2), 181-218. Goldberg, C. (2000). A humanistic psychology for the new millennium. The Journal of Psychology, 134(6), 677-682. Nicholson, I. (1997). Humanistic psychology and intellectual identity: The “open” system of Gordon Allport. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 37(3), 61-80. Weiten, W. & McCann, D. (2006) Psychology: Themes and Variations, 1st Ed., Nelson College Indigenous Read More