...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Erin F Watts PSY/250 September 21, 2012 Juliann Hector Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality When a person looks at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, one can see the basic map of the way people seek things out. Every aspect of a person’s identity is shaped with the help of basic human instincts and the needs that they seek to fulfill. Though it is critical to take this list of basic necessities into account when considering an individual’s personality, it is important not to overlook the affect that tendencies and biological factors play in designing one’s thoughts and reactions. When a child is first born, its thoughts are primarily focused on satiating their own hunger for food, comfort, and safety. Quick to learn, and a little selfish, a baby will catch on to certain truths. When it cries it will receive attention and food, meeting the first tier in the hierarchy of needs. In this level, Maslow explains that the first things a person seeks are the physiological kind. These are things like food, water, and sleep. Though there are certain factors that also play into this, this need will help determine how fussy one may turn out. If the baby gurgles or coos a certain way it garners more attention from its guardian, things like this help shape a person. The next urge humans seek to have met is safety. Everyone learns to do things a certain way to make sure they have nurturing and protective environment. If a...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality PSY/250 April 23, 2013 Richard Dehmer Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality All people have unique personalities, but not all analysts agree on how personalities are formed. This paper will discuss the hierarchy of needs. This theory uses five levels that each individual must progress through to reach self-actualization. This theory of personality also aligns with the Biological theory in the same ways. Individuals must meet basic needs of happiness to more to another level and self-awareness, or self-actualization. First Level “Maslow divided organismic needs into two categories. First, he identified several categories of deficiency needs—“D-needs” (or “D-motives”)—which are necessary for survival. The physiological needs are the basic biological necessities such as food, water, sex, and shelter. (Friedman & Schustack, (2009), pg. 304).” By working and making a living, Danette is meeting her need for food, drink, and shelter. She also fulfills the sleep, warmth by owning a home. Second Level The second stage includes the safety needs of an individual. This stage seems easy enough to fulfill, but some individuals do not find it as easy as others. Safety needs differ based on what makes an individual feel safe and secure. This stage covers the basic needs, but some individuals may have a longer list of needs. Once the needs on this level are met, Danette can move on to the next level. ...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Cecil A. Shelton Psy/250 3/20/14 Nicole Jack Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Our environment defines the needs and the order that we require those necessities to be met. Dr. James D. Watson “claims that who we are is there in our genes.” –unless you were African whom Watson felt had an inferior genetic code (the latter remark resulted in dismissal from a prestigious research laboratory) (Friedman & Schustack, 2011). Biologically, we are destined to exist in a manner that is predetermined by our ancestors however; humanistic factors suggest that our environmental influences create a personality unrelated to our needs. Mind, body, and soul collide in these two worlds of biological and humanistic approaches and evaluating the basic aspects shall reveal either the truth or just create more questions. According to Friedman and Schustack, biological factors combine with the other aspects of personality in complex ways to produce patterns of behavior. A human beings temperament plays a very significant role in developing traits that are used to bridge childhood to adult formation. Abraham Maslow states, ``Self-actualizing people are gratified in all their basic needs of belongingness, affection, respect, and self-esteem (Norwood, 2014). These essentials require a person to be extremely honest with the person in the mirror because not doing so can lead to not identifying the minimum goals...
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...This paper will use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to discuss the extent to which growth needs influence personality information. It will explain biological factors that influence the information personality. In this paper it will explain the relationship of biological factors to Maslow’s theory of personality. It will describe the basic aspects of humanistic theory that are incompatible with biological explanations of personality. Abraham Maslow (1954) book Motivation and Personality was published to combine elements of a large amount of knowledge connected to characteristics of motivation (Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs motivational model, 1995). Before Maslow, researchers usually concentrated distinctly with the conditions of achievement, biology or the ability to understand what activates, directs, and maintains human behavior. Maslow presented facts supposed to be true and hierarchy of human needs with the importance of two groups; growth needs and deficiency. With deficiency needs one must be up to standard on the lower needs before up to the higher level of needs. After these needs have been met, if at a later time a deficiency is discovered, the person will take action to get rid of the deficiency. Maslow divided organismic needs into two categories. First, he identified several categories of deficiency needs—“D-needs” (or “D-motives”) which are necessary for survival (Friedman & Schustack, 2012). A) Physiological needs are the basic needs food, water, shelter, sex...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality The stages of human development are influenced by biological and humanistic theories. Maslow's hierarchy of needs stresses the need for and individual to discover their own personality and gain self-control in their personal life. Abraham Maslow had a theory that an individual will desire more in life once they have accomplished the basic needs in life. Humanistic features of personality focus on freedom and self-fulfillment. Unlike Maslow, Hans Eysenck and other theorist proclaimed that personality comes from a biological approach that an individual’s behavior is influenced by genetics. The following will consist of a description of how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs influence personality formations, biological factors that influence the formation of personality, the examination of the relationship of biological factors by Maslow’s theory of personality, along with basic aspects of humanistic theories incompatible with biological descriptions of personality. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory of human motivation based on biological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self- actualization. Personality is influenced by ideas that create a foundation of an individual's life relations and peak experiences. An individual's experiences assist an individual to transform and discover the inner self. Peak experiences are familiar to individuals whom have matured and discovered their full potential. Maslow believed that...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Toni Hitner PSY/250 October 19, 2011 Mackenzie Glander Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality In this paper, I will show you how Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers agreed on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and also the biological and humanistic approach. “The hierarchy of needs theory remains valid today for understanding human motivation, management training, and personal development” (Orana, 2009). Maslow’s book Personality and Motivation was published in 1954 introducing his theory of the hierarchy of needs. Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) first introduced his concept of the hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation”. This hierarchy (formerly known as Maslow’s triangle) suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to the next level of needs. The lowest part of the pyramid is made up of the most basic needs, while the more complicated needs are located at the top of the pyramid. As people progress up the pyramid, the needs become more psychological and social. Carl Rogers and Maslow emphasized on the importance of self-actualization. There are five different levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as follows: The first level is the physiological needs level. “These level includes the most basic needs that is needed for survival, such as food, water, air, shelter, and sleep” (Cherry, 2010). Maslow believed that these needs...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality PSY 250 Biological and humanistic styles are the two most commonly used to describe the approach towards personality. Referencing theories in the process of biological development, various processes have been used in an attempt to fill the gap that is between the genes of a person and the personality they will end up developing. Under this there is the anatomical approach that explains the functions and structures of the brain and biochemical that attributes all this to the neurotransmitters and hormones. Besides that, there is Abraham Maslow who has a different theory when it pertains to personality. According to this theory personality of a person will be developed due to the various experiences and realities that they encounter in life (Vigil, 2002). Maslow had a belief in the hierarchy of human needs. In order to the proper definition of the human needs an individual has to start in defining the needs by completing one group of needs before proceeding to the next group. Hence Maslow came up with a pyramid in which the needs were classified. At the lowest point of the scale were those needs that are basic and as they progress it gets more complicated to the most complex of needs at the top of the pyramid. At the bottom are the basic needs that include food, water, sleep and warmth. The next level is that where a person has to be given the provision of being safe and secure in the pyramid. The nest level of needs in...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality By, Keyanna PSY/250 10/05/15 Christine Hander Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Abraham Maslow was one of the founders of humanistic psychology. Unlike the psychologist before him, he decided to study healthy human beings and their traits and come up with his own theory of why people are the way they are. While casting his studies, he came up with his hierarchy of needs theory. This theory is often explained and envisioned as a pyramid. The most basic needs were at the bottom. They consisted of food, breathing and air, sex, water, sleep and a lot of other things we take for granted daily. The second from the bottom involved safety and how feeling safe in your environment affects you. These characteristics are security of employment, morality, family safety, health and property. Third from the bottom was love and belonging. These traits are friendship, family and sexual encounters. Second from the top is where esteem lies. These traits consist of self-esteem, confidence, respect of others and for others and achievement. At the very top of the pyramid is where self-actualization lies. Self-actualization consist of morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, and lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts (Wikipedia.com 2015). In his hierarchical of needs, lower needs have to be largely satisfied in order for higher needs to become of importance (Friedman & Schustack, 2011). I must admit...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Sophia Williams-Ivey PSY/250 December 21, 2015 Anne Snyder Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Throughout the movement of human psychology over the years, going back to the early 20th century we learned about the dominant theories then, such as psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, which suggest that sexual urges and aggression drive human beings. Secondly, the behaviorism that was done by J. Watson and B. F. Skinner, this study put human beings as programmed lab rats that only do or behave how they are told. There were a lot of controversy regarding these theories as the people argue that these were not credible because these theories portray human beings as faulty machines. . (Friedman & Schustak, 2011, para. Chapter 5, 9). The theories of psychoanalysis and behaviorism, over the years, had dehumanized our understanding of ourselves and what it means to be human. However here arose Abraham Maslow with a new outlook on human psychology called humanistic psychology. Maslow knew that there was more to the human mind and developed a drive to discover positive mental health and happiness, and not just mental illness and misery. So to enhance his theory he placed his main focus on what people can do as opposed to their limitations. His hierarchy of needs has played a major stand in human behavior and achievements. (Nettle, 2008). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs The hierarchy of need was developed by Maslow...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality PSY/250 September 2, 2014 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was a very interesting topic that I learned quite a bit about. He wanted to understand what motivates people, motivation is what drives people to accomplish goals in their lives or better yet set them. Maslow’s Needs are set at 5 levels and when unmet the physical body as well as mental has some type of reaction. The lower basic needs to be met before climbing the ladder to higher needs. Maslow put his research and findings in to easier terms for me to understand, so I feel as though I can talk about it a little better than trying to explain other theorists’ theories. There are 5 stages within the hierarchy needs which include: biological and physical needs, safety needs, love and belongingness, self-esteem, and self-actualization needs. Our basic needs in life like sleep, water, air food, and shelter fall under the biological and physical needs without these it would be hard for us to meet any needs throughout life, we would probably be dead or laying in a hospital somewhere with tons of tubes hooked up to our bodies. Love and belongingness is the intimacy, affection, friendship, and love portion of our lives. As Freud discussed these types of things start happening around the age of 6 in which he explained was our social relations. Safety needs cover law, order, freedom of fear, and stability. We all have to have some type of structure to follow for our lives or...
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...Biological And Humanistic Approaches To Personality Personality has long been thought to be existent at birth and can only attempt to grow from the moment of conception. According to Maslow, an American psychologist, human needs are sought to be fulfilled and upon fulfillment, lead to self-actualization. He created a hierachy of needs that dictates what human desires are necessary to be achieved before being able to move toward the next stage in life. Abraham Maslow is the creator of Maslow’s hierachy of needs, a psycological theory that said all humans have a need to reach their max potential. But to achieve this sense of self-fulfillment one must meet every need starting with the most basic first. The hierachy consists of different levels. From the bottom: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Physiological needs consist of food, water, sleep, shelter, warmth, and even sex. These needs can be influenced by where you live, what area, what region, and in what kind of an establishment. Food consumed can depict some parts of personality. Heritage and how one is brought up can determine how you live your life. The basic needs are influenced by family culture and background. A lack of nuturing in the early stage can lead to insecurity issues. Safety needs consist of protection from nature, security, the law, and stability. It is the duty of the parents to protect their child from the outside world and the negative energy that can affect...
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...in 1856. Freud was dedicating to the learning and teaching of research and personality disorders. Freud added sex as a source of stress and conflicts. Simund Freud also had two key concepts, psychic determinism and unconscious motivation. Freud studied in Vienna. Simund Freud also believed that personality had three structures that consist of levels, conscious, pre conscious, unconscious. Later on in Feud career he developed five stages, oral, phallic, anal, latency, and genital. Freud was teaching that personality consist of three parts id, ego, and superego. Freud also studied nine types of defense mechanism. Just to name a few and what their meaning are. (Repression) Life long history of problems, Unconscious avoidance. (Denial) One cannot face the reality of evidence. (Projection) In the beginning of Freud career he started off doing hypnosis, but later notice that it was inadequate for some of his patients. He then moved on to studying dreams. Freud believes that dreams have a person’s inner conflicts of physical and mental problems. Freud thought that dreams will in lock ones inner secrets. Freud referred to dreams as the “royal road” to understanding the unconscious. Carl Jung was born in July, 1875 in Switzerland. There he grew up with both of his parents. His father was a preacher and his mother was the daughter of a preacher. Jung believe in two different personalities. Jung also had a vision and dreams. This valuable information was from the...
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...Introduction Religion is a very personal choice in an individual’s life. There are many religions in the world that people use to represent their beliefs and ethical mindsets. The following essay will be discussing the essentials that are needed for a tradition to be considered a religion. Religion, for some people, is considered a tradition. There will also be information about the commonalities of the three Western religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam – and their differences. What is the essential and practices and beliefs for tradition in religion? The essentials and the practices of beliefs are known as religion. Religion is described as a “starry night, one of the world’s most loving paintings, depicts a sky full of luminous, spinning stars. Painted near the end of its creator’s life, work summarizes the vision of Vincent van Gogh” (Malloy, 2013, pg. 4). The star is known to be for a tradition to be called god or goddess that represent a religion all over the world. The painted is known as the creator of life as the Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)(Malloy, 2013) for example in the church I been attend the following belief that there is one god. The greater Allen also known as A.M.E Cathedral of New York they stand for Christianity faith. Illustrate your points by referring to the commonalities of the three Western religions. The common tradition Judaism, Christianity and Islam is the faith or the belief in one God also known as Monotheism. ...
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...Different Approaches to Personality Brian (Last Name) 211 June 21, 2012 Barbara Hausen Different Approaches to Personality I will discuss both the biological and humanistic approach. I will then talk about their similarities and differences. Before we delve into that I would first like to talk a bit more about Maslow. Before Abraham Maslow came up with a synthesized research about human motivation, researchers had basically focused separately on different factors such as achievement, biology, or power to try and explain what really directs, energizes and sustains our human behavior. Maslow later pointed a hierarchy of human needs that are based on two major groupings: growth needs and deficiency needs. As for the deficiency needs, each of the lower needs has to be met before one can move up to the next higher level (Maslow & Lowery, 1998). It’s only in a future instance during a moment of deficiency that an individual then decides to act again so as to satisfy the deficiency. There is now more then just Maslow’s approach to personality and I will now try to explain them to the best of my knowledge. The biological and humanistic approaches are two of six psychology approaches. The remaining four approaches are Psychoanalytic, trait, behavioral, and cognitive. These are all different ways to approach personality. They each describe how we gain our personalities and what affects them. The approach used depends on the therapist and client’s personalities. Some are more...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Paper By: LaTreena Alexander PSY/250 December 5, 2014 John Muench The biological approaches to personality are important elements needed in order to analyze each part of the process effectively. The information being presented uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to discuss the extent to which growth needs influence personality formation. The biological factors that influence the formation of personality are being described while the relationship of biological factors to Maslow’s theory of personality is being examined. The basic aspects of humanistic theory that are incompatible with biological explanations of personality are thoroughly explained within this informative paper. Through analyzing and researching Maslow’s hierarchy of needs one can get the full basic knowledge and understanding of how growth needs influence personality. Maslow made a pyramid known as the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which was all based on two different groups made up of deficiency needs and growth needs. Within the deficiency needs there are lower needs that have to be attended to before moving on to higher needs, and once this happens a person can act to remove a deficiency in one is ever found in the future. The first four levels of needs are physiological such as hunger and thirst, safety and security, a sense of belongingness and love with others, and esteem to achieve specific goals or to gain approval for an achievement. According to...
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