The Humanistic Perspective

1
The Humanistic Perspective

• Concepts and Theories

2
The Third Force

• To oversimplify the matter somewhat, it is as if
  Freud supplied to us the sick half of psychology,
  and we must now fill it out with the healthy
  half.
• Maslow 1968

3
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Self- Actualization
Esteem
Belongingness
Safety
Physiological
4
Maslows Types of Needs

• Basic Needs or deficiency needs
• Metaneeds, our desire to grow and use our
  capacities to the fullest

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Physiological Needs

• Needs for food, water, air, etc.
• These are the most prepotent needs
• One function of civilization is to satisfy these
  needs so we can focus on the higher ones
• Behavioral research usually studies at this level

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Safety Needs

• Needs for safety, order, security, etc.
• Focused on after physiological needs met

7
Belongingness Love Needs

• The need for affiliation, for friends, supportive
  family, group identification, intimate
  relationships
• This level and higher ones often not satisfied
  even in affluent countries
• Need to receive and to give love

8
Esteem Needs

• Need to be held in high regard by self and others
  (not just self-esteem)
• comes from mastery, achievement, adequacy,
  feelings of competence, confidence, independence
• Ideally this need met by the deserved respect of
  others

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Self-Actualization Needs

• A person must actualize, that is make real, what
  exists inside them as a potential
• Most other theorists wouldnt see this as a need
• Freud would predict people would stop at lower
  needs
• This may increase tension yet capacities clamor
  to be used

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Exceptions to the Hierarchy

• Esteem taking precedence over love
• Person who ignores and ruins relationships in
  order to achieve

11
More extreme reversals

• Artists who have produced their greatest works in
  times of dire physical need

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More extreme reversals

• Martyrs
• People who sacrifice their safety and lives for
  higher good

13
Peak and Plateau Experiences

• A peak experience is a brief feeling of fully
  living that brings joy and excitement

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Peak and Plateau Experiences

• Plateau are less intense but still satisfying as
  they bring a heightened appreciation of life and
  tend to be more enduring
• Both involve a transcendence of ordinary
  perceptions

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Peak and Plateau Experiences

• If I could teach a person only one thing, it
  would be to live each day as if its were the last
  day of their life
• Maslow