ABRAHAM MASLOW:

HUMANISTIC APPROACH
HUMANISM
• Humanistic, humanism and
humanist are terms in psychology
relating to an approach which
studies the whole person, and the
uniqueness of each individual.
Maslow’s humanistic theory of personality

• Maslow’s humanistic theory of

personality states that people
achieve their full potential by
moving from basic needs to
self-actualization.
• As a leader of humanistic psychology,
Abraham Maslow approached the study
of personality psychology by focusing on
subjective experiences and free will.

• He was mainly concerned with an

individual’s innate drive toward self-
actualization—a state of fulfillment in
which a person is achieving at his or her
highest level of capability.
• Maslow positioned his work as a vital
complement to that of Freud, saying: “It is
as if Freud supplied us the sick half of
psychology and we must now fill it out with
the healthy half.”
Personality and the Hierarchy of needs

• Maslow is perhaps most well-known for his

hierarchy of needs theory, in which he
proposes that human beings have certain
needs in common and that these needs
must be met in a certain order.

• These needs range from the most basic

physiological needs for survival to higher-
level self-actualization and transcendence
needs.
• Maslow’s hierarchy is most often
presented visually as a pyramid, with the
largest, most fundamental physiological
needs at the bottom and the smallest,
most advanced self-actualization needs at
the top.
• Each layer of the pyramid must be fulfilled
before moving up the pyramid to higher
needs, and this process is continued
throughout the lifespan.
THE ORIGINAL HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
FIVE-STAGE MODEL INCLUDES:
Physiological needs
- these are biological requirements for human
survival, e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing,
warmth, sex, sleep. If these needs are not satisfied
the human body cannot function optimally. Maslow
considered physiological needs the most important
as all the other needs become secondary until
these needs are met.

Safety needs
- protection from elements, security, order, law,
stability, freedom from fear.
THE ORIGINAL HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
FIVE-STAGE MODEL INCLUDES:
Love and belongingness needs
- after physiological and safety needs have
been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is
social and involves feelings of belongingness.
The need for interpersonal relationships
motivates behavior Examples include friendship,
intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and
giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of
a group (family, friends, work).
THE ORIGINAL HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
FIVE-STAGE MODEL INCLUDES:
Esteem needs
- which Maslow classified into two categories:
 esteem for oneself (dignity,
achievement, mastery, independence)
and
 the desire for reputation or respect
from others (e.g., status, prestige).
Maslow indicated that the need for respect or
reputation is most important for children and
adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or
dignity.
THE ORIGINAL HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
FIVE-STAGE MODEL INCLUDES:

Self-actualization needs
- realizing personal potential, self-
fulfillment, seeking personal growth and
peak experiences. A desire “to become
everything one is capable of becoming”
DEFICIENCY NEEDS VS. GROWTH NEEDS

This five-stage model can be divided into

two:
• deficiency needs
• growth needs.

The first four levels are often referred to as

deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top
level is known as growth or being needs
(B-needs).
DEFICIENCY NEEDS VS. GROWTH NEEDS
Deficiency needs
arise due to deprivation and are said to
motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the
motivation to fulfill such needs will become
stronger the longer the duration they are denied.
For example, the longer a person goes without
food, the more hungry they will become.
DEFICIENCY NEEDS VS. GROWTH NEEDS

Growth needs
do not stem from a lack of something,
but rather from a desire to grow as a
person. Once these growth needs have
been reasonably satisfied, one may be
able to reach the highest level called self-
actualization.
DEFICIENCY NEEDS VS. GROWTH NEEDS
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS SUMMARY
(a) human beings are motivated by a hierarchy of
needs.
(b) needs are organized in a hierarchy of
prepotency in which more basic needs must be
more or less met (rather than all or none) prior to
higher needs.
(c) the order of needs is not rigid but instead may
be flexible based on external circumstances or
individual differences.
(d) most behavior is multi-motivated, that is,
simultaneously determined by more than one basic
need.
THE EXPANDED HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

It is important to note that Maslow's

five-stage model has been expanded to
include cognitive and aesthetic needs and
later transcendence needs. Changes to
the original five-stage model are
highlighted and include a seven-stage
model and an eight-stage model; both
developed during the 1960's and 1970s
THE EXPANDED HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
THE EXPANDED HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

1. Biological and physiological needs

- air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs
- protection from elements, security, order, law,
stability, etc.

3. Love and belongingness needs

- friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance,
receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating,
being part of a group (family, friends, work).
THE EXPANDED HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
4. Esteem needs
- which Maslow classified into two
categories:
 esteem for oneself (dignity,
achievement, mastery, independence)
and
 the desire for reputation or respect
from others (e.g., status, prestige).
5. Cognitive needs
- knowledge and understanding, curiosity,
exploration, need for meaning and
predictability.
THE EXPANDED HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

6. Aesthetic needs
- appreciation and search for beauty, balance,
form, etc.
7. Self-actualization needs
- realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment,
seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
8. Transcendence needs
- A person is motivated by values which transcend
beyond the personal self (e.g., mystical experiences
and certain experiences with nature, aesthetic
experiences, sexual experiences, service to others,
the pursuit of science, religious faith, etc.)
Characteristics of a Self-Actualized Person

• Acceptance and realism:

Self-actualization reflects the individual's
acceptance of who he/she is, what he/she is
capable of, and his/her realistic and accurate
perception of the world around him or her
(including the people within it and how they relate
to the individual).
Characteristics of a Self-Actualized Person

• Problem-centering:
Self-actualized individuals are not
purely focused on internal gain; they
appreciate the benefits of solving
problems that affect others so as to
improve the external world. The desire to
assist others is borne out of an internal
sense of right and wrong, which is
grounded in empathy.
Characteristics of a Self-Actualized Person

• Spontaneity:
The self-actualized individual thinks
and acts spontaneously, as a result of
having an accurate self- and world-view. In
spite of this spontaneity, these individuals
tend to act and think within the accepted
social norms and according to the
expectations of others.
Characteristics of a Self-Actualized Person

• Autonomy and Solitude:

While the self-actualized among us
conform to societal norms and are often
people-centered in their problem-solving,
they often display the need for personal
freedom and privacy. These private times
are spent testing their potential, both
mentally (i.e. thinking about their
problems) and physically (i.e. acting out to
identify strengths and weaknesses).
• Continued Freshness of Appreciation:
No matter how simple, straightforward
or familiar an experience, the self-
actualized individual is capable of seeing
things from new perspectives and
appreciating the breadth and wonder of
things in his/her world. This capacity
allows these individuals to develop new
problem-solving strategies, and it
fosters creativity as a result.
• Peak Experiences:
These are experiences that display
three core characteristics:
 Significance
 Fulfillment
 Spirituality
These intense psychophysiological
experiences include joy, wonder, awe, and
ecstasy, and in self-actualized people they
are thought to be more common.
 CARL ROGERS:
SELF-ACTUALIZATION THEORY
SELF-ACTUALIZATION

"The organism has one basic

tendency and striving –
to actualize, maintain, and
enhance the experiencing
organism”

- Carl Rogers
SELF-ACTUALIZATION

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic

psychologist who agreed with the main
assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added
that for a person to "grow", they need an
environment that provides them with the
following:
 genuineness (openness and self-disclosure)
 acceptance (being seen with unconditional
positive regard)
 empathy (being listened to and understood).
SELF-ACTUALIZATION

Every person could achieve their goals,

wishes, and desires in life. When, or rather
if they did so, self actualization took place.

He rejected the deterministic nature of

both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and
maintained that we behave as we do
because of the way we perceive our
situation.
SELF-ACTUALIZATION

"As no one else can know how we

perceive, we are the best experts
on ourselves”

- Carl Rogers -
SELF-ACTUALIZATION

Humans have one basic motive, that is the

tendency to self-actualize.

People are inherently good and creative.

For a person to achieve self-actualization

they must be in a state of congruence.
SELF-ACTUALIZATION

This means that self-actualization occurs

when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e., who they
would like to be) is congruent with their
actual behavior (self-image). Rogers
describes an individual who is actualizing
as a fully functioning person. The main
determinant of whether we will become
self-actualized is childhood experience.
THE FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON

Every person could achieve their goal.

Regarded the fully functioning person as

an ideal and one that people do not
ultimately achieve. It is wrong to think of
this as an end or completion of life’s
journey; rather it is a process of always
becoming and changing.
THE FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON

5 Characteristics of the fully

functioning person:

1. Open to experience:
both positive and negative emotions
accepted. Negative feelings are not
denied, but worked through (rather than
resorting to ego defense mechanisms).
2. Existential living:
in touch with different experiences as they occur
in life, avoiding prejudging and preconceptions.
Being able to live and fully appreciate the present,
not always looking back to the past or forward to the
future (i.e., living for the moment).

3. Trust feelings:
feeling, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid
attention to and trusted. People’s own decisions are
the right ones, and we should trust ourselves to
make the right choices.
4. Creativity:
creative thinking and risk-taking are features
of a person’s life. A person does not play safe all
the time. This involves the ability to adjust and
change and seek new experiences.

5. Fulfilled life:
a person is happy and satisfied with life, and
always looking for new challenges and
experiences.
For Rogers, fully functioning people are
well adjusted, well balanced and
interesting to know. Often such people are
high achievers in society.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Central to Rogers' personality theory is the

notion of self or self-concept. This is
defined as "the organized, consistent set
of perceptions and beliefs about oneself.“
SELF:
is the humanistic term for who we really are as
a person.

is our inner personality, and can be likened to

the soul, or Freud's psyche.

is influenced by the experiences a person has

in their life, and out interpretations of those
experiences.
 Two primary sources that influence our
self-concept:

1. childhood experiences
2. evaluation by others.
 According to Rogers (1959), we want to feel,
experience and behave in ways which are
consistent with our self-image and which reflect
what we would like to be like, our ideal self.

 The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to

each other, the more consistent or congruent we
are and the higher our sense of self-worth. A
person is said to be in a state of incongruence if
some of the totality of their experience is
unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in
the self-image.
 3 Components of self-concept

1. Self-worth
Self-worth (or self-esteem) comprises
what we think about ourselves. Rogers
believed feelings of self-worth developed
in early childhood and were formed from
the interaction of the child with the mother
and father.
2. Self-image
How we see ourselves, which is important to good
psychological health. Self-image includes the influence
of our body image on inner personality. At a simple
level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad
person, beautiful or ugly. Self-image affects how a
person thinks, feels and behaves in the world.
3. Ideal-self
This is the person who we would like to be. It
consists of our goals and ambitions in life, and is
dynamic – i.e., forever changing. The ideal self in
childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late
twenties etc.
POSITIVE REGARD AND SELF WORTH

Two basic needs of the child as viewed

by Carl Rogers:

1. Positive Regard
from other People

2. Self-Worth
POSITIVE REGARD AND SELF WORTH

How we think about ourselves, our

feelings of self-worth are of fundamental
importance both to psychological health
and to the likelihood that we can achieve
goals and ambitions in life and achieve
self-actualization.
POSITIVE REGARD AND SELF WORTH

High Self-Worth Low Self-Worth

-has confidence- -avoid challenges in
positive feelings life-not accept that
about him life can be painful
or herself -faces and unhappy at
challenges in life- times-he/she will be
accepts failure and defensive and
unhappiness at guarded with
times, and is open other people
with people.
Self-worth developed in early childhood
and were formed from the interaction of
the child with the mother and father. As a
child grows older, interactions with
significant others will affect feelings of self-
worth.
Rogers believed that we need to be
regarded positively by others; we need to
feel valued, respected, treated with
affection and loved.
Positive regard
- is to do with how other people
evaluate and judge us in social interaction.
Rogers made a distinction between
unconditional positive regard and
conditional positive regard.
Unconditional Positive Regard
is where parents, significant others(and
the humanist therapist)accepts and loves
the person for what he or she is regardless
of the mistakes committed.
Conditional Positive Regard
is where positive regard, praise and
approval, depend upon the child, for
example, he/she behaves in ways that the
parents think correct.
This “conditioning” leads us to have
conditional positive self-regard as
well. We begin to like ourselves only if we
meet up with the standards others have
applied to us, rather than if we are truly
actualizing our potentials. And since these
standards were created without keeping
each individual in mind, more often than
not we find ourselves unable to meet
them, and therefore unable to maintain
any sense of self-esteem.
Conditions of Worth
(similar to superego) the individuals
belief that he or she is
worthy of affection only when expressing
desirable behaviors.
CONGRUENCE AND INCONGRUENCE

Rogers said that people’s self-concepts

often do not exactly match reality.
For example, a person may
consider himself to be very honest but
often lies to his boss about why he is late
to work.
Congruence

Is a fairly accurate match between the

self-concept and reality.
A person’s ideal self and actual experience
are consistent or very similar.
Its development is dependent on
unconditional positive regard.
A person must be in this state for him to
achieve self-actualization.
Incongruence
 Is a discrepancy between the actual experience of
the organism and the self-picture of the individual
insofar as it represents that experience.
 A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if
some of the totality of their experience is
unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in
the self-image.
 There is a gap between the real self and the ideal
self, the “I Am” and the “I should”
Results of Incongruence

People experience anxiety when their

self-concept are being threatened. In order
to protect themselves from anxiety, they
distort their experiences so that they can
hold on to their self-concept. (e.g. a belief
of being a generous person but stingy with
her money)
Defense Mechanisms
As we prefer to see ourselves in ways that
are consistent with our self-image, we may
use defense mechanisms in order to feel
less threatened by some of what we
consider to be our undesirable feelings.
A person whose self-concept is incongruent
with his or her real feelings and experiences
will defend because the truth hurts.
Two defenses:
Denial
- blocking out of threatening
situation altogether.
- Keeping a memory or an impulse out
of your awareness (refuse to perceive it) you
may be able to avoid a threatening situation.

Perceptual Distortion
- a matter of reinterpreting the situation
so that it appears less threatening.
 "When I look at the world I'm
pessimistic, but when I look at
people I am optimistic.”

"The good life is a process, not a

state of being. It is a direction not a
destination“
- CARL ROGERS
St. Thomas Aquinas
Early life

• St. Thomas Aquinas was born in circa 1225,

• The son of LANDULPH, Thomas had eight

siblings, and was the youngest child

• His mother, Theodora, was countless of Teano.

• Thomas’s family members were descendants of

Emperors Frederick I and Henry VI, they were
considered to be lower nobility.
• Before St. Thomas Aquinas was born, a holy
hermit shared a prediction with his mother,
foretelling that her son would enter the order of
Friars Preacher

• St. Thomas Aquinas sent to the Abbey of Monte

Cassino to train among Benedectine monks when
he was 5yrs.

• St. Thomas Aquinas is describe as “a witty child”

who received a good soul.

• He remained at the monastery until he was 13 yrs.

Old.
EDUCATION

• St. Thomas Aquinas spent the next 5

years completing his primary education at
a Benedectine house in Naples

• Circa 1239, St. Thomas Aquinasbegan

attending the University of Naples.

• 1245-1252, St. Thomas Aquinas continued

to pursue his studies w/ the Dominicans in
Naples, Paris and Cologne
• He was ordained in Cologne, Germany, in
1250, and went on to teach theology at
the University of Paris.

• Under the Tutelage of St. Albert the Great.

• St. Thomas Aquinas subsequently earned

his doctorate in theology.
THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

After completing his education, St.

Thomas Aquinas devoted himself to a life
of travelling, writing, teaching, public
speaking, and preaching.
St. Thomas Aquinas believed that the existence of
God could be proven in five (5) ways

1. observing movement in the world as proof of

God, the “ Immovable Mover”

2. Observing cause and effect and identifying god

as the cause of everything

3. concluding that the impermanent nature of

being proves the existence of a necessary beings,
God who originates only from within himself
4. Noticing varying levels of human
perfection and determining that a
supreme, perfect being must therefore
exist

5. knowing that natural beings could not

have intelligence w/o it being granted to
them it by God.
• Thomas believed that the laws of state
were, in fact, a natural product of human
nature, and were crucial to welfare

• By abiding by the social laws of the state,

people could earn eternal salvation of their
souls in the afterlife, purported
St. Thomas Aquinas identified three (3) laws
• 1. NATURAL
• 2. POSITIVE
• 3. ETERNAL

• NATURAL LAW- prompt man to act in accordance w/

achieving his goals and governs man’s sense of right and
wrong

• POSITIVE LAW- is the law of the state, or government, and

should always be a manifestation of natural law

• ETERNAL LAW- in case of national beings, depends on

reason and is put into action through free will w/c also works
toward the accomplishment of man’s spiritual goals.
• In 1256, while serving as regent master in
theology at the university of Paris, Aquinas wrote
Impugnantes Dei Cultumet Religionem, or Against
Those Who Assail the Worship of God and
Religion.
• Thomas Aquinas also known for writing
commentaries examining the principles of natural
philosophy espoused in Aristotle’s writings: On the
Heaven’s, Meteorology, On Generation and
Corruption, On the Soul, Nicomahean Ethics and
Metaphysics, among others.
• In June 1272, t. Thomas Aquinas agreed to go to
Naples and start a theological studies program for
the Dominican house neighboring the University.
• In 1274, Thomas Aquinas embarked on a
trip to Lyon, France on foot to serve on the
Second Council, but he never made there.
• Along the way, he feel ill at the Cistercian
monastery of Fossanova, Italy.
• Thomas preferred to remain at the
Monastery, saying “ if the Lord wishes to
take me away, it is better that I found in a
religious house than in the dwelling of
layperson”.
• St. Thomas Aquinas died at the monastery
of Fossanova on March 7, 1274.

• He was canonized by Pope john XXII in

1323.
AQUINAS AND THEISTIC RREALISM

THOMISM
- as Aquinas’s philosophy is known, was variety of
religious or theistic realism
Aquinas conceived of reality in two dimensions:
1. Supernatural
2. Natural orders

Based on this dualistic conceptions, human

nature has a spiritual dimension located in the soul
and a physical dimension grounded in the body.
 Recognized that the body positioned on human
beings in the natural order where they shared
many characteristics with animals such as
instincts, appetites, sexuality, and locomotion.
 Argued that human ideas originated through the
senses, which experienced an external world of
objects.
 Human being was endowed by God with free will –
The power to make choices, the power of intellect
enabled human beings to frame, weigh, and to
choose an act on alternatives.
 Aquinas established a conception of human
nature possessing complementary spiritual and
physical dimensions, which held importance for
Aquinas’s educational theory.

 Human life and destiny were purposeful in that

there was meaning to existence in this God-
created universe.

 Human person was a spirit or soul within a body

THOMISTIC CURRICULUM
 was a hierarchy of studies, with
religious studies at the summit, moving
gradually downward to those that
cultivated rationality, finally reaching
those bounded by space and time that
dealt with earning a livelihood and the
economic sustenance of society.
 Aquinas recognized that human beings,
endowed with intelligence and free will, could
and not should act to transform their
environment and make it hospitable as possible.
 Human beings, guided by faith and reason, were
to use their powers to formulate plans and
actions to improve life on Earth.
 He developed a theory of education that
complemented his broader philosophical and
theological work.
AQUINAS PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

1. Education, like life itself, is purposeful; it is

a means to an end.

2. Reality exhibits two dimensions, one

spiritual and one physical.

3. Reality – both supernatural and natural – is

hierarchically structured as is society, both
secular and religious.
Aquinas referred to formal education, or
schooling, as “disciplina”, when a
teacher teaches knowledge or skill to a
learner. This teaching involves three
elements:

1. A skill or body of knowledge

2. A teacher
3. A learner
 Aquinas combined a basic Aristotelian strategy
in structuring instruction in the scholastic method
used in Medieval universities. The subject matter
of instruction was “scientia” an organized body
of knowledge that contained:

1. Principles
2. Systematic logical development
3. Analogies and examples
4. Conclusions
 Aquinas’s model teacher was a person who
integrated knowledge and virtue as two
interpenetrating elements of professional life.

 A teacher’s life was highly integrated in that the

various elements of teaching fused
harmoniously.
1. First, becoming a teacher meant the person
had a commitment to a life of service
2. Second, through diligent study, the teacher
came to possess a body of knowledge.
THOMISTIC SCHOOL
is a place of disciplined and purposeful
activity directed to acquiring knowledge
while recognizing the importance of
spiritual grace in inclining students to truth.
In the Thomistic worldview, all things
and all actions are purposeful in that they
lead to an ultimate end.

In the Thomistic view of instruction,

teachers can lead students to knowledge
but only students have the power to
acquire it.
CONCLUSION: AN ASSESSMENT

Aquinas’s emphasis on the rational, the

intellectual, and the theoretical did not
encourage human beings to be disembodied
intellects.
He recognized the importance of the
corporeal or physical element of life as proper
to the natural order.
Rather than seeing spirit and body locked
in perpetual war, he was a reconciler who saw
the supernatural and natural orders as
compatible and complimentary.