This document provides an overview of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic perspective on personality. It discusses key concepts in Freud's theory such as the unconscious mind, psychosexual stages of development, and defense mechanisms. The document also examines Freud's model of the mind as consisting of the id, ego, and superego. Additionally, it evaluates some of the criticisms of Freud's psychosexual stages theory and discusses how his concepts relate to statements in a survey about personality.

1. Classic Perspectives
on Personality
Module 30

2. The Psychoanalytic
Perspective

3. Personality
An individual’s characteristic pattern of
thinking, feeling, and acting.
Each dwarf has a distinct personality.

4. Personality
There are many ways that theorists have defined human
nature throughout the centuries. That is what we are
about to explore. But first let’s explore how you define
your own human nature.
Personality theorists are in the unique position of studying
the entire person. They have the monumental task of
synthesizing the best information from the diverse fields
of the discipline into a coherent, holistic configuration. In
the course of their work, personality theorists address
fundamental issues of human nature and individual
differences.
4

5. Personality
A theorist’s answers to the following basic questions define
his or her image of human nature:
1. Free will or determinism? Do we have a conscious
awareness and control of ourselves? Are we free to
choose, to be masters of our fate, or are we victims of
biological factors, unconscious forces, or external
stimuli?
2. Nature or nurture? Is our personality determined
primarily by the abilities, temperaments, or
predispositions we inherit, or are we shaped more
strongly by the environments in which we live?
5

6. Personality
3. Past, present, or future? Is personality development
basically complete in early childhood? Or is personality
independent of the past, capable of being influenced by
events and experiences in the present and even by
future aspirations and goals?
4. Uniqueness or universality? Is the personality of each
individual unique or are there broad personality patterns
that fit large numbers of persons?
6

7. Personality
5. Equilibrium or growth? Are we primarily tension reducing,
pleasure-seeking animals or are we motivated primarily
by the need to grow, to reach our full potential to reach
for ever-higher levels of self expression and
development?
6. Optimism or pessimism? Are human beings basically
good or evil? Are we kind and compassionate, or cruel
and merciless?
Which one are you in more agreement with?
7

8. Psychoanalytic Perspective
In his clinical practice,
Freud encountered
patients suffering from
nervous disorders.
Their complaints
could not be explained
in terms of purely
physical causes.
Culver Pictures
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)

9. Psychodynamic Perspective
Freud’s clinical
experience led him to
develop the first
comprehensive theory
of personality, which
included the
unconscious mind,
psychosexual stages,
Culver Pictures
and defense
mechanisms. Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)

10. Sigmund Freud
• unconscious mind – according to Freud, a reservoir of
mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and
memories. According to contemporary psychologists, it is
information processing of which we are unaware.
• psychosexual stages – the childhood stages of development
(oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) during which, the
id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous
zones.
• defense mechanisms – Freud proposed that the ego defends
itself with defense mechanisms, tactics that reduce or
redirect anxiety by distorting reality (i.e. repression,
regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization,
and displacement).
10

11. Exploring the Unconscious
A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly
unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and
memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever
came to their minds (free association) in order to
tap the unconscious.
http://www.english.upenn.edu

12. Dream Analysis
Another method to analyze the unconscious
mind is through interpreting manifest and
latent contents of dreams.
The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli (1791)

13. Dream Analysis
Freud viewed jokes as expressions of repressed sexual
and aggressive tendencies, and dreams as the “royal
road to the unconscious.”
The remembered content of dreams (their manifest
content) he believed to be a censored expression of
the dreamer’s unconscious wishes (the dream’s latent
content).
In his analysis of dreams, Freud searched for the nature
of patients’ inner conflicts and their release from inner
tensions.
13

14. Psychoanalysis
The process of free
association (chain of
thoughts) leads to
painful, embarrassing
unconscious memories.
Once these memories
are retrieved and
released (treatment:
psychoanalysis) the
patient feels better.

15. Model of Mind
The mind is like an iceberg. It is mostly hidden,
and below the surface lies the unconscious
mind. The preconscious stores temporary
memories.

16. Personality Structure
Personality develops as a result of our efforts to
resolve conflicts between our biological impulses
(id) and social restraints (superego).

17. Id, Ego and Superego
The Id unconsciously strives to satisfy basic
sexual and aggressive drives, operating on the
pleasure principle, demanding immediate
gratification.
The ego functions as the “executive” and
mediates the demands of the id and superego.
The superego provides standards for judgment
(the conscience) and for future aspirations.

18. Personality Development
Freud believed that personality formed during
the first few years of life divided into
psychosexual stages. During these stages the
id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on pleasure
sensitive body areas called erogenous zones.

19. Psychosexual Stages
Freud divided the development of personality
into five psychosexual stages.

20. Oral Stage
During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs
through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially
important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant derives
pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as
tasting and sucking. Because the infant is entirely dependent upon
caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the infant
also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral
stimulation.
The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child
must become less dependent upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at
this stage, Freud believed the individual would have issues with
dependency or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with
drinking, eating, smoking, or nail biting.

21. Anal Stage
During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido
was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at
this stage is toilet training--the child has to learn to control his or her
bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment
and independence.
According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in
which parents approach toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and
rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive
outcomes and help children feel capable and productive. Freud believed
that positive experiences during this stage served as the basis for people
to become competent, productive, and creative adults.
However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that
children need during this stage. Some parents' instead punish, ridicule, or
shame a child for accidents. According to Freud, inappropriate parental
responses can result in negative outcomes. If parents take an approach
that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality
could develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or
destructive personality. If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too
early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive personality develops in which
the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.

22. Phallic Stage
During the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
Children also discover the differences between males and females.
Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for
the mother’s affections. The Oedipus Complex describes these feelings
of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father.
However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for
these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.
The term Electra Complex has been used to described a similar set of
feelings experienced by young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls
instead experience penis envy.
Eventually, the child realizes begins to identify with the same-sex parent
as a means of vicariously possessing the other parent. For girls,
however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully resolved and
that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage. Psychologists
such as Karen Horney disputed this theory, calling it both inaccurate
and demeaning to women. Instead, Horney proposed that men
experience feelings of inferiority because they cannot give birth to
children.

23. Latent Stage
During the latent period, the libido interests are
suppressed. The development of the ego and superego
contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins
around the time that children enter into school and
become more concerned with peer relationships,
hobbies, and other interests.
The latent period is a time of exploration in which the
sexual energy is still present, but it is directed into other
areas such as intellectual pursuits and social
interactions. This stage is important in the development
of social and communication skills and self-confidence.

24. Genital Stage
During the final stage of psychosexual
development, the individual develops a strong
sexual interest in the opposite sex. Where in
earlier stages the focus was solely on individual
needs, interest in the welfare of others grows
during this stage. If the other stages have been
completed successfully, the individual should
now be well-balanced, warm, and caring. The
goal of this stage is to establish a balance
between the various life areas.

25. Identification
Children cope with
threatening feelings by
repressing them and
by identifying with the
From the K. Vandervelde private collection
rival parent. Through
this process of
identification, their
superego gains
strength that
incorporates their
parents’ values.

26. Personality Development:
Identification
Freud believed that identification with the same-
sex parent provides what psychologists now call
our gender identity—our sense of being male or
female.
Freud presumed that our early childhood relations
with parents, caregivers, and everything else
influences our developing identity, personality,
and frailties.

27. Personality Development: Fixation
…is, according to Freud, a lingering focus of
pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier
psychosexual stage, in which conflicts
were unresolved.
Ex: A person was either orally deprived or
overly indulged may fixate at the oral
stage.

28. Evaluating Freud’s Psychosexual
Stages Theory
• The theory is focused almost entirely on male development with little
mention of female psychosexual development.
• His theories are difficult to test scientifically. Concepts such as the
libido are impossible to measure, and therefore cannot be tested.
The research that has been conducted tends to discredit Freud's
theory.
• Future predictions are too vague. How can we know that a current
behavior was caused specifically by a childhood experience? The
length of time between the cause and the effect is too long to
assume that there is a relationship between the two variables.
• Freud's theory is based upon case studies and not empirical
research. Also, Freud based his theory on the recollections of his
adult patients, not on actual observation and study of children.

29. Defense against Anxiety
According to Freud, anxiety is the price we
pay for civilization. As members of social
groups, we must control our sexual and
aggressive impulses, not act them out.
Sometimes the ego fears losing control
between the demands of the id and the
superego. This can result in anxiety.

30. Defense Mechanisms
The ego’s protective methods of reducing
anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.
1. Repression banishes anxiety-arousing
thoughts, feelings, and memories from
consciousness.
2. Regression leads an individual faced with
anxiety to retreat to a more infantile
psychosexual stage.
30

31. Defense Mechanisms
3. Reaction Formation causes the ego to
unconsciously switch unacceptable
impulses into their opposites. People may
express feelings of purity when they may be
suffering anxiety from unconscious feelings
about sex.
4. Projection leads people to disguise their
own threatening impulses by attributing
them to others.
31

32. Defense Mechanisms
5. Rationalization offers self-justifying
explanations in place of the real, more
threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s
actions.
6. Displacement shifts sexual or aggressive
impulses toward a more acceptable or less
threatening object or person, redirecting
anger toward a safer outlet.
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33. Issues in Personality
Indicate the extent to which you agree with each of the following statements using the following response
scale. Place the appropriate number in the blank before each item.
1 = strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = neutral 4 = agree 5 = strongly agree
1. Events that occurred during childhood have no effect on one’s personality in adulthood.
2. Sexual adjustment is easy for most people.
3. Culture and society have evolved as ways to curb human beings’ natural aggressiveness.
4. Little boys should not become too attached to their mothers.
5. It is possible to deliberately “forget” something too painful to remember.
6. People who chronically smoke, eat, or chew gum have some deep psychological problems.
7. Competitive people are no more aggressive than noncompetitive people.
8. Fathers should remain somewhat aloof to their daughters.
9. Toilet training is natural and not traumatic for most children.
10. The phallus is a symbol of power.
11. A man who dates a woman old enough to be his mother has problems.
12. There are some women who are best described as being “castrating bitches.”
13. Dreams merely replay events that occurred during the day and have no deep meaning.
14. There is something wrong with a woman who dates a man who is old enough to be her
father.
15. A student who wants to postpone an exam by saying “My grandmother lied . . . er, I mean
died,” should probably be allowed the postponement.
Source: Reprinted by permission of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., and the author from Miserandino, M. (1994). Freudian principles in everyday life. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 93–95.

34. The statements are worded so that a Freudian
psychologist would strongly agree with 9 and
disagree with 6 of them. In scoring their own
responses, students should first reverse the
numbers they placed in front of statements 1, 2,
7, 9, 13, and 15. Then, to obtain a total score,
they should add the numbers in front of all 15
statements. Scores can range from 15 to 75,
with higher scores reflecting greater agreement
with a Freudian perspective.

35. Questions to Ponder
How did you come to accept or reject these
statements?
What kinds of evidence should be used to evaluate the
truth or falsehood of the statements?
Were some of the statements true in the past but not
today?
Would people from other cultures respond to these
statements differently?
Do responses indicate a double standard of acceptable
behavior for men and women on questions about
fathers and daughters (statement 8) versus mothers
and sons (statement 4) or of dating an older person
(statements 11 and 14)?
Finally, can you identify the Freudian concepts and
reasoning behind the statements?

36. Basic Tenets of Freud’s Theory:
How they relate to the survey
Freud argued that humans are driven by life instincts (for
example, sex) and by death instincts (for example,
aggression).
If either anxiety or social constraints prevent direct
expression of these drives, they will be expressed
indirectly or unconsciously. Freud maintained that the
aggressive drive is often sublimated [to divert the
expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its
unacceptable form to one that is considered more socially
or culturally acceptable] into competition and
achievement.
Dreams and Freudian slips provide two ways of studying
unconscious wishes or impulses.

37. Basic Tenets of Freud’s Theory:
How they relate to the survey
Individuals pass through a series of psychosexual
stages during which id impulses of a sexual
nature find a socially acceptable outlet.
Unresolved conflicts between id impulses and
social restrictions during childhood continue to
influence one’s personality in adulthood.
People who smoke, overeat, or chew gum
presumably have had trouble with feeding and
weaning early in the oral stage.

38. Basic Tenets of Freud’s Theory:
How they relate to the survey
Problems with toilet training during the anal stage
may lead to the development of anal-expulsive
or anal-retentive personalities in adulthood.
Problems during the genital stage may be
expressed in an Oedipus complex and castration
anxiety in men and in an Electra complex and
penis envy in women. Because of penis envy,
women fixated at this stage symbolically castrate
men through embarrassment, deception, and
derogation.

39. The Neo-Freudians
Like Freud, Adler
believed in childhood
tensions. However, these
tensions were social in
nature and not sexual. A
child struggles with an
National Library of Medicine
inferiority complex
during growth and
strives for superiority
and power. Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
39

40. The Neo-Freudians
Like Adler, Horney
believed in the social
aspects of childhood
growth and
development. She
countered Freud’s
The Bettmann Archive/ Corbis
assumption that
women have weak
superegos and suffer
from “penis envy.”
Karen Horney (1885-1952)
40

41. The Neo-Freudians
Jung believed in the
Archive of the History of American Psychology/ University of Akron
collective unconscious,
which contained a
common reservoir of
images derived from our
species’ past. This is why
many cultures share
certain myths and images
such as the mother being
a symbol of nurturance. Carl Jung (1875-1961)
41

42. Assessing Unconscious Processes
Evaluating personality from an unconscious
mind’s perspective would require a
psychological instrument (projective tests) that
would reveal the hidden unconscious mind.
42

43. Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Developed by Henry Murray, the TAT is a
projective test in which people express their inner
feelings and interests through the stories they make
up about ambiguous scenes.
Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher, Inc.
43

44. Rorschach Inkblot Test
The most widely used projective test uses a set
of 10 inkblots and was designed by Hermann
Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner
feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the
blots.
Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher, Inc.
44

45. Projective Tests: Criticisms
Critics argue that projective tests lack both
reliability (consistency of results) and validity
(predicting what it is supposed to).
1. When evaluating the same patient, even
trained raters come up with different
interpretations (reliability).
2. Projective tests may misdiagnose a normal
individual as pathological (validity).
45

46. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Modern Research
1. Personality develops throughout life and is
not fixed in childhood.
2. Freud underemphasized peer influence on
the individual, which may be as powerful
as parental influence.
3. Gender identity may develop before 5-6
years of age.
46

47. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Modern Research
 There may be other reasons for dreams
besides wish fulfillment.
 Verbal slips can be explained on the basis of
cognitive processing of verbal choices.
 Suppressed sexuality leads to psychological
disorders. Sexual inhibition has decreased,
but psychological disorders have not.
47

48. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Freud's psychoanalytic theory rests on the
repression of painful experiences into the
unconscious mind.
The majority of children, death camp survivors,
and battle-scarred veterans are unable to
repress painful experiences into their
unconscious mind.
48

49. The Modern Unconscious Mind
Modern research shows the existence of non-
conscious information processing. This involves:
1. schemas that automatically control perceptions and
interpretations
2. the right-hemisphere activity that enables the split-brain
patient’s left hand to carry out an instruction the patient
cannot verbalize
3. parallel processing during vision and thinking
4. implicit memories
5. emotions that activate instantly without consciousness
6. self-concept and stereotypes that unconsciously influence us
49

50. Assessing Unconscious Processes
Evaluating personality from an unconscious
mind’s perspective would require a
psychological instrument (projective tests) that
would reveal the hidden unconscious mind.

51. Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Developed by Henry Murray, the TAT is a
projective test in which people express their inner
feelings and interests through the stories they make
up about ambiguous scenes.
Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher, Inc.

52. Rorschach Inkblot Test
The most widely used projective test uses a set
of 10 inkblots and was designed by Hermann
Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner
feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the
blots.
Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher, Inc.

53. Projective Tests: Criticisms
Critics argue that projective tests lack both
reliability (consistency of results) and validity
(predicting what it is supposed to).
1. When evaluating the same patient, even
trained raters come up with different
interpretations (reliability).
2. Projective tests may misdiagnose a normal
individual as pathological (validity).

54. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Modern Research
1. Personality develops throughout life and is
not fixed in childhood.
2. Freud underemphasized peer influence on
the individual, which may be as powerful
as parental influence.
3. Gender identity may develop before 5-6
years of age.

55. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Modern Research
 There may be other reasons for dreams
besides wish fulfillment.
 Verbal slips can be explained on the basis of
cognitive processing of verbal choices.
 Suppressed sexuality leads to psychological
disorders. Sexual inhibition has decreased,
but psychological disorders have not.

56. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Freud's psychoanalytic theory rests on the
repression of painful experiences into the
unconscious mind.
The majority of children, death camp survivors,
and battle-scarred veterans are unable to
repress painful experiences into their
unconscious mind.

57. The Modern Unconscious Mind
Modern research shows the existence of non-
conscious information processing. This involves:
1. schemas that automatically control perceptions and
interpretations
2. the right-hemisphere activity that enables the split-brain
patient’s left hand to carry out an instruction the patient
cannot verbalize
3. parallel processing during vision and thinking
4. implicit memories
5. emotions that activate instantly without consciousness
6. self-concept and stereotypes that unconsciously influence
us

58. The Humanistic
Perspective

59. Humanistic Perspective
By the 1960s, psychologists became discontent
with Freud’s negativity and the mechanistic
psychology of the behaviorists.
http://www.ship.edu
Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers
(1908-1970) (1902-1987)

60. Self-Actualizing Person
Maslow proposed that we as individuals are
motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Beginning
with physiological needs, we try to reach the
state of self-actualization—fulfilling our
potential.
Ted Polumbaum/ Time Pix/ Getty Images
http://www.ship.edu

62. • The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the
most basic needs, while the more complex needs are
located at the top of the pyramid. Needs at the bottom of
the pyramid are basic physical requirements including
the need for food, water, sleep and warmth. Once these
lower-level needs have been met, people can move on
to the next level of needs, which are for safety and
security.
• As people progress up the pyramid, needs become
increasingly psychological and social. Soon, the need for
love, friendship and intimacy become important. Further
up the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and
feelings of accomplishment take priority. Like
Carl Rogers, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-
actualization, which is a process of growing and
developing as a person to achieve individual potential.

63. Types of Needs
• Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts
and play a major role in motivating behavior.
Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are
deficiency needs (also known as D-needs), meaning
that these needs arise due to deprivation. Satisfying
these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid
unpleasant feelings or consequences.
• Maslow termed the highest-level of the pyramid as
growth need (also known as being needs or B-needs).
Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but
rather from a desire to grow as a person.

64. 5 Levels of Needs
• Physiological Needs
These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air,
food and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs
in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are
met.
• Security Needs
These include needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but
they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a
desire for steady employment, health insurance, safe neighborhoods and shelter from the
environment.
• Social Needs
These include needs for belonging, love and affection. Maslow considered these needs to be
less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic
attachments and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does
involvement in social, community or religious groups.
• Esteem Needs
After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly
important. These include the need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth,
social recognition and accomplishment.
• Self-actualizing Needs
This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-
aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and
interested fulfilling their potential.

65. Characteristics of Self Actualized
People
• Acceptance and Realism: Self-actualized people have realistic perceptions of themselves,
others and the world around them.
• Problem-centering: Self-actualized individuals are concerned with solving problems
outside of themselves, including helping others and finding solutions to problems in the
external world. These people are often motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and
ethics.
• Spontaneity: Self-actualized people are spontaneous in their internal thoughts and outward
behavior. While they can conform to rules and social expectations, they also tend to be open
and unconventional.
• Autonomy and Solitude: Another characteristics of self-actualized people is the need for
independence and privacy. While they enjoy the company of others, these individuals need
time to focus on developing their own individual potential.
• Continued Freshness of Appreciation: Self-actualized people tend to view the world with
a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe. Even simple experiences continue to be
a source of inspiration and pleasure.
• Peak Experiences: Individuals who are self-actualized often have what Maslow termed
peak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy. After these
experiences, people feel inspired, strengthened, renewed or transformed.

66. Maslow (1954), believed that man has a natural drive to healthiness, or self
actualization. He believed that man has basic, (biological and psychological)
needs that have to be fulfilled in order to be free enough to feel the desire for
the higher levels of realization. He also believed that the organism has the
natural, unconscious and innate capacity to seek its needs. (Maslow 1968)
In other words, man has an internal, natural, drive to become the best possible
person he can be.
"...he has within him a pressure toward unity of personality, toward spontaneous
expressiveness, toward full individuality and identity, toward seeing the truth
rather than being blind, toward being creative, toward being good, and a lot
else. That is, the human being is so constructed that he presses toward what
most people would call good values, toward serenity, kindness, courage,
honesty, love, unselfishness, and goodness." (Maslow, 1968, p. 155.)
Maslow believed that not only does the organism know what it needs to eat to
maintain itself healthy, but also man knows intuitively what he needs to
become the best possible, mentally healthy and happy "being". I use the word
"being" because Maslow goes far beyond what the average person considers
good physical and mental health. He talked about higher consciousness,
esthetic and peak experiences, and Being. He stressed the importance of
moral and ethical behavior that will lead man naturally to discovering,
becoming himself.

67. "The state of being without a system of values is psychopathogenic, we are
learning. The human being needs a framework of values, a philosophy of life, a
religion or religion-surrogate to live by and understand by, in about the same
sense he needs sunlight, calcium or love. This I have called the "cognitive need
to understand." The value- illnesses which result from valuelessness are called
variously anhedonia, anomie, apathy, amorality, hopelessness, cynicism, etc.,
and can become somatic illness as well. Historically, we are in a value
interregnum in which all externally given value systems have proven failures
(political, economic, religious, etc.) e.g., nothing is worth dying for. What man
needs but doesn't have, he seeks for unceasingly, and he becomes dangerously
ready to jump at any hope, good or bad. The cure for this disease is obvious. We
need a validated, usable system of human values that we can believe in and
devote ourselves to (be willing to die for), because they are true rather than
because we are exhorted to "believe and have faith." Such an empirically based
Weltanschauung seems now to be a real possibility, at least in theoretical
outline." (Maslow, 1968, p. 206.)
Morality then is natural. If we use our capacity to think, are honest, sincere and
open, we arrive at moral and ethical behavior naturally. The problem is to not
destroy our ability to become ourselves.
Anhedonia: the absence of pleasure or the ability to experience it
Anomie: breakdown or absence of social norms and values
Apathy: lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting
Amorality: lacking morals
Cynicism: An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others
Interregnum: a gap in continuity
Weltanschauung: a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of humanity's relation to it.

68. Abraham Maslow: Self
Actualization
If the tendency toward self-actualization is
innate, why are not more adults self-
actualized?
Maslow estimated that only one percent are.
He offered four basic explanations for this
low number:

69. 1. Self-actualization is at the top of the
motivational hierarchy. This makes it the
weakest of all needs and the most easily
impeded. He wrote, “This inner nature is not
strong and overpowering and unmistakable
like the instincts of animals. It is weak and
delicate and subtle and easily overcome by
habit, cultural pressure, and wrong attitudes
toward it.”

70. • Maslow identified the Jonah Complex
(fear of success) as another obstacle to
self-actualization. We fear and doubt our
own abilities and potentialities. To
become self-actualized, one must have
enough courage to sacrifice safety for
personal growth. Too often, fear takes
precedence over the challenge of self-
actualization.

71. 1. The cultural environment may also stifle self-
actualization by imposing certain norms on
major segments of the population. Definitions
of “manliness” may prevent the male child from
developing traits such as sympathy, kindness,
and tenderness, all of which characterize the
self-actualized person.

72. 4. Childhood experiences may inhibit personal
growth. Maslow observed that children from
warm, secure, friendly homes are more likely to
choose experiences that lead to personal
growth. Excessive control and coddling is
obviously harmful but so is excessive
permissiveness. Too much freedom in childhood
can lead to anxiety and insecurity, which can
prevent further growth. Maslow called for
“freedom within limits” in which there is the right
mixture of permissiveness and regulation.

73. Person-Centered Perspective
Carl Rogers also believed in an individual's self-
actualization tendencies. He said that
Unconditional Positive Regard is an attitude of
acceptance of others despite their failings.
Michael Rougier/ Life Magazine © Time Warner, Inc.

74. Assessing the Self
In an effort to assess personality, Rogers asked
people to describe themselves as they would like
to be (ideal) and as they actually are (real). If the
two descriptions were close the individual had a
positive self-concept.
All of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in an
answer to the question, “Who am I?” refers to Self-Concept.

75. Self Concept
“Self Concept ... the organized consistent
conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of
the characteristics of 'I' or 'me' and the
perceptions of the relationships of the 'I' or 'me'
to others and to various aspects of life, together
with the values attached to these perceptions. It
is a gestalt which is available to awareness
though not necessarily in awareness. It is a fluid
and changing gestalt, a process, but at any
given moment it is a specific entity. (Rogers,
1959)”

76. Carl Rogers agreed with Maslow that people
are basically good and are endowed with
self-actualizing tendencies. To nurture
growth in others, Rogers advised being
genuine, empathic, and accepting
(offering unconditional positive regard).
In such a climate, people can develop a
deeper self-awareness and a more
realistic and positive self-concept.

77. The Fully Functioning Person
A growing openness to experience – they move away from defensiveness and have no need
for subception (a perceptual defense that involves unconsciously applying strategies to
prevent a troubling stimulus from entering consciousness).
An increasingly existential lifestyle – living each moment fully – not distorting the moment to fit
personality or self concept but allowing personality and self concept to emanate from
the experience. This results in excitement, daring, adaptability, tolerance, spontaneity,
and a lack of rigidity and suggests a foundation of trust. "To open one's spirit to what is
going on now, and discover in that present process whatever structure it appears to
have" (Rogers 1961)
Increasing organismic trust – they trust their own judgment and their ability to choose behavior
that is appropriate for each moment. They do not rely on existing codes and social
norms but trust that as they are open to experiences they will be able to trust their own
sense of right and wrong.
Freedom of choice – not being shackled by the restrictions that influence an incongruent
individual, they are able to make a wider range of choices more fluently. They believe
that they play a role in determining their own behavior and so feel responsible for their
own behavior.
Creativity – it follows that they will feel more free to be creative. They will also be more
creative in the way they adapt to their own circumstances without feeling a need to
conform.
Reliability and constructiveness – they can be trusted to act constructively. An individual who
is open to all their needs will be able to maintain a balance between them. Even
aggressive needs will be matched and balanced by intrinsic goodness in congruent
individuals.
A rich full life – he describes the life of the fully functioning individual as rich, full and exciting
and suggests that they experience joy and pain, love and heartbreak, fear and courage
more intensely. Rogers' description of the good life:

78. The Good Life
Rogers believed that the good life is where the organism
continually aims to fulfill their full potential.
Rogers identifies the "real self" as the aspect of one's being that
is founded in the actualizing tendency, follows organismic
valuing, needs and receives positive regard and self-regard. It
is the "you" that, if all goes well, you will become. On the other
hand, to the extent that our society is out of sync with the
actualizing tendency, and we are forced to live with conditions
of worth that are out of step with organismic valuing, and
receive only conditional positive regard and self-regard, we
develop instead an "ideal self". By ideal, Rogers is suggesting
something not real, something that is always out of our reach,
the standard we cannot meet. This gap between the real self
and the ideal self, the "I am" and the "I should" is called
incongruity.

79. Congruence vs. Incongruence
In a fully congruent person realizing their potential is not at the expense of experiencing
positive regard. They are able to lead lives that are authentic and genuine.
Incongruent individuals, in their pursuit of positive regard, live lives that include
falseness and do not realize their potential. Conditions put on them by those around
them make it necessary for them to forego their genuine, authentic lives to meet with
the approval of others. They live lives that are not true to themselves, to who they are
on the inside.
Rogers suggests that the incongruent individual who is always on the defensive and
cannot be open to all experiences is not functioning ideally and may even be
malfunctioning. They work hard at maintaining/protecting their self concept. Because
their lives are not authentic this is a difficult task and they are under constant threat.
They deploy defense mechanisms to achieve this. He describes two mechanisms:
distortion and denial. Distortion occurs when the individual perceives a threat to
their self concept. They distort the perception until it fits their self concept. Denial
follows the same process except instead of distorting they deny the threat exists.
This defensive behavior reduces the consciousness of the threat but not the threat itself.
And so, as the threats mount, the work of protecting the self concept becomes more
difficult and the individual more defensive and rigid in their self structure. If the
incongruence is immoderate this process may lead the individual to a state that
would typically be described as neurotic. Their functioning becomes precarious and
psychologically vulnerable. If the situation worsens it is possible that the defenses
cease to function altogether and the individual becomes aware of the incongruence
of their situation. Their personality becomes disorganized and bizarre, irrational
behavior, associated with earlier denied aspects of self, may erupt uncontrollably.

80. Evaluating the Humanistic
Perspective
Humanistic psychology has a pervasive
impact on counseling, education, child-
rearing, and management with its
emphasis on a positive self-concept,
empathy, and the thought that people are
basically good and can improve.

81. Evaluating the Humanistic
Perspective
Criticisms
1. Concepts in humanistic psychology are vague and
subjective and lack scientific basis.
2. The individualism encouraged can lead to self-
indulgence, selfishness, and an erosion of moral
restraints.
3. Humanistic psychology fails to appreciate the
reality of our human capacity for evil. It lacks
adequate balance between realistic optimism and
despair.