Rollo May

Existential Psychology

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• A person's existence and experience is unique, exceptional, and unrepeatable
• Everyone is a universe in itself.
• Importance of a person's free will and choice
• It is necessary to consider every person as a unique entity in the context of their own circumstances, relationships, conditions, influences, and internal forces.

• Existential psychologists tend to be optimistic
• A self-improving person overcomes selfish desires and pride keeps away from the material world and practices meditation to reach a state of pure consciousness
• Focus on the awareness of others, and self-awareness to pursue pure consciousness and happiness.

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Rollo May

• His health problems early in life and his search for inner strength gave him a creative insight into personality psychology
• he believed anxiety was provoked by technological and social changes taking place in the world and he believed that these factors led to anxiety (Shiraev 2016):
• People were caught up in a conflict between the old world of tradition and the new world of change.
• Tradition represented stability and certainty and change was rooted in uncertainty and instability
• Emerging threats to the individual's fundamental family values
• This anxiety led to confusion which increased the sense of powerlessness and insignificance which can lead to anger and even violence

May encourage people to reduce their anxiety by rediscovering the importance of caring for one another.

3 Ways to cope with Fear:

1. Avoidance
2. Confronting
3. Accept it
4. Identifying it

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 References

 Shiraev, E. (2016). Personality Theories. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781506300795

Humanistic

 Principles

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Five Theoretical Principles of the Humanistic Tradition ( Shiraev 2016)"

• It viewed people from a holistic perspective
• People are more than the sum of their habits, reflexes, and mental operations.
• Does not just focus on isolated behaviors
• People are aware of their own psychological processes
• Humanistic Theory shifts the focus from the unconscious to the conscious
• 
  People's existence is not limited to their immediate surroundings.
• A person has material, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions
• Free will of the people
• the choice comes with accountability
• people can make mistakes and learn from them
• People can control the outcomes of their behavior
• Human behavior is intentional and deliberate

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• People are not direct products of stimuli and circumstances
• People do not follow the imperatives of the unconscious mind.
• People are generally rational and logical in setting their goals and choosing the methods to achieve them.
• It is inherently optimistic and circumstances can affect all of us but we humans have the power to overcome challenges

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How does Humanistic Theory view when someone fails to achieve their goals despite their good intentions and effort?

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• Humanistic Psychology focuses on the actual experience of a person
• They prefer qualitative research methods to quantitative procedures and stress the importance of  a deep examination (Shiraev 2016):

1. concerns
2. memories
3. plans
4. feeling 
5. actions

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Existentialism:

1. focuses on someone's individual uniqueness, free will, and responsibility.
2. People are not substances with fixed properties
3. People are not subjects interacting with a world of objects

Controversial Assumptions of Existentialism (Shiraev 2016):

1. Human existence is tragic
1. People are free but struggle with society's demands
2. Most people do not know what to do with their freedom.
3. Every moment we are getting closer to death
4. No matter what we do and how hard we try the final results do not match our expectations and we are left sad and disoriented.
2. Life is painful and absurd
1. There is no true meaning in life
2. attempts to find meaning are fruitless
3. existential attitude- when we can't find meaning then this adds to a sense of confusion
4. existential crisis - when someone questions the foundations of life and asks whether their life has any meaning, purpose, or value.
5. Finding no answers causes anxiety and depression in people.
3. Steps can be taken to address the tragic nature and absurdity of our lives

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Where do Anxiety and Depression Originate from:

1. Anxiety and Depression manifest because people need answers and do not find them. There is no certainty in life except for death (Shiraev 2016).

What are their solutions?

• Some celebrate the power of human will and power.
• Some encourage people to revolt against their own existence
• Others encourage people to look beyond their prescribed social roles
• Some choose therapy to address anxieties

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References

Shiraev, E. (2016). Personality Theories. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781506300795

Humanistic

 

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Humanistic Psychology

Focuses on the individual and their unique experiences and emerged in the 1950s and 1960s as a reaction to behaviorism and psychoanalysis which were two dominant schools of thought at the time.

Humanist Psychologists

• Emphasized the importance of free will, responsibility, and self-actualization and believed that people are fundamentally good and have the capacity to grow and develop into their full potential.

They believed that psychology had lost sight of the individual. 

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Criticisms of behaviorism (Shiraev 2015):

Behaviorism is too simplistic and deterministic and reduces human behavior to a set of learned responses that ignore the role of free will and personal responsibility.

Behaviorism is focused on changing behavior rather than helping people to understand and grow.

Behaviorism ignores consciousness and the subjective experience of the person

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Criticisms of psychoanalysis (Shiraev 2015):

Too focused on the unconscious and the past and it neglects the conscious mind and the potential for growth and change.

Psychoanalysis is too pessimistic and deterministic and views people as being controlled by unconscious forces.

Too expensive and time-consuming.

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References





Shiraev, E. (2016). Personality Theories. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781506300795




 

The Revolution in Psychology that Put the Individual Back in the Center

 

Humanistic Psychology:

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• The humanistic tradition in personality psychology emerged during a period of great uncertainty and upheaval. World War II and the Cold War contributed to a widespread feeling of unease and anxiety which led to a growing interest in human psychology and a desire to understand how people can thrive in the face of adversity.
• Humanistic psychologists believe that people are fundamentally good and have the innate capacity to grow and develop. They focus on someone's subjective experience and their potential for self-actualization. They also emphasize the importance of free will and personal responsibility.
• In the second half of the past century, an influx of immigrants from all over the world brought a new wave of educated specialists.

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New and intriguing debates about the role of psychology emerged in the 1950s (Shiraev 2015):

• Some psychologists argued that psychology should use primarily experimental methods of investigation, while others believed that psychology should also embrace other approaches such as studying happiness, self-improvement, and compassion
• Humanistic psychologists believe that psychology should pay significant attention to human suffering and injustice and pursue goals to make society better.
• This view accelerated in the changing political culture of the 1960s as people challenged traditional norms and focused on civil rights and discrimination.

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Humanistic psychology is a broad and diverse tradition that focuses on the experiences and potential of individuals emphasizing the importance of free will, personal responsibility, and self-actualization. (Shiraev 2015)

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References 

Shiraev, E. (2016). Personality Theories. SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781506300795