Personality Psych Chapter 11

Viktor Frankl

-An existential psychologist -All of his family died in the Nazi concentration camp -Struggled to search for the meaning of life -He concluded that the meaning of life is found in every moment of life. Life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death -"Love is the highest and ultimate goal to which man can aspire" -His ideas translated into Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Strengths of the humanistic perspective

-An optimistic approach to life, focusing on the positive -Impact on psychotherapy has been very important--making the client the center of therapy; incorporation of Rogerian techniques into therapy- such as positive regard, empathy, self-disclosure. Note impact of fields of education and communication. Maslow hierarchy in the workplace.

The Flow

-Another central concept of positive psychology -Refers to an optimal experience, in which one is engaged in an activity and is being carried out in a natural, almost effortless movement from one step to the next -Happiness is not seen as a specific destination, but as a process of challenging oneself in a meaningful activity -The activity is challenging and requires skills, ones attention is completely absorbed, the activity has a clear goal, one achieves a sense of personal control, one loses a sense of time and self consciousness

Misconceptions about the hierarchy of needs

-Assumption that lower needs must be satisfied before turning to higher needs. -Description that need hierarchy is universal, but it actually varies across cultures. -Oversimplification that any behavior is motivated by a single need. Behavior is the result of multiple needs

Maslow: Belongingness and love needs

-Deficiency love is the need to satisfy the emptiness people experience without it. -Being love is experienced and grows as a result of being in the relationship

Key Elements of the Humanistic Approach

-Emphasis on personality responsibility -Emphasis on functioning in the here and now, not be a captive of your past -Emphasis on personal growth. - Roger called this becoming a fully functioning and Maslow called this the idea of self actualization -Acknowledging the fact that it is only the client in therapy that can make the decision for him/herself -You aren't a victim of circumstances, you chose to be

The Third Force

-Founders were Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, who were both therapists -The Humanistic approach was a reaction to the two major views -The 1st view was Freudian perspective and its emphasis on unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts -The 2nd view was the behavioral perspective and its emphasis on our responses to stimuli in the environment.

Fully functioning person

-Full functioning person: People who strive and reach for optimal sense of satisfaction in their lives -The fully functioning person was ideal for a healthy personality

Current Status of the Humanistic Approach

-Many of the concepts do not lead themselves for operational definitions and for scientific study -Many of the studies conducted that support their ideas were based on their own subjective impressions and intuition -The concept of free will has been challenged

Job Satisfaction

-Occupations should provide opportunities for personal growth and satisfaction of higher order needs -Jobs can satisfy people's need for belonging, self esteem and respect for others

The Psychology of Optimal Experience

-Optimal experience in everyday activities. -Note happiness- living in the present, taking control of your life, the struggle and ongoing experience, rather than a definite goal. -Important question: The pursuit of happiness... What is happiness? -Involves being totally absorbed in an activity that requires your full attention and utilizes your skills to the utmost

Happiness

-Positive psychologists argue that happiness can't be found solely through material possessions -Happiness cannot be found in money because the human mind has a tendency to escalate or raise the bar whenever a goal is reached... we always want more -The more energy that is invested in material goods, the less energy remains to invest in social connections and other spheres of life that can bring happiness

Resilience

-Positive psychology focuses on the search for inner strength that may enable a person undergoing a traumatic event to find the silver lining around the cloud. -The concept of post trauma growth reflects the translation of this idea into clinical psychology

Unpopular ideas by the 2 original forces

-Psychoanalysis: the unconscious is a hypothetical concept that cannot be empirically validated. -Behavioral approach: we are seen as being manipulated without being fully aware by classical or operant conditioning.

David Myers

-Relative Deprivation refers to the perception that one is less well off than others whom one compares himself to -Frustration is often compounded by the fact that we compare ourselves to others who are a rung or two above us in their level of income -Sees happiness related to funds, friends and faith

Assessment: Q-Sort Technique

-Requires the client to sort a deck of 100 self descriptive cards into 9 categories according to his/her real and ideal self -Allows the patient to describe themselves Clients whose real and ideal selves are unrelated have zero correlation -Negatively correlated if real and ideal selves are opposite -Real ideal self correlations increase as the client moves through client centered psychotherapy

Applications

-Rodger applied his ideas into a system of therapy that emphasizes the creation of conditions that allow the client to accept him/herself and to achieve personal growth. Extending to the client unconditional positive regard facilitates this goal. -Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been applied into understanding job satisfaction and vocational choices

Carl Rogers: Anxiety

-Rogers saw anxiety as resulting from our inability to incorporate information that is inconsistent with our self image -When faced with extreme threatening info, one relies on defenses such as distortion and denial

Attributes of the Psychologically Healthy Person

-Sense of humor -Creativity... not in artistic talent, in being able to perform mundane tasks in a non routine manner -Open to new experiences -Having peak experiences involving the transcendence of time and place

Criticism

-The concept of free will is difficult to prove empirically. -The key concepts are poorly defined- what is "self-actualization"? etc. -Maslow's study of the psychologically healthy people was very subjective and based on general impressions. That he had of his personal friends, and of historical figures. -Applications of the principles of humanistic psychology may be limited to a narrow range of human problems. -The appropriateness of relying on the client to make accurate appraisals of themsleves has been questioned -Also- some naive assumptions about human nature as being inherently good

Positive Psychology

-The legacy of the Humanistic Approach is in the emergence of a new brand of psychology: Positive Psychology -This branch focuses on human virtues, strengths, resilience and the ability to bounce back from adversity -The study of resilience in face of adversity is related to this issue -Is associated today with the Martin Seligman (involved with studying optimism) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (created The Flow)

Carl Rogers: Person Centered Therapy

-The role of the therapist is to create an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard to enable the client's self exploration and becoming fully functioning. -Paraphrasing and reflection of feelings were methods to facilitate self exploration -Emphasized social-environmental causes on emotional maladjustment (in contrast to the biological approach) -The Rogerian therapist would say to a client: I do not like what you did, but I still respect you a human being.

Maslow

-Was interested in exploring the sources of happy, healthy personality -His approach was optimistic, regarding human beings as free willed individuals, not as captive by unconscious drives -Physiological > safety > love/belonging > esteem > self actualization

Maslow's Research on Psychologically Healthy People

-Was not empirically based -He examined his friends, whom he judged to be psychologically healthy, as well as historical figures -His analysis was holistic and subjective

Maslow: Physiological needs

Hunger, thirst, air and sleep. Must be satisfied before moving to higher level of needs.

Maslow: Esteem needs

Need to perceive oneself as competent and achieving

Maslow: Growth needs

Not satisfied by finding the object of need. Satisfied by expressing the motive

Temperamental Correlates of Subjective Well Being

Optimism and self determination have positive correlations with subjective well being

Maslow: Deficiency motives

Results from a lack of a needed object. Satisfied when obtained.

Maslow: Need for self actualization

Satisfied when people identify their true self and reach full potential

Maslow: Safety needs

Security, stability, protection, structure, order and freedom from chaos. Prominent when the future is unpredictable

Valliant

Suggests that mature defenses such as altruism, sublimation (channeling pain into something productive) creative activity, humor, positive anticipation can help one overcome life's disappointments

8 components of The Psychology of Optimal Experience

activity is challenging and skillful, one's attention is completely absorbed by the activity, activity has clear goals, presence of clear feedback, concentration can only be on the current task, achievement of personal control, loss of self consciousness and loss of sense of time

Self actualization

There is more to life than the absence of problems. The humanistic perspective maintains that we all have a drive toward self actualization. This means becoming the best person you can possible be in the context of your life

Existential Philosophy

Addresses many of the questions that later became the cornerstone of Humanistic approach, such as, the meaning of our existence, the role of free will and the uniqueness of each individual.