PSY 301 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Current Lecture I Humanistic Approach II Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs III Roger s Self Theory IV Positive Psychology V Cognitive Theories VI Key cognitive Concepts Current Lecture Humanistic Approach Humanistic theories of personality emphasize a positive optimistic view of human nature goodness and potential for growth Goal is to understand how a person makes sense of the world 1 less deterministic than analytic theories 2 a person s conscious experiences form the basis for personality 3 great emphasis on free will 4 stress the creative self within each person that seeks expression and growth 5 goal is to understand how people experience themselves others the world Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow proposed that a hierarchy of needs motivates us as individuals Beginning with physiological needs we try to reach the state of self actualization fulfilling our potential Roger s Self Theory Rogers theory of personality is based on the self Self concept an organized body of knowledge about the self which shapes one s behaviors perceptions and emotions Involves personal myths the personal narrative or stories that provide a person with a sense of direction and meaning 1 very resistant to change even people who verify those concepts The self concept contains 1 actual self 2 ideal self what the person would like to be a want self b ought self Actual self an organized pattern of perceived characteristics along with values attached to those characteristics a may not conform to reality Ideal Self the standards to which we hold ourselves a ought self who we think we should be b want self who we think we authentically are To the extent that the actual and ideal match a person has a positive self concept The greater the mismatch the more negative the self concept the greater the unhappiness 1 mismatch actual ought anxiety 2 mismatch actual want depression People also have possible selves mental representations of the people they might become in the future The self concept results from childhood experiences a unconditional positive regard b conditions of worth Positive Psychology Principles underling the new field of positive psychology 1 stresses the role of positive emotions experiences and traits 2 also focus on character strengths and virtues a wisdom knowledge b courage c humanitarian concerns d justice e temperance f transcendence The content of self schemas varies culturally 1 people in individualistic cultures see themselves in terms of broad stable traits that apply across situations 2 people in collectivist cultures view themselves as having traits within situations and social roles Social Cognitive Personality Theory Social cognitive approach views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them Began with the behaviorist learning theory approach to personality 1 personality work should focus on what people do not what they feel or experience 2 see personality as much more modifiable than other approaches do 3 emphasize learning in explaining personality 4 personality has specific components which are influenced by consequences Cognitive theories viewed personality as being the result of an interaction between people and their social contexts The basic principle is reciprocal determinism personality involves a constant interplay between the world and the way in which a person processes information about the self and the world 1 personality produces cognitive views which produce feelings behaviors 2 these behavior have results 3 the results influence personality Behavior emerges from an interplay of external and internal influences Key Social Cognitive Concepts 1 Control people want control over their lives and benefit from feeling that they have it a paradox of choice 2 Attributional style a self serving bias attributing our successes to dispositional factors and our failures to situational factors b self handicapping arranging for an obstacle to performance so that failure can be attributed to the obstacle instead of one s own limitations i all of this is less likely in collectivist cultures 3 Self control the ability to pursue a goal while managing internal conflicts about it or delay pursuing a goal because of other considerations or constraint a delayed gratification the ability to wait to obtain something that a person wants i depends on how people interpret a situation and on innate qualities 4 Outcome expectancies a person s assumptions about the likely consequences of a future behavior combine with goals to produce characteristic style of behavior a self efficacy expectations the belief in how effective a person can be in some area 5 Locus of control a person s tendency to perceive the control of events as being internal to the self or external in the environment a internal locus of control the person is largely responsible for the things that happen to him b external locus of control things that happen to a person are largely determined by factors outside that person s control 6 Learned helplessness repeated aversive experiences over which the person has no control leads to the belief that nothing can be done to change such experiences
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