Psychological Perspective

Psychology
-The study of behavior and mental processes.
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
-stressing our capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose one’s own destiny, and positive
human qualities. Not following the majority.
Abraham Moslow
-proposed hierarchy of needs
-self is mainly concerned with satisfying its needs to reach transcendence and self-actualization

Carl Rogers
Self emerges through the individual’s experiences with the world.
Self is a whole consisting of
SELF-PERCEPTIONS
-how attractive I am, how well I get along with others, how well I do things
And the VALUES we attach to these perceptions (good/bad, worthy/unworthy)
“We cannot change, we cannot move away from what we are, until we thoroughly accept what
we are. Then change seems to come about almost unnoticed.”
2 Subsystems of the self:
Self-Concept/Actual Self
Aspects one’s being and one’s experiences that are perceived in awareness by the individual
Ideal Self
One’s view of self as one wishes to be
If the actual self and ideal self do not match, tendency is that the self will be mal-adjusted and
will experience incongruence.

3 Methods to develop a positive concept

1) Unconditional Positive Regard
–accepting, valuing and being positive toward another person regardless of person’s
behavior
2) Empathy
-listening, understanding and being sensitive to other’s feelings
Putting self in other’s shoes
Looking at their world from their POV
3) Genuineness
-being open with own feelings; dropping our pretenses and facades

PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVES
Sigmund Freud
-founder of Psychoanalysis
-Believes that personality is shaped by early experiences in life
-developed the Psychosexual Theory of Development
-believed that the adult personalities are defines by how we resolve the contradiction between
these early sources of gratification
-Non-resolution would result to FIXATION which results to attachment to an earlier stage.
Stages of Psychosexual Development

Phallic
-sensitivity becomes concentrated in genital and masturbation as source of pleasure
-child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences; erotic attractions, resentment and fear
-Oedipus Complex for males, Electro complex for girls; resolved through process of
identifications, adapting characteristics of the same sex parent
-there is Castration anxiety so males follow father and females follow mother’s characteristics

The Provinces of the Mind

The Unconscious Mind
Conscious mind-tip of ice berg; the small amount of mental activity we know about; thoughts
and perceptions
Subconscious-things we could be aware of if we wanted or need; memories, stored knowledge
Unconscious-things we are unaware of and cannot become aware of; instincts-sexual and
aggressive, fears, unacceptable sexual desires, violent motives, irrational wishes, immoral
urges, selfish needs, shameful and traumatic experiences
Id part of the unconscious mind and comprises the 2 instincts Eros (love of life) and Thanatos
(death)
Id: pleasure principle; I want it now
Ego: reality principle; I need some planning to get it (practicality)
Superego: moral principle: you can’t have it; considers the good and bad

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Erik Erikson
-believed that self is largely shaped by society
-man behind Identity Crisis
Developed 8 Psychosocial Development Stages
1) Trust vs Mistrust (Hope)
-during infancy; birth-1 1/2 years old
-all about fulfilling needs. Baby needs to trust the world around them to take care of their needs.
If they are hungry, they need to develop trust that they will be fed.
-if they are not fed, or their diaper is left dirty, they may develop mistrust in the outside world.
2) Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt (Will)
-Toddler 1 ½ to 3 years old
-Autonomy: being your own boss. Toddlers try to control own bodies by toilet training and their
environment, by always saying NO
-sometimes they poop on pants or get yelled at by parents causing shame and doubt to their
own abilities.
3) Initiative vs Guilt (Purpose)
-Preschool age 3-5 y/o
-Key word from NO to WHY
-Children want to understand the world and ask too many questions
-Initiative to question the world encouraged: comfortable in expressing curiosity throughout life
- Initiative to question the world discouraged: they will feel guilty about their questioning and
avoid being inquisitive
4) Industry vs Inferiority (Competence)
-Elementary School Age 5-12
-when most children begin formal educ
-if child answers question correctly in class, they will feel industrious (competent)
-if the child tried to answer but stutters and makes mistakes, causing students to make fun of
them, child will feel inferior
5) Identity vs Role (Fidelity)
Adolescence 13-early 20’s
-teens’ main social need is to discover social identity by trying different roles, experimenting
social groups, changing wardrobe
-trying to find stable sense of self not or may have identity crisis later
6) Intimacy vs Isolation (Love)
20’S TO 30’S
-Young Adults are trying to balance career efforts with love
-how much time should I spend in looking for a relationship? What if I find no one?
7) Generativity vs Stagnation (Care)
Middle Adulthood 40s-50s
-important event is parenting and important relationships are with children and community
-each adult must find a way to satisfy, support, and contribute to the next generation; giving
back
-failure to resolve this stage can lead to overextension or rejectivity
8) Integrity vs Despair (Wisdom)
60’s to death
-important event is reflection on and acceptance of the individual’s life
-the individual is creating meaning and purpose of one’s life and reflecting on life achievements
-failure to resolve this conflict can create feelings of disdain and despair
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVES
Jean Piaget
Children actively construct knowledge as they explore and manipulate the world around them
More on constructivism; working on own to learn about the world and constructing knowledge as
we explore the world

Cognitive Development
-emergence of the ability to think and understand
-acquisition of the ability to think, reason, and solve problems
-our rationality, how we develop ourselves, feed ourselves with knowledge

1) Schema
-internal representation of the wolrd
-helps individual understand the world they inhabit
-cognitive structures that represent a certain aspect of the world and can be seen as categories
which have pre-conceived ideas in them
2) Assimilation
-when we modify or change new info to fit into our schema
3) Accommodation
-when we restructure or modify what we already know so that new info can fit in better
MORAL PERSPECTIVES
Lawrence Kohlberg
-assessed what morality meant
-asked children on moral dilemmas when right and wrong are not always clear; he focused more
on reasoning than the answer
Stages of Moral Development
Preconventional Morality
-behavior is guided by rewards and punishments. Behaviors are good or bad depending on
consequence. Child doesn’t understand rules of society
Stage 1: Obedience or Punishment Orientation
-obeying rules are important to avoid punishment
Stage 2: Self-Interest Orientation
-equal exchange. God to others, others good to you
Conventional Morality
-child begins to grasp social rules and gains a more objective perspective on right and wrong
Stage 3: Social Conformity Orientation
-adolescents aim to get social approval from those closest to them
Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation
-focuses on following rules of society and respecting authority and doing one’s duty
Post-Conventional Morality
-emphasis is on personal or idealized principles of person
Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation
-law is made for everyone but not everyone follows sometimes it because they might find it
inconsistent with their personal values and will argue that some might need to be changed if
they are no longer working
-people understand and believe in democracy
Stage 6: Universal Ethics Orientation
-people have principled conscience and will follow universal ethical principles regardless of what
the official laws and rules are.
-Right and wrong are not determined by rules and laws but by individual reflection on what is
proper behavior

MODERN PERSPECTIVES
William James
The Principles of Psychology
-self as the sum total of all that a man can call his
-he proposed that in studing self, all constituents must be explored
“I SELF”: knower, experiencer, present tense, story teller
“ME SELF”: self as known, experienced, past tense story

Edward Higgins
-we have our ideal self and it’s who we want to be
-ought self is what others want us to be
-actual self
Ideal and Ought selves: guides and standards that we use to organize and motivate action
Daniel Ogilvie
1987 study about actual self, ideal self and undesired self
Findings:
-Discrepancies between the actual self and undesired self were strongly associated with
satisfaction.
-Discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self were not strongly associated with
satisfaction.
-The undesired self is more grounded in reality and ideal self is a very unclear concept because
it’s not rooted to any experiences. The undesired self is already being realized and you want to
change it, fix it and when you do, you’d become more happy and satisfied.