Humanistic Theory and Social Cognitive Theory

Psychology 12Ms. Rebecca

Now let’s learn about the other theories:

1. Humanistic Theory2. Social Cognitive Theory

Humanistic Perspective

Focuses on: Conscious experiences Free will and creativity Studies all factors of the human

condition

Abraham Maslow

Hierarchy of needs:

People who are self-actualized:

1. Know and like who they are2. Flexible and spontaneous3. Loving and caring4. Don’t care about what others think5. Focused on a life mission6. Have deep relationships, not superficial

ones7. Have had amazing experiences that have

changed the way they live their lives.

Carl Rogers

People need certain things to be able to reach self-actualization.

Unconditional positive regard

Other things that can help people to grow and thrive:

Being genuine: freely express your feelings

Emathy: share thoughts and feelings and try to understand the thoughts and feelings of others.

Problems with the Humanistic Perspective:

Vague terms: “spontaneous”, “loving”……

Never say “No”?!

Despite the negatives, Humanistic psychology has helped people to study human strengths and virtues instead of only problems.

How do we develop self-esteem?

When we are young: From other people like our parents.

-Unconditional love helps kids to have high self-esteem

But if parents only show love when children act a certain way, children may not feel good about themselves.

So,

You need to learn to be true to yourself – person-centered therapy – and not rely on how others feel about you.

http://www.tir.org/metapsy/missing_person_files/environment.gif

Summary

Psychoanalytic Theory- we’re products of our childhood and unconscious feelings

Humanistic Theory-We’re products of our own choice

4.Social Cognitive Theory

Combines research on social behavior, cognition, and learning

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/SoH/Ethnicity.gif

Albert Bandura

To understand personality, you need to think about

Situation How the person

thinks How the person

interacts socially

Interacting With Our Environment

Reciprocal determinism

Personality AND environment affect behavior.

3 factors: 1. your

thoughts 2. your

environment 3. your

behaviors

Coach Currey’s Big Loss

Normally, Mr. Currey is very pleasant to be around:

But sometimes:

Girls Softball Coaching = the worst

1. Change in behavior on field.

2. perception of situation. Confidence in coaching…

3. Elements of situation- zero effort.

Personal Control

Do you feel in control of your life or does your environment control you?

Locus of Control

Internal Locus of Control: you control your own fate

External Locus of Control: Fate is a result of outside forces you can’t control.

Learned Helplessness

Can people Unlearn helplessness?

Yes! Give them a sense of control again: tv control in prison, arranging things in nursing home….

Optimism is important

Problems are temporary, not totally your fault.

BUT be careful of being too optimistic!

How do Social-cognitive theorists do experiments?

Put people in situations and see what they do. Vary the situation to look for personality consistencies. Or look at past behaviors.

Problems with the Social-Cognitive method

Good because it helps us to realize that situations CAN affect behavior and personality

BUT are we ONLY a product of what we learn? Rewards and punishments? What about greed, revenge, shyness?

How can we REALLY understand personality?

Look at ALL of the perspectives TOGETHER!

Homework: Finish reading pp333-337 and pp350-358

Next time: Personality Box Assignment!