Humanistic Theory of Personality

Humanistic Theory in Psychology

Alfred Adler is considered to be the founding father of individual psychology. He was also one of the first psychological theorists to claim that the birth order in your family directly influences your personality. Adler thought that most humans have just one main goal: to feel important and like they belong.

Humanistic psychologists find that the way a person chooses to behave is directly influenced by their self-concept and their environment.

Humanistic psychologists consider how a person's environment, including past experiences, has shaped the person into who they are now and guided them to make certain choices.

Humanistic psychology is made up of five core principles:

1. Human beings supersede the sum of their parts.

2. Each human is unique.

3. Human beings are aware and conscious beings with the capacity for self-awareness.

4. Human beings have free will, can make their own choices, and are responsible for their own choices.

5. Human beings intentionally work to achieve future goals. They also seek meaning, creativity, and value in life.

The humanistic theory focuses on a person’s motivation and desire to be good and do good. The humanistic theory of personality also focuses on free will or the ability to choose personal outcomes.

Humanistic Definition of Personality

The humanistic theory focuses on a person’s tendency to choose good behaviors. The theory is formed around the belief that people want to achieve self-actualization and can do that with the right environment and help around them. The humanistic theory of personality focuses on the uniqueness of each person and their efforts to be good and achieve self-actualization.

Maslow's Humanistic Approach to Personality

Abraham Maslow is an American psychologist who believed that people possess free will and self-determination: the ability to make decisions and shape their own life. Maslow believed that you can choose to become whoever you want to be and you can achieve self-actualization.

A distinctive aspect of Maslow's theory that sets him apart from others is those on whom he chose to study and base his theories. While many theorists and psychologists choose to formulate their ideas by investigating unique, clinically diagnosed people, Maslow chose to examine people who were successful, and sometimes even well-known, who he claimed all had similar traits. He believed these people had achieved self-actualization.

One such famous person he studied was none other than the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Based on Maslow's investigation of Lincoln and others' personalities, he made his assertation that these people were all focused on being self-aware and empathetic, and did not focus on other people's judgment of them. He said they focused more on a problem at hand than themselves and often concerned themselves with one main focus throughout their lives.

Humanistic Theory of Personality by Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers is an American psychologist that believed that humans had the ability to change and grow into better people. Rogers believed that a person needed an environment that had empathy and genuineness so that they could become a good person. Rogers believed that it was not possible for a human to learn how to have healthy relationships and be healthy without this environment.

Carl Rogers believed that there are three parts to your beliefs about yourself (your self-concept):

1. Self-Worth

2. Self-Image

3. Ideal Self

Carl Rogers believed that these three components need to be congruent and overlap with each other in order to achieve self-actualization.

Fg. 2 All three components contribute to self-concept. StudySmarter original.

Rogers believed that in order for you to attain your goals and live a good life, you need to hold to certain life principles. He found that people who were functioning at their fullest potential had these principles in common. Rogers also said that the process of living a good life is constantly changing, which means that every person can start now to change the future.

Principles of a Good Life:

1. Being open to experience.

2. An existential lifestyle.

3. Trusting oneself.

4. Freedom of choice.

5. Being creative and able to adapt easily.

6. Reliability and constructiveness.

7. Live a rich, full life.

These are not easy to achieve. Rogers explained it best in his book On Becoming a Person:

Examples of Humanistic Theories of Personality

How do you think the humanistic theory of personality would view someone robbing a bank? It states that humans are inherently good and make good choices, but can be held back from their potential due to their environment.

Following this logic, the humanistic theory of personality would say that a robber is still a good person, but that environment caused them to act in this way. In this instance, the environment would be monetary problems that forced the robber to go to these lengths.

On the flip side, the humanistic theory of personality states that you are in control of your own actions and are able to grow to your full potential. An example of this would be job promotions at work. Through your hard work, you get a professional promotion. With each promotion you get, you are realizing your potential and working hard to achieve it.