Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Free Essays

Theories of personalities have been studied for many decades. The biological and humanistic approaches to personality have both become infamous in studying the science behind personality. Abraham Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs because he did not believe that the conditioning theories adequately portrayed the complexity of human behavior. We will write a custom essay sample on Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality or any similar topic only for you Order Now In analyzing both the biological and humanistic theories, one can see where Maslow may have been right in that assumption. The basic perceptions of humanistic and biological theories vary significantly. There are some basic ideas behind humanistic psychology. Humanists focus on the present rather than looking at the past or toward the future. Well individuals should take responsibility for themself; regardless of the actions and every individual possess inherent worth. Even negative actions do not negate the value of the person. The achievement of personal growth and understanding is the goal of life (Friedman Schustack, 2012). On the other hand biological theorists believe that genetics can determine a person’s personality. Some concepts state that even if biology plays no direct role in personality, the way a person looks affects how one sees himself/herself and how others interrelate with him/her. This unintended affect controls how a person develops into adulthood. Biological viewpoints teach that intelligence and genes could define a person’s personality. Temperament and mental disorders are thought to be determined by biology. Humanistic theories seem to be generalized, though biological theories are overcomplicated. Although they are wide-ranging opposites in their concepts, together they contain the essence of personality. Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist believed that the people are not controlled by the mechanical forces which include the reinforcement and stimuli forces of behaviorism or some unconscious instinctual impulse of the psychoanalysis. He placed his main focus on what people can really do as opposed to their limitations. His hierarchy of needs has established a major precedence on which human interactions can follow so as to make sure that they achieve productive as well as agreeable outcome. The main essence is to actually prepare people for common existence with themselves and those who are around. The essence of humanistic psychology is usually similar to cognitive psychology as it does acknowledge behavior more than just a stimulus that is determined and hence recognizes perception as the actual essence of actions and behavior (Valiunas, 2012). His hierarchy of needs does represent how exactly growth ought to influence formation of personality. He developed his personality theory in relation to the needs of people. It shows the main influences of human needs to formation of their unique personalities. Maslow contemplates that each trait of human functioning conveys to a complete individual. Maslow consequently referred to these functions as the hierarchy of needs. In his theory Maslow states that there are five key categories of an individual needs. The initial category is physiological needs such as food, water, air, clothing, shelter, and sleep. Previous to realizing or achieving the needs on this level it becomes unfeasible to even consider the next category (Valiunas, 2012). The following category is related to safety, which basically assimilates the need for feeling safe and secured. The third of category in Maslow hierarchy of needs comprises the sense of belonging, needs, and love. It is rational because once an individual is secured then he/she can demand for sense of belonging and love. The next category has to do with self-esteem; it encompasses the need for education, respect, self-competence, and achievement. This is a very important level of needs to an individual’s personality; this level is where an individual focuses his/her energy to feeling proficient, they learn to respect him/her, and to respect others. According to Maslow’s theory, needs impact individual personality in a way that before they hit the highest point of need in the hierarchy one feels discouraged consequently affecting his/her personality. Individuals in the first category do not believe in themselves and be deficient in motivation in life, and tend to implicate different personality compared to those on the highest category of needs. Those on first category of needs will tend to also lack confidence in whatever they do as opposed to those who have achieved self- actualization (Valiunas, 2012). Biological factors are related to some extent with the Maslow’s hierarchy of personality because biological factors for example brains, heredity and physical characteristics are needed during the growth level. There are two biological factors that influence the formation of personality of an individual, heredity and environment factor. Inheritance of a trait is pertinent to individual’s personality (Friedman Schustack, 2012). Basically, individuals inherit a propensity towards a definite structure and propensity to function in definite ways, thus influencing the individual personality development. On the environmental factor, the contact between the mother and a child for biological fulfillment play an important function in personality growth. Care and love enhance a sense of protection and security. Humanistic theories of personality do represent an affirmative view of human behavior. Personality is usually defined as the organized as well as the dynamic set of various characteristics which are possessed by people and which influences their cognitions, behavior as well as their motivations (Friedman Schustack, 2012). Humanistic psychology does emphasize that people do have a free will and do play active role in the determining of how exactly they tend to behave. Humanistic psychology usually focuses on the subjective experience of individuals as opposed to definitive and forced factors which determine behavior. Maslow does believe that all people who are interested in growing ought to move towards the self-actualization level of happiness and satisfaction. The psychological perspectives on expansion of personality do remain influential which comprises of humanistic perspective, isodynamic and existential perspectives, and cognitive, sociocultural and behavioral perspective (Valiunas, 2012). There are many factors that determine our personality. Some of these factors are either humanistic or biological. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and humanistic personality’s theory play a major role in the formation of one’s personality and so are the biological factors. Though humanistic and biological theories are opposites, they do comprise of the main essence of personality and the blend between these two theories creates effective results. While humanistic and biological theories have many differences and fewer similarities, both theories try to address the issues of personality and try to give a better understanding of personality traits. How to cite Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality, Papers Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Free Essays Maslow came up with a theory that motivates people. The hierarchy of needs is what he called it, and he analyzed how the needs influence people in general. The needs are self-actualization motives, esteem needs, belongingness and love needs, safety needs, and physiological needs. We will write a custom essay sample on Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality or any similar topic only for you Order Now Each need serves its own purpose. If the basic need is not satisfied, Maslow theory states the other needs cannot be satisfied. In reality everyone has his or her own personality and needs do differ, depending on the person that’s involved. The basic need or deficiency needs would be water, food, air, love, shelter, warmth, sex, and sleep. From Maslow’s research the physiological need is 85% fulfilled, and once all of these needs are fulfilled a person can advance to the next level of need, the safety needs. They consist of security, protection, law, order, and stability. In general this one is 75% fulfilled by people. The next level is social needs, and this one is 50% fulfilled, it consists of relationships, affection, family, and work group. The esteem needs is achievement, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, and 40% is fulfilled. The final need everyone is trying to get to is only 10% fulfilled, the self actualization need. It consists of self fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences. These needs are coping behavior (McLeod, 2007). Everyone needs the basic needs to live or survive. The behavioral needs that influence people are the social needs, self esteem, and self actualization. People are influenced by social needs when they start getting involved with different personalities and wanting something him or her cannot have or their not able to get. Self esteem can be influenced if the person has a high or low esteem problem. Having a low esteem problem may be influenced by the wrong personality because they may not have confidence in him or herself to be an individual. If the person has a high esteem problem he or she may believe he or she do not need any advice or guidance from another person. The self actualization is the biggest influence, because everyone does not fulfill this need; most people are trying their hardest to fill this need. As noted by, (McLeod, 2007) â€Å"Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow’s concept of self-actualization in a way that casual relationships can be established. † () The humanistic theory is different from the biological part of personality behavior, based on the needs of the person. The Humanistic is considered the process of feeling and Biological is the process of thought. For instance, if someone wants to go get and ice cream at night, and it is a nice warm evening, they are going to drive the car to make sure he or she get to the place safely. He or She will make sure the need to be safe is fulfilled. Using their humanistic behavior is taking a walk and enjoy the summer evening weather. So this would be their basic humanistic feelings and not the thought of what could happen if something went wrong. As noted by, (Sammons) â€Å"Whilst it is flattering to view ourselves as basically good entitles striving to fulfill our potential, the humanistic approach is at a loss to explain the horrors that people are capable of inflicting on each other.† () People use common sense when it concerning Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They analyze their thoughts on what is a priority or need for them. They try to fulfill the survival needs first, and it goes up the ladder to the self actualization most people never reach this need. When people are using humanistic behavior their feelings are involved, and they are under the impression that most people are of a good nature, and this is not always true. Smarter people will deal more with their biological needs and analyze more of their humanistic behavior before acting on it. How to cite Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality, Papers Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Free Essays Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality PSY250 As research into personality progressed, scientists began to look beyond psychoanalysis and trait theories for other explanations into how personality develops. They started to look at the biological factors that influence personality formation (Hans Eysenck, Jeffrey Gray, Sir Francis Galton (genetic study of twins)), the effect of growth needs on personality formation (Abraham Maslow), and the basic aspects of the humanistic personality theory and how it compares to the biological explanation of personality formation (Eric Fromm, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow). These topics will be considered in more detail in the following discussion. We will write a custom essay sample on Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although environment plays a part in personality, genes also make significant contributions. Some genetic disorders, such as Angelman or Williams syndrome are characterized by excessive happiness and friendliness. Biological aspects of a person’s temperament, such as introversion/extroversion, actively, and impulsively, also help shape the personality. Studies of identical twins have shown that twins separated at birth and raised in different environments still share many personality traits. Therefore, we are not simply blank slates totally influenced by what our environment writes on us. Responses to certain environmental stimuli seem to be hard-wired into our nervous system and endocrine systems. Electroencephalograms (EEG) have shown that, at a very basic level, extroverts show less arousal to stimulation then introverts do. Hans Eysenck theorized that because of this low level of arousal, extroverts seek out stimulating circumstances while introverts, who may be receiving too much stimulation from the environment, try to â€Å"get away from it all† by shying away from stimulating environments. Differences in activation of the brain’s hemispheres may also effect personality formation. Greater activation of the right hemisphere, which is believed to have a role in negative emotions, may cause over reaction to negative stimuli. On the other hand, higher activation of the left hemisphere, thought to play a role in positive emotions, could result in more powerful reactions to positive stimuli. Jeffrey Gray proposed the idea that our nervous systems may be responsible for influencing whether we are more motivated by punishment or reward. Disruption in the function of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin can also effect personality. Will Sheldon expanded on Ernest Kretschmer’s ideas that body type might be connected to certain mental disorders and applied them to the general population. Sheldon developed three body types and associated personality characteristics: mesomorphs – muscular, large-boned; athletic, ectomorphs – slender; studious, and endomorphs – roly-poly; good-natured. Sheldon’s ideas were too simplistic, but it might be possible that certain biological factors could affect both personality and body type. Social influences may affect body type, which may in turn affect how others react. Both aspects can influence personality development. â€Å"A stable personality depends on a healthy, well-functional brain† ( was this supposed to be cited) Certain diseases and disorders can change can change or destroy one’s personality. Strokes damage part of the brain and can cause a dramatic change in personality. Pick’s disease also causes deterioration of the brain. It may cause a marked change in in a person’s beliefs or preferences. Alzheimer’s disease, as the disease becomes advanced, seems to result in total loss of personality. Postpartum depression is triggered by a biological process. Severe, untreated symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, and persistent disturbing thoughts of suicide, being possessed, or harming the infant. Environmental toxins, such as mercury, and both legal and illegal drugs, including Valium, Prozac, cocaine, and herion, can result in biological changes to the body that may temporarily or permanently alter personality. 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