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We w
ill be stu
dyin
g
thre
e d
iffere
nt
persp
ective
s of
perso
nality:
-Humanisitic
-Trait
-Social-Cognitive
(Perspectives are like different
lenses we can use to look at
different phenomena.)
THE HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
There are two main humanistic psychologists whose names you’ll need to know:
“When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic. ”
CARL ROGERS
1902-1987
HUMANISTS BELIEVE:
1.That people are naturally good, but some environments are bad, and that can lead people to make bad choices.
2.That people should be treated with dignity and respect.
3.When the environments people come from are healthy, then people will be free to become their best selves.
CARL ROGERS SAID THERE WERE SOME CONDITIONS
THAT MUST BE MET IN ORDER FOR US TO GROW INTO OUR
“TRUE SELVES”.(AND THAT THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO GROW UP TO BECOME
THE PERSON YOU REALLY ARE.)
Example1. “I’m fine.” Being
open with others about how we feel.
2. Parents know our failings, but they love us anyway
3. When a friend feels bad, we feel bad, too.
Condition1. Genuineness- openness about feelings
2. Acceptance- unconditional positive regard
3. Empathy- sharing and mirroring feelings
NOT EVERYONE BELIEVES IN THE HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE…
People who criticize this perspective say…1. Too optimistic about basic human nature
2. Concepts are too vague and subjective
3. Could encourage selfish meeting of one’s needs while ignoring needs of others
4. Only a picture of qualities Maslow valued
A trait is a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self report inventories and peer reports.
One major trait theorist is Gordon Allport.
He said that a good theory of personality wouldn’t be as concerned with explaining why someone acted a certain way, but should instead describing how people actually act.
Trait theorists also believe that genetics play a huge part in why we are the way we are.
Personality inventories-
Questionnaires covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors
Empirically derived-
They test a pool of people and only choose questions that show a difference between groups
Assessing Traits
Some critics dislike Trait theory for the following reasons:
1. De-humanizing to reduce people to pre-defined categories
2. Overlooks why people act the way they do, which is too important to overlook
3. Traits are not always expressed
Evaluating the Trait theory
Internal vs. External Locus of control:
Internal Locus of ControlDefinition:People control their own fate
Personality Results:
External Locus of ControlDefinition:Chance or outside forces beyond one’s personal control determine one’s fate
Personality Results:
Learned Helplessness: Learned Helplessness is a passive
attitude that happens when people are faced with an unavoidable negative event. This hopelessness makes them unwilling to try to change their situation.