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How does the humanistic view of personality development differ from the trait theory view
Maslow on Self-Actualization Brandeis
Motivation as a personality attribute
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“Musicians must make music, artists must paint, and poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization” Abraham Maslow. http://toolstolife.com/articles/Abraham-Maslow-s-Self-Actualizer-380
Self- Actualization rests at the pinnacle of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Before reaching that pinnacle, the human being rises through the various strata of motivation beginning with the basic needs to survive. But does everyone reach that pinnacle? We will find that only a few who have paddled through the various strata will ultimately succeed in negotiating the entire hierarchy of needs. Some people, such as those ravaged by famine in a poor country, without the means to get beyond the next meal may never reach Maslow’s self-actualisation or transcendence. However, no one theory will fully explain human motivation, there are limitations associated with each theory.
Accordingly, in this essay, for a comparative and critical analysis, I will explore the Motivation theory of Maslow and the theory of Gordon Allport. Allport was considered to be the founding fathers of personality psychology, his works focusing on the human being who is identified by a series of traits, cardinal traits, central and secondary.
Accordingly, for the purpose of this essay I will focus on two schools of personality psychology, the Humanistic school of thought on motivation and Trait Psychology. I will compare and contrast the two theories to determine how they connected and find that there are subtle differences between them. Before I begin my analysis, it will be necessary to explore the definition of human motivation t...
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...population of impoverished populations and the fact that Gordon Allport’s studies were limited and constantly scrutinised as he never developed an empirically testable platform, it can be postulated that both theories provide a framework for understanding motivation in the human being, but neither provides a complete analysis or prototype. All the psychological theories built on the preceding psychologists’ views and research.
Going forward, it is recommended to take the positive aspects of all the theories of motivation and adopt what works. In terms of expanding the studies on motivation one must consider other theorists such as Carl Rogers in a humanistic approach and as previously mentioned, trait theorists such as Raymond Cattel and Hans Eysenk to establish a more scientific and accurate results in measuring motivation and testing personality differences.
There are many different modern perspectives of psychology. These modern perspectives are cognitive,psycoanalysis,humanistic.socio-cultural,behavioral and evolutionary. When thinking about a key event in regard to different personality theories, I felt that I could most relate that key event of my life to the humanistic and behavioral theory. I will mainly be emphazing on these two modern perspectives. Moreover, I will then evaluate the key concepts and the principles of these two theories, and briefly compare and contrast their thoughts in the following paragraphs.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow created the hierarchy of needs, outlining and suggesting what a person need to reach self-actualization and reveal the true potential of themselves. In the model, Maslow propose that a person has to meet basic needs in order to reach the true potential of themselves. Biological/physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging need, esteem needs according to Maslow is the fundamental frame for reaching the peak of self. The last need to be met on the scale
An examination of the Humanistic and Trait theories of personality exposes that while there are various differences concerning the two theories, there are very few similarities
People have long considered general theories of motivation, and the question regarding the specific motives that direct and energize our human behavior has undergone tremendous speculation. To this day the question still stands: what is it that humans seek most in life? In an effort to answer this question, Abraham Maslow proposed what he called the hierarchy of needs. Maslow theorizes that human beings are motivated to fulfill this hierarchy, which consists of needs ranging from those that are basic for survival up to those that promote growth and self-enhancement (Kassin 300).
Motivation refers to a process within a person that influences them to move toward a goal and away from unpleasant situations (Kosslyn & Rosenberg, 2010). Humans are motivated by many different sources such as biological factors – the need for food, water or sex, emotional factors – panic, love or hatred which can influence behavior, cognitive behaviors – an individual’s perceptions of the world, beliefs about themselves and expectations about others, social factors – reactions from family, friends and other sociocultural forces like social media and lastly, intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Kosslyn & Rosenberg, 2010). Prominent theories of motivation such as Clark Hull’s Drive reduction theory, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Incentive
Abraham Maslow (1943,1954) stressed that motivation is the key to understand of human behaviour. It comprising of five motivational needs, often depicted as hierarchy level within a pyramid namely physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Maslow emphasized that each individual should sustain or meet the lower level basic needs before the individual desire the second or moving on the highest level. He claimed that motivation is essential as it helps in self-development in achieving one’s personal goal and leading to satisfaction. Humanism emphasizes on the freedom, dignity and potential
Maslow’s theory implies that before one can be intrinsically motivated we must first satisfy some more basic human needs. These include physiological needs (ensure our physical survival), safety need (bringing safety and security to our lives), social needs (love, affection, acceptance), Esteem needs (self respect) and need for self – actualization (individual being) (Neher, 1991)
Lastly, the findings of trait theory and its components described within the paper will be summarised. Major contributors to the trait theory of personality include three prominent psychologists. Boeree (2006) states that American born psychologist Gordon Allport has been described as the founding father of personality trait theory. Allport’s distinguished career included holding the presidency of the American Psychological Association (APA) and receiving the Gold Medal Award and a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the APA (Carducci, 2009, p. 260). After meeting with Sigmund Freud in 1922 and studying his interpretation of personality, Allport developed the opinion that psychoanalysis was too in-depth while behaviourism was far too shallow in the field of personality psychology.
Personality Theories originate from the awareness that astute, intellectual theorists perceive when observing, examining and evaluating their own mental state of mind. Although theories are tested through research; human characteristics have exhibited that they can be demonstrated to contain errors. The most recent knowledge of understanding personality theories derives from a combination of components such as research on reoccurrences, culture, psychobiology, learning, traits, and social psychology. Alfred Adler titled his theory Individual Psychology with the belief that everyone is differently motivated. Fascinated with finding out what driving force motivates a person to reach their potential, and what keep them going during difficult times, Adler referred to his theory as “striving for superiority” (Friedman, H. and Schustack, (2012). Adler viewed motivation as future endeavors rather than the outcome of the past. He differed the basic concept of his personality typology from Classical Greek typology by referring to them as (1) Ruling-Dominant, (2) Getting- Leaning, (3) Avoiding and (4) Socially useful (Friedman, H. & Schustack, M., 2012).
...theories of nature and nurture as a precursor of personality may enable an individual to obtain a clear perspective of its evolution. However, in the study of personality, it is very important to understand the different theoretical approaches within its realm. It is important for the same reason that not one person is the same and neither are personalities; and for the very same reason why personality theorist’ differ when describing the concept and nature of humanity.
Self-actualization is an idea originating from the Humanistic psychological theory and particularly created by Abraham Maslow. The humanistic school of thought in psychology is the third force in psychology that attempts to regain the self, supporting that individuals do have free will and has the power to change for the better. Humanistic psychology was developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism focusing on individuality, personal growth and the concept of self-actualization. While early schools of thought were mostly concentrated on abnormal human behavior, humanistic psychology is different because of its emphasis on helping individuals achieve and fulfill their potential. The two main contributors to this school of thought
A lot of various motivation theories were created by such authors as: Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, Douglas McGregor, David McClelland and others. In that particular paper the author will explore two motivation theories – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and two factor theory of F. Herzberg.
Abraham Maslow’s pioneering approach to the study of personality primarily focused on the achievement of self-actualization. Although his definitions were sometimes vague, he provided an outline to how he believed this actualization could take place. This paper will further explore his position by exploring identity characteristics of the self-actualized, the basic and growth needs, and finally the important distinction between the B- and D-cognition states.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943. 370-396. Print. 8 Feb. 2014.
The humanistic psychology tends to aim at the latent possibility of individuals while emphasizing on the growing process and perceived personality. The underlying principle of humanistic psychology is that humans are naturally decent and mind and societal issues arise from unacceptable behavior that is sharply different from customary, traditional, or accepted standard. Also, it insinuates that people are inspired to employ this free will to engage in whatever that will make it easier for them to succeed in doing or gaining something with effort. Nevertheless, a person continues to explore strategies to develop, progress, acquire information or skills, and to encounter psychological growth and self-actualization. In this paper, it will discuss