Psychology in The Noticer - Essay Example

Psychological review of “The Noticer” The humanistic perspective of psychology is based on three key assumptions. Firstly, proponents of this theory believe in the innate goodness of human beings. Secondly, they infer that the inherent goodness possessed by humans compels them to work towards bettering the world. Thirdly, individuals have freewill enabling them to choose actions geared towards propelling them towards fulfilling their potential. The two main proponents of the humanistic perspective are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. The purpose of this perspective is to understand how individuals understand things external from them (Schacter et al, 2011). Carl Rogers-Self Concept Carl Rogers coined the term Self-concept in reference to an individual’s conscious awareness of their own identity. Rogers proposed that individuals fulfill their potential when they positively regard themselves and at the same time, are positively regard by others. However, individuals may feel that the regard from others is based on conditional achievements which they have to garner before they are positively regarded. These conditional achievements create incongruence between the real self and the ideal self. To rectify incongruence individuals take actions, which they perceive will attract positive regard from others. These actions may either fulfil their desires or may result in them chasing wrong achievements that result in discontent. In addition, they may distort their view of the world by predisposing them to blame others for what is happening refrain from giving himself credit for achievements garnered (Bugental, 1964). According to Rogers, self-actualization only takes place when there is congruence between the real self and the ideal self. He proposed three necessary environmental conditions that enable a person to grow healthily: genuineness, acceptance and empathy. The basic need of self actualization is inherent in all human beings, as they all want to grow and meet their full potentials. People become destructive and develop misconstrued concepts of the world when the self actualizing process is surpassed by external factors. This subsequently leads to unsatisfied individuals who are unhappy with their lives (Bugental, 1964). Abraham Maslow-Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs in reference to human needs and the order of their fulfillment. Maslow shared Carl Rogers’ view, which inferred people moved towards growth and fulfillment of their potential through self actualization. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is pyramid based having the most basic needs at the lower base and the highest need of self actualization at the peak. An individual only moves onto the next level of needs when the needs of the preceding level are fulfilled. There are differences in the rates at which the needs are satisfied. Moreover, fixation may occur where an individual stagnates in one stage longer than usual (Schacter D. L, 2011). According to Bugental (1964) the pyramid is made up of five levels: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belongingness, esteem needs and lastly self actualization. Physiological needs encompass basic needs necessary for survival like food and water. According to Maslow, these were primary needs due to their basic and instinctual qualities. He inferred that all other higher up needs were secondary to these. Safety needs include needs for safety and security and examples include shelter from the elements, physical and job security. Social needs satisfy the innate feeling for love and belongingness. Friendships, intimate relationships and families meet the need for love and belonging. Once the needs of the first three levels are met, esteem needs become very important and these needs reflect on self esteem and self worth. Self actualization, the highest point of the pyramid, is where individuals become increasingly self-aware, concerned with personal growing and have little concern about the opinions people hold. The humanistic perspective is aptly applied in “The Noticer” by Andy Andrews. Characters in the book are plagued by a host of different problems ranging from outmost poverty to marriages on the brink of divorce to bankruptcy. Individuals are in a grid lock where they feel that they have no control of what is happening to them and cannot change their circumstances. There is a clear picture that the various characters suffer from incongruence between their real selves and their ideal selves and this causes their inability to meet the needs of the various stages of need they are presently in. The mismatch of the real and ideal selves of the characters may be attributed to a lack of positive regard for themselves or a lack of positive regard from others. For example the married characters that are on the brink of divorce may be incongruent because they do things for their partner so as to make them happy while they are actually discontent with the state of things themselves. The characters are chasing what they think will please their spouse while in real essence it only makes them unhappy. The humanistic perspective of subjective perception of individuals is seen in the text where the character Andy, who has no clear ambitions and is homeless, reads books left behind by Joe and he derives his own opinion on what it is to be successful and this motivates him to meet his potential. Through these events he becomes a respectable stand-up comedian and has a family and comes to own a home and hungers for more success. With the character Andy, Maslow’s perspective is actualized where Andy is only able to move up the hierarchy of needs when he has met his primary needs. To begin with, Andy was homeless and had no steady job but after determining his goal in life he works on fulfilling his potential. He establishes himself as a comedian and through this he is able to meet his basic needs of food and shelter, then onto security needs. After meeting these needs he is able to have a family which meets his needs of love and belonging and seeks to become more successful in his life and is moving towards self actualization. In my view the humanistic perspective is applicable to real life situations. All individuals have innate goodness and are creative but, with differing points of views of the world there are differences in how these individuals meet their needs and the rate at which they will meet their needs. There are individuals who from the onset know exactly what it is they want out of their life and will take necessary steps to meet their full potential and be the persons they want to be. This lot of people has their real selves and their ideal selves congruent. On the other hand there are those individuals who do know what they want to be but get lost in the midst of figuring out how to get from point A to point B. These individuals get lost and end up trying to achieve things which in the long run will not give them the satisfaction that they seek. Only when a person comes to understand their personal identity is when he is able to self actualize. Conclusion The humanistic perspective is quite enlightening and brings out the reason behind the discordance in the lives of individuals who are unhappy or unsatisfied with their lives. If individuals had the knowledge that this perspective has to offer they would easily bypass the problems they face in their lives and they would choose their actions based on their needs and not solely on the needs of others thereby averting personal problems. References Bugental, J. (1964). The third force in psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology , 19-26. Schacter D. L, D. G. (2011). Psychology. New York: NY: Worth Publishers. Read More