What is the humanistic theory of personality?

If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

What separates us from animals? Our opposable thumbs? Our complex language? The fact that we farm our own food? In the world of early personality psychology, not much separates us from animals. Early psychologists conducted experiments and applied the conclusions to humans. Many psychologists found this process to be demeaning and ultimately pessimistic. Are we just trained monkeys in a zoo? Are we Pavlov’s dogs? Do we have any control over our personality and who we become?

Enter Abraham Maslow, the father of the humanistic perspective on personality. His theory separates humans from animals and offers hope that humans can exercise control over personality traits and behaviors that they want to change.

What is the Humanistic Theory of Personality?

In the 1930s through the 1950s, psychologists like Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers pioneered humanist theories of personality. Their work offered a new perspective on how humans see themselves, behave, and make decisions. Humanistic theories are considered a more positive and holistic alternative to ideas like Behaviorism and psychoanalysis. 

Origins of Humanistic Perspective of Personality 

In the 1920s and 1930s, prominent psychologists uplifted the ideas of Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis suggests that our personalities were highly influenced by the unconscious mind and childhood traumas. Behaviorism suggests that our behaviors are learned, and through reinforcement and punishment, these behaviors can change. 

Not all psychologists agreed with these ideas. They found them to be pessimistic and hard to prove with scientific studies. Humanistic psychologists didn’t necessarily create their perspective to completely replace the ideas of behaviorism and psychoanalysis, but to offer a more holistic look at how humans make choices and perform various behaviors. 

Abraham Maslow’s Humanistic Perspective of Personality 

According to Abraham Maslow, people developed their personalities by fulfilling each of their needs in a hierarchical fashion. Combining aspects of the behavioralist movement and the pessimism of psychoanalysis, the humanistic theory explains how people are malleable and their personality traits are subject to their current needs.

If you have heard Maslow’s name before, you’re one step closer to understanding the humanistic perspective. Maslow created the Hierarchy of Needs. This theory shows the evolution of a human’s needs, from the most basic (food, shelter, water) to the more complex (safety, self-esteem, love and belonging.) As we satisfy our most basic needs, we are motivated to seek out the more complex needs at the top of the pyramid.

About Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological: basic human needs like food, shelter, and water. It’s hard to focus on the more abstract goals when you’re hungry or looking for a place to sleep at night! 

Safety: physical and emotional safety is also considered more “basic” human needs. This may also mean the safety to express oneself, grow, or be the person they want to be! 

Love and Belonging: people do not need to feel a sense of love and belonging to survive, but it certainly helps! We fulfill this need by being part of a community, having an intimate partner, or creating a family. Esteem: this need encompasses feelings of self-respect, self-esteem, accomplishment, and respect from others. It’s not an easy need to fulfill, which is why it’s toward the top!

Self-Actualization: The process by which people fulfill their potential for goodness and maximize internal growth.

At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization. Self-actualization is the process by which people fulfill their potential for internal growth. Call it enlightenment, call it personal development…but whatever you call it, it’s the final thing we are motivated to seek in life.

How does this tie into personality? Maslow started to develop these theories in response to the more negative and pessimistic views on personality at the time. Many behaviorists believed that humans have little control over their personalities and can be subjected to conditioning, just like any other species of animal on the planet. Maslow disagreed. He believed that humans could take control of their personalities as they attempted to achieve self-actualization.

Carl Rogers and Humanism

In order to work toward self-actualization, humans have to reflect on who they are currently and what they need to change or do to move forward. Carl Rogers was a humanist psychologist who focused on this process. He agreed with Maslow’s theories, but pushed further to study how people try to satisfy these complex needs.

When a person thinks about their personality, they may tell themselves that they are honest, generous, and agreeable. These traits are all subjective and may not be the way that other people see the person’s deeds or personality. This disconnect, or incongruence, can prevent people from reaching self-actualization and can cause anxiety.

How does this happen? Our brains can be very picky about what they choose to see, process, and remember. A person who only believes they are agreeable may unconsciously choose to remember positive, agreeable interactions or misinterpret situations in which they were not actually displaying agreeable behavior.

Where does incongruence come from? How can we develop a more objective sense of ourselves in the world and reach self-actualization?

Client-Centered Therapy

One of Carl Rogers’ most notable works is the development of client-centered therapy, also known as person-centered therapy. Client-centered therapy added a new perspective on how to conduct therapy, much like how humanism added a new perspective to the current schools of thought of the time. 

Talk therapy in the 1930s sounded like the therapy sessions you might see in movies or TV shows. The therapist always led the conversation. Clients were asked to answer questions about their childhood, their mother, traumatic events, etc. Although this therapy has benefits, it might not get to the heart of what the client wants to resolve. 

Client-centered therapy operates differently. The therapist asks the client to lead the conversation. Therapists offer support and guidance throughout the conversation but do not open up the situation with an agenda or list of questions. What’s more, the therapist does not place judgments or scold the client in any way. The therapist’s office should be an environment of unconditional positive regard. (This is another concept that Carl Rogers created.) 

Humanistic Studies

For the answers to these questions, Maslow and Rogers studied people who they believe reached some form of self-actualization. These people were successful and spent their lives working to elevate humanity.

This approach to studying healthy, successful people was a big change in the world of personality psychology. Behaviorists and other personality psychologists at the time turned to study people who had made poor decisions in their life or had poor mental health. Humanists took a more optimistic approach to their subjects.

So what do people need to become self-actualized and positive members of society? Rogers concluded that people need to live in an environment with the following qualities:

• Openness
• Opportunities for self-disclosure
• Acceptance
• Empathy

If someone grew up in this type of environment, they are more likely to hold congruent views of themselves that match how the rest of the world sees them. Conversely, if someone grew up in a more hostile or negative environment, they are more likely to only see the things that they want to see.

Rogers uses the example of parents showing conditional vs. unconditional love. When children grew up in a household with unconditional love, they were more likely to hold congruent views of themselves and be on a path toward self-actualization. The children who received conditional love were more likely to block out times in which they were not loved. This pattern is likely to continue as an adult; the process of only seeing parts of a situation or misconstruing a situation is likely to continue unless they are put in a more positive environment.

How Humanism Affects Us Today

Remember, the humanistic approach to personality is very positive. Humanists believe that with openness, empathy, and a genuinely positive environment, anyone can start to develop congruent views of themselves and move forward toward self-actualization.

Humanistic psychology has had a very positive impact on the world of psychology. People can visit a therapist that uses a humanist approach to their practice. This is also called Gestalt therapy. Gestalt therapists use an approach that views patients and therapists as equals. The therapist, rather than being an authority figure that looks down upon their patient, emphasizes. They use humanist ideas to create a positive environment that focuses on the present rather than incidents from the past.

Discovering Your Personality Through the Humanistic Perspective 

How can you use these theories to discover your personality? First things first, acknowledge that you have the ability to make these discoveries and take charge of your destiny! Then, try out the following exercises and contemplate how you as an individual move through the world.

Write down the things you like about yourself

Humanist theories were created with the belief that people were inherently good. Do you see yourself the same way? If you’re not sure, take some time to complete this exercise. Simply write down five things that you believe are good about yourself. Maybe it’s your patience, your dedication to volunteering, or the empathy you display when listening to viewpoints that aren’t your own. As you write down these things, you may find that they reveal elements of your personality and traits that define who you are and strive to be! 

Think about your goals

According to the humanistic perspective, humans aren’t just inherently good – they’re inherently growing. People have the ability to take on a growth mindset and improve themselves and their place in life. As they progress on this journey, they can reach self-actualization. 

What does your journey look like? How does it relate to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? Talk to yourself through the perspective of unconditional positive regard as you answer these questions. You have the ability to have your needs met. You are worthy of love and belonging, high esteem, and self-actualization. It’s likely that you are doing quite a lot to reach your goals already! If not, writing them out and looking at behaviors that prevent you from getting there will help you grow. 

Reach out to a client-centered therapist

You may be able to ask yourself questions about your personality and goals, but need assistance discovering the answers. That’s where support groups, community, and professional help come in! Look for a therapist in your area who specializes in client-centered, gestalt, or person-centered therapy. Not sure what your therapist specializes in? Wchedule a free consultation to ask!

The process of discovering that your view of yourself may be incongruent with the world isn’t always easy. Supportive friends, groups, or therapists can help you understand where you fit in the world. Think about how you see yourself and how you behave when friends or family try to offer opposing perspectives. How does this behavior contribute to your overall personality? How can you create and put yourself in an environment that encourages an open, genuine look at yourself through the eyes of the world?

What is the humanistic theory of personality Rogers?

What is an example of humanistic theory?

What is the humanistic theory of personality quizlet?

What does humanistic theory believe?