The Self - Humanistic Theory

OUTLINE

Humanists place a lot of emphasis on people as individuals.

• They see us as unique and as having free will

The main humanistic ideas are

• We have the power to decide on our actions
• We should focus on the present, not past experiences
• We are all motivated to fulfil our potential (self actualisation)

Between 1 - 2 years old, our parents have an influence as our self- concept ( a persons view of their actual self) begins to form. If you are told that you have a certain trait enough times, you believe it,

When asked to describe themselves, people answer differently dependent on their age.

• Young children focus on physical terms
• Older children focus on social roles and talk about what they're good/bad at
• Teenagers/adults focus on their psychological selves and describe traits

We pass through social roles daily, such as daughter or bus passenger. These roles can contribute to a person's self concept. For example, you may think of yourself as a kind daughter or a polite passenger.

People have an ideal self, which is the person an individual would like to be.

The difference between the self-concept and the ideal self determines the person's self esteem.

• If the self-concept and ideal self are incongruent, there's a gap between them. This causes low self esteem
• If the self-concept and ideal self are similar, they're closer together. This causes high self estee,.
• Self esteem can be raised by unconditional positive regard, which is showing an individual love without expecting certain conditions to be met.

There is also a hierarchy of needs.

CRITICISMS

1 - The ideas are vague and difficult to measure objectively

• It's subjective

2 - It's not very scientific

• Ideas are difficult to test and measure if we can't observe them
• It comes from Rodger's research, which isn't very representative

3 - Humanists focus on the individual

• Nobody is predictable, so it lacks a point

4 - The theory ignores genetic evidence

• Other psychologists think between 20% and 60% of a person;s intellectual,emotional, and social development comes from genetic factors