CHAPTER 11

Icon

Icon Icon

Organismic Theory
 introduction

Maslow's holistic-dynamic theory assumes that people

Icon
are continually motivated by one or more needs, and that
under the proper circumstances, they can reach a level of
psychological health called self-actualization.
Meanwhile, Carl Rogers is best known as the founder of
client-centered therapy, he also developed an important theory
of personality that underscores his approach to therapy.
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Icon

Organismic Theory
OUTLINE

Overview of Maslow’s Self-Actualization

Hierarchy of Needs

Related Research
Biography of Abraham Philosophy of Science
Maslow

Icon
Maslow’s View of Motivation Measuring Self-Actualization Critique of Maslow

Icon
Hierarchy of Needs Jonah ComplexIcon
Concept of Humanity

General Discussion of Psychotherapy

Needs
 Overview of Assumes Whole Person Is Motivated by One Need
Maslow’s Hierarchy or Another
of Needs
Icon
People Have Potential to Grow toward
Psychological Health/Self-Actualization

Lower Level Needs Must Be Satisfied Before

Higher Level Needs Can Be Met
 Born in New York City in 1908

Oldest of seven children of Russian-Jewish immigrants

Biography of Harbors lifelong animosity toward mother

Maslow
Received a PhD in 1934 in psychology from University of
Wisconsin where he worked with Harry Harlow
Icon
Returns to New York in 1935 and works with E. L.
Thorndike at Columbia University

Met and was influenced by Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, and

Karen Horney

In 1951, became chairperson of the psychology department at

Brandeis University

President of American Psychological Association 1967-1968

Died in 1970 of a heart attack

Maslow’s Hollistic Dynamic Theory
Maslow’s Hollistic Dynamic Theory
Maslow’s View of Motivation
Hierarchy of Needs
 Characteristics of
Self-Actualization Self-Actualizing People

• More efficient perception of reality

Icon
• Acceptance of self, others, and nature
• Spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness
• Problem-centering
• The need for privacy
• Autonomy
• Continued freshness of appreciation
• The peak experience
 Characteristics of
Self-Actualization Self-Actualizing People

• Gemeinschaftsgefuhl
• Profound interpersonal relations
Icon

• The democratic character structure

• Discrimination between means and ends
• Philosophical sense of humor
• Creativeness
• Resistance to enculturation

Love, Sex, and Self-Actualization

 General Discussion of Needs

• Reversed Order of Needs

• Unmotivated Behavior
• Expressive and Coping Behavior
• Deprivation of Needs
• Instinctoid Nature of Needs
• Comparison of Higher and
Lower Needs
The Different Needs

• Needs can be reversed

• Aesthetic needs - not universal, but at least, some people in every culture seem
motivated by the need for beauty and aesthetically pleasing experiences
• Desire beautiful and orderly surroundings
The Different Needs

• Cognitive needs - desire to know, solve mysteries,

understand, and be curious.
• The satisfaction of conative, aesthetic, and cognitive
needs is basic to one’s physical and psychological health,
and their frustration leads to some level of illness;
• However, neurotic needs lead only to stagnation and
pathology; they perpetuate an unhealthy style of life and
have no value in the striving for self-actualization
The Different Needs

• Coping behavior is motivated and is

directed toward the satisfaction of
basic needs while expressive
behavior has a cause but is not
motivated (it is simply one’s way of
expressing one’s self)
 Philosophy of Science

• Maslow argued for a humanistic,

holistic approach that is not value free

• Psychological science should stress the

importance of individual procedures

• Scientists should put values, emotion,

and ritual back into their work and be
creative in their pursuit of knowledge
 Measuring Self-Actualization

Personal Orientation Inventory (POI)

• Comprehensive measure of the values and behaviors
of self-actualizing people

Short Index of Self-Actualization

Brief Index of Self-Actualization

• Four factors:
1.Core self-actualization
2.Autonomy
3.Openness to experience
4.Comfort with solitude
 Jonah Complex

• The Jonah complex is an abnormal

syndrome defined as the fear of being or
doing one’s best

• Probably all of us have some timidity about

seeking perfection or greatness

• People allow false humility to stifle

creativity, and therefore they prevent
themselves from becoming self-actualizing
 Psychotherapy

• The aim of therapy is for clients to embrace

the being-values

• Clients must be freed from their dependence

on others so that their natural impulse to
grow can become active

• Psychotherapy must not be value free

Related Research
Critique of Maslow

• Very High on Organizing

Knowledge
• High on Guiding Action
• Moderate on Generating Research,
Internal Consistency, and Parsimony
• Low on Falsifiability
Concept of Humanity Free Choice over Determinism

Optimism over Pessimism

Icon

Teleology over Causality

Conscious over Unconscious

Equal Emphasis on Culture and Biology

Uniqueness over Similarity

OUTLINE

Overview of Person-Centered Theory Philosophy of Science

Biography of Rogers The Chicago Studies

Icon
Person-Centered Theory Related Research

Icon Psychotherapy Icon Critique of Rogers

The Person of Tomorrow Concept of Humanity

 Overview of Grew Out Experiences as a Psychotherapist
Person-Centered
Theory
Icon Called
for Empirical Research to Support
Personality Theory

Not Comfortable with Notion of Theory

Never Systematically Reformulated Theory of

Personality
Biography of Born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1902
Rogers
Fourth of six children of upper-middle
Icon class, devoutly religious parents

Briefly attends seminary, intending to

become a minister in 1924

Turned to psychology and earned his

Ph.D. from Columbia in 1931
 Influenced by Otto Rank
Spent nearly a dozen years working as a clinician
Biography of in Rochester
Rogers
Published The Clinical Treatment of the Problem
Child in 1939.
Icon
Took a position at Ohio State University in 1940,
where he elucidated his views on therapy
President of American Psychological Association
in 1946-1947
Published Client-Centered Therapy in 1951
In 1964, moves to California and helps found
Center for Studies of the Person
Died in 1987 following surgery on broken hip
 Basic Assumptions
Person-Centered • Formative Tendency
• Actualizing Tendency
Theory
The Self and Self-Actualization
• The Self-Concept
•
Icon
The Ideal Self

Awareness
• Levels of Awareness
• Denial of Positive Experiences

Becoming a Person
Barriers to Psychological Health
• Conditions of Worth
• Incongruence
• Defensiveness
• Disorganization
 Psychotherapy

Conditions
• Counselor congruence
• Unconditional positive regard
• Empathic listening

Process
• Stages of therapeutic change
• Theoretical explanation for therapeutic
change

Outcomes
 The Person of Tomorrow

Psychologically healthy people are:

• More adaptable
• Open to their experiences
• Live fully in the moment
o Existential living
• Harmonious relations with others
• More Integrated (conscious and
unconscious)
• Basic trust of human nature
• Greater richness in life
Philosophy of Science
Science begins and ends with subjective
experience

Icon Scientists
must be involved with
phenomena being studied

Scientists perceive patterns among

phenomena

Scientists communicate findings, but this

communication is subjective
The Chicago Study
Hypotheses:
1.Clients will become more aware of their
feelings
Icon and experiences
2.The gap between the real self and the ideal
self will lessen as a consequence of therapy
3.Clients’ behavior will become more
socialized, that is, more self-accepting and
more accepting of others
The Chicago Study Method:
• To measure adjustment, they used the Q sort
technique (congruence between real & ideal
selves)
Icon
• Participants were adults who sought therapy at
the University of Chicago counseling center
• Experimenters asked half the participants to
wait 60 days before receiving therapy. In
addition, they tested a control group of
“normals” who were matched with the therapy
group.
The Chicago Study
Findings
• The therapy group—but not the control
group—showed
Icon a lessening of the gap
between real self and ideal self
• Clients who improved during therapy—but
not those rated as least improved—showed
changes in social behavior, as noted by their
friends
The Chicago Study
Summary of Results
• Therapy
Icon group did demonstrate growth
and retained improvement during
follow-up, but they did not attain the
level of psychological health in the
control group
 Related Research

Self-Discrepancy Theory
• Higgins (1987)
o Real-ideal discrepancy leads to dejection-related emotions;
real-ought discrepancy leads to agitation-related emotions
• Phillips & Silvia (2005)
o High self-awareness condition led to feeling negative
emotion at self-discrepancies
• Wolfe & Maisto (2000)
o Real-ideal self-discrepancy and negative mood were
negatively correlated with alcohol consumption

Motivation and Pursuing one’s Goals

• Sheldon et al. (2003)
o Supports Rogers’ theory s that people do have an OVP
o Intrinsically fulfilling goals become more important over
time while materialistic goals become less important
• Schwartz & Waterman (2013)
o The OVP directs us toward fulfilling pursuits
Critique of Rogers

• Very High on Practicality and

Internal Consistency
• High on Falsifiability, Parsimony,
and Organizing Knowledge
• Moderate on Generating Research
Concept of Humanity Free Choice over Determinism

Optimism over Pessimism

Icon
Teleology over Causality

Uniqueness over Similarity

Conscious over Unconscious

Social Influence over Biology

THANK YOU!