Ch 15 - Growth Motivation & Positive Motivation

Positive psychology

Devotes attention to proactive building of personal strengths & competencies -seeks to make ppl stronger & more productive, & to actualize human potential in all of us -looks at ppl's mental health & the quality of their lives to ask - what could be? -seeks to build ppl's strengths & competencies

Unconditional positive regard [FF person]

Love or caring without conditions attached Opposite: negative conditional regard

Authenticity

Living in a way that is compatible with one's physical, mental & spiritual components -more difficult path than self-actualization: defined individually

How relationships support actualizing tendency

Quality of interpersonal relationships: -warmth -genuineness -empathy -interpersonal acceptance -confirmation of the other person's capacity for self-determination

Self-actualization

Realization of one's talents, capacities, & potentialities -inherent developmental striving

Shift to positive psychology

Shifted emphasis from "repair" to "enhancement" -shifts some emphasis from past to the future -shifts from exploring weaknesses to developing strengths

Holism

Stresses top-down master motives such as self & its strivings toward fulfillment -best understood as a whole, not as diff parts -focuses on discovering human potential & encouraging its development

Growth-seeking

Strivings for learning, improving, and reaching personal potential -neg interpersonal outcomes fail to usher in adjustment problems bc outcomes identify info about life areas in need of improvement [low anxiety] -more self-actualization

Validation-seeking

Strivings for proving self-worth, competence & likability -adjustment problems following neg outcomes bc problems imply lack of personal worth *the more ppl strive for this, the more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, etc. -less self-actualization

3. Eudaimonic well-being

aka self-realization -relatedness satisfaction & pursuit of self-endorsed goals forecast _____

3 illustrative personal strengths

1. Optimism 2. Meaning 3. Eudaimonic well-being

Fully functioning individual

*Emergence*: Onset of innate desire, impulse or motive *Acceptance*: Desire, impulse, or motive accepted "as is" into consciousness *Expression*: Unedited communication of desire, impulse or motive

Criticism

*Pollyanna optimism* - humanistic view emphasizes only one part of human nature *Unscientific concepts* - humanistic theories use a # of vague & ill-defined constructs *Unknown origins of inner guides* - how is one to know what is really needed or wanted by actualizing tendency?

Alderfer's ERG theory

-Existence -Relatedness -Growth -not hierarchical: more than 1 need can be activated at 1 time -needs can be substituted for one another -frustration regression component

Teach children well

-be authentic -transcend cultural conditioning & become world citizens -find vocation & right mate -know life is precious -be good & joyous in all kinds of situations -learn from their innate nature -see that basic needs are satisfied -refresh consciousness -understand controls are good -transcend trifling problems -grapple with serious problems such as injustice, death -be good choosers -be given practices in making choices, later allowing choices in religious beliefs

Control Causality Orientation

-relies on external guides [social cues] -pays closer attention to behavioral/environmental incentives & social expectations -relates to extrinsic regulation & introjected regulation

Autonomy Causality Orientation

-relies on internal guides [needs, interests] -pays closer attention to one's own needs & feelings -relates to intrinsic motivation & identified regulation -correlates with positive functioning [self-actualization, ego development, openness to experience, etc].

2 fundamental directions of self-actualization

1. *Autonomy* --> greater mindfulness, courage to create realistic appraisals 2. *Openness* --> self-realization, receiving positive info

4 ways of supporting actualizing tendency

1. Helping others 2. Relating to others in authentic ways 3. Promoting the freedom to learn 4. Defining the self

The problem of evil

2 forms of discussion: how much of human nature is inherently evil? why do some ppl enjoy inflicting suffering on others?

Causality orientations

2 types - 1. autonomy causality orientation 2. control causality orientation -reflect extent of autonomy & self-determination in personality

Hierarchy of human needs

3 themes about nature of human needs: 1. the lower the need is in the hierarchy the stronger & more urgently it is felt 2. the lower the need is in the hierarchy, the sooner it appears in development 3. needs in the hierarchy are fulfilled sequentially from lowest to highest

2. Meaning

A sense of purpose, internalized values & high efficacy are the motivational means to cultivate _____ in life -the act of creating _____ helps prevent future sickness

Overall personality theory of Rogers

Basic human need for self actualization --> unconditional positive regard --> self-actualization

Maslow's D needs

D = deficiency Their absence will be rapidly felt & develop a need state

Humanistic view of evil

Evil is not inherent in human nature. Evil arises only when experience injures & damages the person -Both benevolence & malevolence are inherent in everyone. Human nature needs to internalize a benevolent value system before it can avoid evil

Organismic Valuation Process

Innate capability for judging whether a specific experience promotes or reverses growth -provides the interpretive info needed for deciding whether the new undertaking is growth-promoting or not

Actualizing tendency

Innate, a continual presence that quietly guides the indiv toward genetically determined potentials -motivates the indiv to want to undertake new & challenging experiences -thru struggle & pain, child learns to walk / "forward thrust of life"

Encouraging growth

Maslow offered 6 everyday behaviors: 1. Make growth choices 2. Be honest 3. Situationally position yourself for peak experiences 4. Give up defensiveness 5. Let the self emerge 6. Be open to experience

Maslow's B values

Metaneeds [14] -wholeness/unity/oneness -perfection -completion/ending -justice/fairness -richness/intricacy -effortless/perfect -truth/reality

Phenomenal field [FF person]

Our psychological reality, composed of one's perceptions & feelings

Existential psychology

Where humanists see a goal of self-actualization, the _____ see a goal of *authenticity*

Goal of authenticity

Requires constant introspection & constant movement forward -when one ceases forward motion, one will experience the *guilt* of living in the past -when one moves forward, one inevitably faces the *anxiety* of the unknown -this requires courage to choose anxiety over guilt

Carl Rogers; Fully functioning person

Term for self-actualizing individual who has a self-concept that is both positive & congruent with reality -indiv lives in close & confident relationship to organismic valuing process, trusting inner direction -authentic

Positive psych & growth

The building of personal strength: -happiness -resilience -hope -optimism [+ more] LEAD TO OUTCOMES: 1. Fostering personal growth & well-being 2. Preventing human sickness from ever taking root within the personality

1. Optimism

Understood as positive attitude or good mood that is associated with what one expects to unfold in his or her immediate or long-term future -related to better psychological & physical health, more health-promoting behaviors, greater persistence, & more effective problem solving