Psychology 3051 Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality Lecture 16.

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Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality

Lecture 16

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Scoring Your Questionnaire

1. Reverse score items 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, and 14.

4 13 22 31 4

2. Sum your responses to the 15 items.

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Phenomenological Perspective on Personality

1. What are the primary assumptions underlying the phenomenological perspective on personality?

2. What needs did Maslow identify in his theory of self-actualization?

Lecture 16

Questions That Will Be Answered In Today’s Lecture

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Phenomenological Perspective on Personality, continued

3. What attributes characterize people who are self-actualized?

4. Is self-actualization universally achieved?

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What are the primary assumptions underlying the

phenomenological perspective on personality?

• The phenomenological perspective makes 3 primary assumptions:

1. Humans have freedom of will and, thus, can determine the course of events in their lives.

3. Humans are inherently good and innately strive for growth and improvement.

2. Conscious experience is the primary determinant of behaviour and personality.

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• In contrast to many of the perspectives that we have considered, the phenomenological perspective

presents a relatively optimistic image of human nature.

• Maslow (1968) stated:

“Freud supplied to us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the healthy half.”

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What needs did Maslow identify in his theory of

self-actualization?

• Maslow’s theory views needs as motivational forces that determine behaviour.

• In his theory, Maslow described four categories of needs.

1. Conative Needs

Maslow suggested that humans have 5 types of conative or basic needs:

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(a) Physiological Needs

• Needs that pertain to the biological maintenance of the individual.

• Examples: Needs for oxygen, water, food, sleep.

• The only needs that can be fully satisfied.

• If physiological needs are not satisfied, physical ailments may arise. Survival may also be threatened.

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(b) Safety Needs

• Needs that pertain to the physical security of the individual.

• Examples: Needs for shelter, protection, law, order, predictability, stability.

• If safety needs are not satisfied, fear, insecurity, and dread may arise. May result in the formation of basic anxiety within the individual.

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(c) Belonging Needs

• Needs that pertain to affiliation with others.

• Examples: Needs for a supportive family, an intimate relationship, friends, companions, identification with a group.

• If belonging needs are not satisfied, 1 of 2 outcomes may result:

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Among individuals who have never experienced belonging, an incapacity for giving love may develop.

Among individuals who have only inconsistently experienced belonging, an excessive desire for acceptance and approval may develop.

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(d) Esteem Needs

• Examples: Needs for status, prestige, dominance, self-respect, self-worth, competency, mastery.

• If esteem needs are not satisfied, feelings of inferiority, weakness, helplessness, and self-doubt may arise.

• Needs that pertain to public recognition and to self-esteem.

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(e) Self-Actualization Needs

• Needs that pertain to self-fulfillment.

• Examples: Needs to fulfill one’s potential, pursue one’s destiny, follow one’s intrinsic motivations.

• If self-actualization needs are not satisfied, feelings of restlessness, frustration, and disintegration may arise. The individual may experience a “loss of

meaning to life.”

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Physiological Needs

Safety Needs

Belonging Needs

Esteem Needs

Self- Actualization

Needs

Maslow organized the 5 conative needs into a hierarchy:

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2. Cognitive Needs

Maslow suggested that humans have 2 types of cognitive needs:

(a) Knowledge Needs

• Needs that pertain to the acquisition of information.

(b) Understanding Needs

• Needs that pertain to the comprehension of information.

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Maslow believed that the cognitive needs must beat least partially satisfied in order for the 5 conative needs to be satisfied.

If cognitive needs are not satisfied, skepticism, disillusionment, paranoia, and depression may arise.

However, Maslow also believed that the cognitive needs can function independently of the conative needs (i.e., they can produce feelings of satisfaction that are unrelated to the fulfillment of any conative needs).

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Knowledge Needs

UnderstandingNeeds

Maslow organized the 2 cognitive needs into a second hierarchy:

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3. Aesthetic Needs

Needs that pertain to beauty, balance, symmetry, structure, and form.

In contrast to conative needs and cognitive needs, aesthetic needs are not universally experienced. Rather, they are experienced by only a portion of the population.

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Aesthetic needs may overlap with conative needs and cognitive needs.

E.g., The aesthetic needs for balance and symmetry may overlap with the safety needs for order and predictability.

Maslow wrote relatively little about the psychological impact of unfulfilled aesthetic needs. However, he did believe that individuals who possess these needs become “physically and spiritually ill” if they are not satisfied.

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4. Neurotic Needs

Needs that perpetuate a dysfunctional lifestyle, foster stagnation, and contribute to pathology.

Maslow believed that neurotic needs are reactive in nature—they develop in an effort to compensate for unsatisfied conative needs.

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Neurotic needs are distinguishable from conative, cognitive, and aesthetic needs in that their satisfaction does not promote health or growth.

In relation to this point, Maslow (1970) wrote:

“Giving a neurotic power seeker all the power he wants does not make him less neurotic, nor is it possible to satiate his neurotic need for power. However much he is fed he still remains hungry because he’s really looking for something else. It makes little difference for ultimate health whether a neurotic need … [is] gratified.”

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What attributes characterize people who are

self-actualized?

• Maslow screened thousands of individuals, ultimately identifying 23 self-actualizers. These included Jane Addams, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt. He studied the biographies of these individuals in an attempt to identify their common attributes.

• Maslow had a keen interest in studying individuals who had satisfied the first 4 conative needs and were nowprimarily concerned with the satisfaction of their self-actualization needs. He referred to these individuals as “self-actualizers.”

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• Maslow identified 15 attributes that were common to these self-actualizers. These attributes can be divided into 4 groups, each of which reflects a distinct

dimension:

1. Awareness

Efficient and accurate perception of reality.

Strong ethical awareness.

Continued freshness of appreciation.

Periodic peak experiences.

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2. Honesty

Philosophical and nonhostile sense of humor.

Strong kinship with all of humanity.

Selective and deep friendships.

Adherence to democratic values.

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3. Freedom

Need for privacy.

Autonomy.

Creativity.

Spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness.

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4. Trust

Problem-focused rather than self-focused.

Acceptance of themselves, others, and nature.

Resistance to cultural conformity.

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• Maslow noted that self-actualizers also possess negative characteristics. He (1954/1987) wrote:

“Our [self-actualized] subjects show many of the lesser human failings. They too are equipped with … wasteful or thoughtless habits. They can be boring, stubborn, irritating. They are by no means free from a rather superficial vanity, pride, partiality of their own productions …. Temper outbursts are not rare. Our subjects are … capable of an extraordinary and unexpected ruthlessness. It must be remembered that they are very strong people. This makes it possible for them to display a surgical coldness when this is called for, beyond the power of the average man.”

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Is self-actualization universally achieved?

• The questionnaire that you completed at the start of class: The Short Index of Self-Actualization (SISA).

Alpha reliability coefficient: .65

Test-retest reliability coefficient (12-day interval): .69

Mean (university students) = 45.60 (SD = 5.57)

Mean (nominated as nonactualizing) = 44.00 (SD = 4.89)

Note: Means may be negatively skewed because the samples were comprised of university students.

Mean (nominated as actualizing) = 51.20 (SD = 4.37)

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• Research has shown that people with high SISA scores:

are “time competent.”

are higher in extraversion and openness.

are “inner-directed.”

have an internal locus of control.

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• Maslow believed that a relatively small proportion of North Americans—1%—achieve a self-actualized state.

report greater satisfaction with school.

are higher in self-esteem and have fewer “neurotic symptoms.”

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Phenomenological Perspective on Personality

1. What are the primary assumptions underlying the phenomenological perspective on personality?

2. What needs did Maslow identify in his theory of self-actualization?

Questions That Were Answered In Today’s Lecture

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Phenomenological Perspective on Personality, continued

3. What attributes characterize people who are self-actualized?

4. Is self-actualization universally achieved?