Humanistic Approaches – Study Notes

 

Learning Objectives

After studying this section, you should be able to:

• Explain the main ideas of the humanistic perspective on personality.
• Describe Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
• Explain Carl Rogers' person-centered theory.
• Understand the concepts of self-concept, ideal self, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. (OpenStax Psychology 2e, 11.5)

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What Is the Humanistic Approach?

The humanistic approach focuses on each person's unique potential, personal growth, and ability to make choices.

Humanistic psychologists believe that people are:

• Naturally motivated to grow and improve.
• Capable of making their own decisions.
• More than just their behaviors or unconscious thoughts.
• Responsible for creating meaning and purpose in their lives.

Unlike behaviorists, who focus on learning, or Freud, who emphasized unconscious conflicts, humanistic psychologists focus on healthy development, free will, and reaching one's full potential.

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Abraham Maslow

Who Was Maslow?

Abraham Maslow believed that people are motivated by a series of needs.

Before people can focus on personal growth, they generally need to satisfy more basic needs first.

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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow organized human needs into a hierarchy, often shown as a pyramid.

From the bottom to the top:

Level	Need	Examples
5. Self-Actualization	Reaching your full potential	Creativity, personal growth, achieving goals
4. Esteem Needs	Feeling respected and confident	Self-esteem, achievement, recognition
3. Love and Belonging	Relationships and social connection	Family, friends, love, acceptance
2. Safety Needs	Security and protection	Safe home, healthcare, stable employment
1. Physiological Needs	Basic survival	Food, water, sleep, shelter, oxygen

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Self-Actualization

The highest level of Maslow's hierarchy is self-actualization.

Self-Actualization Means:

Becoming the best version of yourself by developing your talents and abilities.

Examples include:

• Learning new skills.
• Solving problems creatively.
• Helping others.
• Pursuing meaningful goals.
• Continuing to grow throughout life.

Maslow believed that relatively few people fully achieve self-actualization because many remain focused on meeting lower-level needs.

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Deficiency Needs and Growth Needs

Maslow grouped needs into two broad categories:

Deficiency Needs

These include:

• Physiological needs
• Safety
• Love and belonging
• Esteem

People are motivated to satisfy these because they feel something is missing.

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Growth Needs

Growth needs focus on:

• Self-actualization

Rather than filling a deficiency, growth needs encourage continued learning, creativity, and personal development.

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Carl Rogers

Another major humanistic psychologist was Carl Rogers.

He believed personality develops through experiences and relationships that help people understand themselves.

His theory is known as person-centered theory.

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Self-Concept

Self-concept is:

The way you see and understand yourself.

It includes your:

• Abilities
• Personality
• Values
• Beliefs
• Strengths
• Weaknesses

Example

Someone may think:

• "I am caring."
• "I enjoy helping others."
• "I work hard."

These beliefs become part of their self-concept.

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Ideal Self

The ideal self is:

The person you would most like to become.

Examples:

• Becoming a skilled teacher.
• Being confident.
• Becoming healthier.
• Learning new abilities.

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Congruence

Congruence occurs when your:

• Self-concept
• Ideal self

are very similar.

People who experience congruence generally feel:

• Happy
• Confident
• Emotionally healthy

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Incongruence

Incongruence happens when there is a large gap between:

• Who you believe you are.
• Who you want to become.

This gap may lead to:

• Low self-esteem
• Anxiety
• Frustration
• Dissatisfaction

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Unconditional Positive Regard

One of Rogers' best-known ideas is unconditional positive regard.

Definition

Accepting and valuing someone without judging them or making acceptance depend on their behavior or achievements.

People who experience unconditional positive regard are more likely to:

• Develop healthy self-esteem.
• Feel accepted.
• Grow emotionally.
• Become more confident.

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Conditional Positive Regard

In contrast, conditional positive regard means acceptance depends on meeting certain expectations.

For example:

"I'll only be proud of you if you get perfect grades."

This can make people feel valued only when they meet others' standards.

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Fully Functioning Person

Rogers believed emotionally healthy people become fully functioning persons.

Characteristics include:

• Open to new experiences.
• Trust their own feelings.
• Continue learning and growing.
• Live authentically.
• Accept themselves and others.

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Comparing the Humanistic Approach with Other Theories

Perspective	Main Focus
Psychodynamic (Freud)	Unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences
Behavioral (Skinner)	Learning through rewards and punishments
Social-Cognitive (Bandura)	Learning, thinking, and environment influence behavior
Humanistic (Maslow & Rogers)	Personal growth, free will, and reaching full potential

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Key Terms

Term	Meaning
Humanistic Perspective	Focuses on personal growth, free will, and achieving one's potential.
Hierarchy of Needs	Maslow's model of five levels of human needs.
Physiological Needs	Basic survival needs such as food, water, and sleep.
Safety Needs	Security, stability, and protection.
Love and Belonging	Relationships, friendship, and acceptance.
Esteem Needs	Respect, confidence, and achievement.
Self-Actualization	Reaching one's fullest potential.
Self-Concept	How a person views themselves.
Ideal Self	The person someone hopes to become.
Congruence	When self-concept and ideal self are closely aligned.
Incongruence	A mismatch between self-concept and ideal self.
Unconditional Positive Regard	Accepting and valuing a person without conditions.
Conditional Positive Regard	Acceptance that depends on meeting expectations.
Fully Functioning Person	Someone who is open, authentic, and continually growing.

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Summary

The humanistic approach emphasizes the positive side of human nature, believing that people have the freedom to make choices, grow, and fulfill their potential. Abraham Maslow explained motivation through his hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization as the highest goal. Carl Rogers focused on the importance of self-concept, ideal self, and unconditional positive regard, arguing that people thrive when they are accepted and supported. Together, these theories highlight the importance of personal growth, healthy relationships, and striving to become the best version of oneself.

Learning Approaches – Study Notes

 

Learning Objectives

After studying this section, you should be able to:

• Explain the behaviorist perspective on personality.
• Explain the cognitive perspective on personality.
• Explain the social-cognitive perspective on personality.

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The Learning Approach to Personality

Unlike Freud's psychodynamic theory, which focuses on unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences, the learning approach believes that personality develops through learning and experience.

Learning theorists study observable behavior, making their ideas easier to test scientifically.

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1. The Behavioral Perspective

Main Idea

Behaviorists believe personality is learned from the environment.

Instead of being born with personality traits, people develop habits through:

• Rewards (reinforcement)
• Punishments
• Experiences

B. F. Skinner

Skinner believed:

• The environment shapes behavior.
• Behaviors followed by rewards increase.
• Behaviors followed by punishment decrease.
• Personality changes throughout life.

Unlike Freud, Skinner did not believe personality is fixed during childhood.

Example

A teenager enjoys driving fast because friends praise the behavior.

Later, after becoming a parent, driving carefully becomes more rewarding.

Over time, the person's personality changes from being a risk-taker to being more cautious.

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2. Social-Cognitive Perspective

Albert Bandura

Bandura agreed that learning shapes personality.

However, he believed people also:

• Think
• Reason
• Make choices

Our thoughts influence our behavior just as much as our environment.

His theory combines:

• Learning
• Thinking (cognition)
• Social experiences

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Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura proposed reciprocal determinism.

This means three factors continuously influence one another:

• Personal factors (beliefs, personality, thoughts)
• Behavior
• Environment

Each affects the others.

Example

Someone considers bungee jumping.

Their decision depends on:

• Confidence
• Previous experiences
• Friends' encouragement
• Fear of danger

All these factors interact together.

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Observational Learning

Bandura believed people often learn simply by watching others.

This is called observational learning or modeling.

People observe:

• Parents
• Teachers
• Friends
• Celebrities
• Social media influencers

Then they decide whether to copy the behavior.

Example

A child watches a parent:

• Saying "please" and "thank you."
• Helping neighbours.
• Being kind.

The child is likely to imitate these behaviours.

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Reinforcement of Models

People are more likely to imitate someone when they see that person:

• Praised
• Rewarded
• Successful

They are less likely to imitate someone who is punished for their actions.

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Self-Efficacy

Bandura introduced self-efficacy.

Definition

Self-efficacy is:

Your belief that you can successfully complete a task or achieve a goal.

People with:

High Self-Efficacy

They usually:

• Believe they can succeed.
• Enjoy challenges.
• Keep trying after setbacks.
• Recover quickly from failure.

Low Self-Efficacy

They often:

• Avoid difficult tasks.
• Give up easily.
• Expect failure.
• Lose confidence after mistakes.

Example

A student believes:

"I've studied hard. I can pass this exam."

This student has high self-efficacy.

Another student believes:

"I'm terrible at maths. I'll fail anyway."

This reflects low self-efficacy.

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Julian Rotter – Locus of Control

Rotter studied how people explain success and failure.

This is called locus of control.

Internal Locus of Control

People believe:

"I control my own future."

Examples:

• Hard work leads to success.
• Studying improves grades.
• Practice improves skills.

These individuals tend to take responsibility for their actions.

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External Locus of Control

People believe:

• Luck controls life.
• Fate controls life.
• Other people determine outcomes.

Example:

"I failed because the teacher doesn't like me."

instead of

"I didn't study enough."

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Walter Mischel – The Person-Situation Debate

Mischel questioned whether personality traits remain consistent in every situation.

He found:

• People may behave differently in different situations.
• Behaviour is often more consistent within similar situations than across all situations.

He concluded that both:

• Personality
• Situation

influence behaviour.

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Self-Regulation

Mischel also studied self-regulation.

Definition

Self-regulation means:

Controlling your behaviour to achieve long-term goals.

It often involves delaying gratification.

Example

A student chooses to study instead of watching television because passing the exam is more important than immediate entertainment.

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The Marshmallow Test

Mischel became famous for the Marshmallow Test.

Children were given one marshmallow.

They could:

• Eat it immediately,

or

• Wait and receive two marshmallows later.

The study examined children's ability to delay gratification and exercise self-control.

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Key Terms

Term	Meaning
Behaviorism	Personality develops through learning from the environment.
Reinforcement	A consequence that increases a behaviour.
Punishment	A consequence that decreases a behaviour.
Social-Cognitive Theory	Personality develops through both learning and thinking.
Reciprocal Determinism	Behaviour, thoughts, and environment influence each other.
Observational Learning	Learning by watching others.
Modeling	Copying another person's behaviour.
Self-Efficacy	Belief in your own ability to succeed.
Locus of Control	Beliefs about who or what controls life outcomes.
Self-Regulation	Controlling behaviour to reach long-term goals.
Delayed Gratification	Waiting for a larger future reward instead of taking a smaller immediate one.

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Summary

The learning approaches argue that personality is learned rather than fixed at birth. Skinner emphasized the role of reinforcement and the environment in shaping behavior. Bandura expanded this view by showing that people also learn through observing others and that thoughts, beliefs, and confidence (self-efficacy) influence behavior. Rotter highlighted how beliefs about control affect motivation, while Mischel demonstrated that both personality and situations influence behavior and emphasized the importance of self-regulation. Together, these theories show that personality develops through an ongoing interaction between learning, cognition, and social experiences.