Support Theories  Wholeness – systems, subsystems and environments

Maslow, Sullivan, Lewin, Von Bertalanffy, Erikson, Kohlberg working as one

 Interaction – the exchange of energy, influence and matter
across a boundary (in the form of input, output and
The intent of this chapter is to introduce you to several feedback)
essential theories from the arts, sciences, and humanities that have
 Teleology - goal directed interaction
had, and still have a significant influence on nursing theory, knowledge,
 Entropy – adaptive interaction
practice and research.
 Equifinality – goals accomplished in different ways

Examples of Propositions:
Von Bertalanffy’s General and Open System Theories
1. Systems, subsystems and their environments from
Two of the most globally influential theories ever developed are hierarchical wholes that maintain homeostasis and work
General System Theory (GST) and Open System Theory (OST) toward a common goal.
2. Systems, subsystems and their environments self-regulate
GST was framed in the 1920’s by Ludwig Von Bertanffy, a biologist based on their interactions.
from Vienna. OST, which was generated from GST, was framed in the 3. Teleology, entropy and equifinality are achieved through
1930s and presented to the scientific community at a meeting at the interactions.
University of Chicago in 1937.
Examples of Assumptions:
GST was based in the biological sciences and suggested that there
was structure, organization and interdependent function among living 1. Everyone knows what the goal is
things based on systems and subsystems that joined together to 2. The hierarchical order is actually facilitating the achievement
form “wholes” of the goal
3. The system has the resources for entropy and equifinality if
a. System needed
b. Subsystem
Ex. Human Body Wholeness

As GST evolved, Bertalanffy made additional observation that gave it a Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation and Hierarchy of
new and more global dimension and ultimately formed a new theory. Basic Human Needs
This second theory was OST. Whereas GST focus on the physical
In 1954, Abraham Maslow developed a grand theory called Theory of
aspect of systems, subsystems and environments, OST focused on
Human Motivation and Hierarchy of Basic Human Needs that are the
their interaction.
motivation behind people’s behavior.
 Interaction – self regulation is composed of input, output
and feedback.
 Feedback
Ex. Dehydration endocrine and renal system help
regulate fluid balance.
 Environment – defines as the surroundings or conditions in
which something exists or operates, it is an essential
concept within OST.
Ex. Internal and External environment of cell,
organs and human body.
 Environments can also be non-physical in nature and
include qualitative factors that influence relationship between
systems and subsystems, such as beliefs, philosophies,
behaviors and attitudes.
Ex. Organization can be useful or not useful.
 Boundaries – are traditionally defined as lines, real or
imaginary, that separate or enclose. Boundaries sometimes
act as stopping points.
Ex. Semi permeable membranes like blood brain
barriers. Summary of Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation and Hierarchy
of Basic Human Needs

Phenomenon: Need motivates behavior

Summary of Von Bertalanffy’s Open System Theory
Idea: Needs that motivate behavior are hierarchical in order
Phenomenon: Systems, subsystems and environments interact and
influence each other. Key Concepts/Internal Variables

Idea: Interactions among systems, subsystems and their environments Hierarchy of Human Needs: Those things that human need to survive
are self-regulating and goal directed. and thrive

Key Concepts/Internal Variables  Physiologic – air, food, water, warmth, rest

 Safety – shelter from harm
 System – connected, interdependent, interacting elements  Love – affection and acceptance
 Subsystem – a system within a larger system  Self-Esteem – self-worth, positive self-image
 Environment – internal and external surroundings of  Self-Actualization – development of potential
systems and their subsystems
 Hierarchy – the ordering or ranking of systems and their
subsystems
Propositions

1. Human Need motivates behavior

2. Human needs are ordered according to a survival hierarchy
3. The majority of needs in one level must met before moving
to the next

Assumptions

1. Motivational is hierarchal
2. Males and Females have the same motivation
3. To be well adjusted, physiologic needs must be met first

Eric Erickson Theory of Personality Development

Eric Erickson, a German-born psychoanalyst, identified concepts

associated with personality formation that eventually turned
development. Erickson included social and cultural experiences as
significant to personality development and emphasized that there is
continual personality development across the life span. Propositions

In his theory, Erickson identified 8 developmental stages that human 1.
being moves through. The 8 stages are growth categories of infant,
toddler, preschool, school, adolescent, young adult, middle adult and 2.
older adult. Each of these categories has a corresponding 3.
developmental stage, the goal is to complete the necessary
developmental tasks before moving to the next stage, Erickson felt that
if tasks of a particular stage were not accomplished, they would be Assumptions
revisited by the individual during a later stage.
1.
2.
3.
Human develop psychologically by progressing through
specific developmental stages
Developmental stages correspond with chronological age
The goal of each stage is that the developmental tasks are
accomplished prior to moving to the next stage
Developmental stages correlate with specific chronological
ages
Accomplishing developmental tasks in order in necessary for
healthy development
If tasks are not accomplished, they will be revisited at future
stages

Facts/Principle/Laws

Fact: Human beings progress through specific developmental stages

Principle: Progression through developmental stages is dependent

upon accomplishing developmental tasks

Law: Developmental stage influences the personality of an individual

Kurt Lewin’s Change Theory

Kurt Lewin a psychologist in the tradition of Erickson and others,

studied the motivation and intent behind human behavior. However, he
differed from the others in that he not only offered analysis of the
motivation and behavior, but he also studied how to improve that
behavior, especially with regard to bring about change within systems.

Change Theory or Forced Field Analysis

His work culminated in the development of a landmark theory of

change within the systems, which is sometimes referred to as a
psychological field theory or the force field analysis model (FFAM)

FFAM provides structure for identifying and understanding motivation

behind individual’s responses to change and for improving behavior
during change.

Two Forces

 Driving Force – move behavior toward a positive state of

mind that encourages change.
 Restraining Force – also known as static forces, move
behavior toward a negative state of mind that supports
maintaining the status quo, thus opposing the change.
Driving force may be the result of external influence on the system.
According to Lewin, the environment is also known as fields, this
includes not only the external factors but also the beliefs, behavior,
philosophy and attitude.
Stages of Change
 Unfreezing – the stage of change where the motivation or
need for change becomes apparent. Driving and restraining
forces that influence change are identified, and activities are
initiated to decrease the restraining forces and increase the
driving forces.
 Moving/Change – the stage where the details of the change
are planned and initiated. This stage involves the people
who may not have been involved in the decision to make the
change and as a result may have to be persuaded as to its
necessity.
 Refreezing – the final stage where changes that have been
initiated become integrated, established and stabilized.
Phenomenon: people respond to change differently
Idea: Motivation influences an individual’s response to change
Key Concepts
 Change – to make different
 Motivating Forces – factors that influence behavior
 Driving Forces – support change
 Restraining Forces – resist change
 Field – the environment in which driving and restraining
forces are interacting
 Change Process – the process of making different
 Unfreezing – the need for change becomes apparent
 Moving – change initiated
 Refreezing – change established
Propositions
1. Change is influenced by driving and restraining forces
2. Driving and restraining forces interact within a field
3. Change is dependent upon refreezing, moving and
refreezing behaviors
Assumptions
1. Change always has oppositions
2. Driving and restraining forces are the only forces influencing
change
3. Moving occurs before refreezing
Harry Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory
 Harry Stack Sullivan psychiatry or Interpersonal Psychoanalysis
 He proposed interpersonal theory of personality
 He explained the role of interpersonal relationships and social
experiences in shaping personality.
 He also explained about the importance of current life events to
psychopathology.
 The theory further states that the purpose of all behavior is to get
needs met through interpersonal interactions and decrease or
avoid anxiety.
Key Concepts
 Tensions
 Needs (tenderness)
 Anxiety
 Energy Transformation
 Dynamism
 Malevolence
 Intimacy
 Lust
Levels of Cognitions (ways of perceiving, imagining and
conceiving)
a. Prototaxic (undifferentiated experiences that are completely
personal)
b. Parataxic (prelogical experiences that are communicated to
others only in a distorted fashion)
c. Syntaxic (consensually validated experiences that can be
accurately communicated to others)
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura is an influencial social cognitive psychologist who
is perhaps best known for his social learning theory, the concept of
self-efficacy, and his famous Bobo doll experiment. He is a Proffesor
Emeritus at Stanford University and is widely regarded as on of the
greatest living psychologist.
Social Learning Theory
 Social learning theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes
the importance of observing, modeling and imitating the
behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Social
learning theory considers how both environmental and cognitive
factors interact to influence human learning and behavior.
 In social learning theory, Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the
behaviorist learning theories of classical conditioning and operant
conditioning. However, he adds two important ideas.
1. Mediating processes occur between stimuli and responses.
2. Behavior is learned from the environment through the
process of observational learning.
 Children observe the people around them behaving in various
ways. Individuals that are observed are called models. In society,
children are surrounded by many influential models, such as
parents within family, characters on children’s TV, friends with
their peer group and teachers at school. These models provide
examples of behavior to observe and imitate, e.g., masculine and
feminine, pro and anti-social, etc.
 Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and their
behavior. At a later time, they may imitate (i.e., copy) the behavior
they have observed. They may do this regardless of whether the
behavior is ‘gender appropriate’ or not, but there are a number of
processes that make it more likely that a child will produce the
behavior that its society deems appropriate for its gender.
 First, the child is more likely to attend to and imitate those people
of the same gender.
Second, the people around the child will respond to the behavior it
imitates with either reinforcement or punishment. If a child
imitates a model’s behavior and the consequences are rewarding,
the child is likely to continue performing the behavior.
 If a parent sees a little girl consoling her teddy bear and says
“what a kind girl you are?” this rewarding for the child and makes
it more likely that she will repeat the behavior. Her behavior has
been reinforced (i.e., strengthened).
Reinforcement can be external or internal and can be positive and
negative. If a child wants approval from parents or peers, this
approval is an external reinforcement, but feeling happy about
being approved of is an internal reinforcement. A child will behave
in a way which it believes will earn approval because it desires
approval.
 Positive (or negative) reinforcement will have little impact if the
reinforcement offered externally does not match with an
individual’s needs. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, but
the important factor is that it will usually lead to a change in a
person’s behavior.
 Third, the child will also take into account of what happens to
other people when deciding whether or not to copy someone’s
actions. A person learns by observing the consequences of
another person’s (i.e., models) behavior, e.g., a younger sister
observing an older sister being rewarded for a particular behavior
is more likely to repeat that behavior herself. This is known as
vicarious reinforcement.
 This relates to an attachment to specific models that possess
qualities seen as rewarding. Children will have a number of
models with whom they identify. These may be people in their
immediate world, such as parents or older siblings, or could be
fantasy characters or people in the media. The motivation to
identify with a particular model is that they have a quality which
the individual would like to possess.
Lawrence Kohlberg
Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist and is very famous
for his work on the Theory on Moral Development. He was an educator
at the University of Chicago and Harvard University (Graduate School).
Studying moral development is not popular during his time, but still he
decided to focus on this subject, he was inspired by the work of Jean
Piaget about children’s cognitive development.
Moral Development Theory
Level 1: Preconventional
A child’s sense of morality is externally controlled. Children
accept and believe the rules of authority figures, such as parents
and teachers. A child with pre-conventional morality has not yet
adopted or internalized society’s conventions regarding what is right or
wrong, but instead focuses largely on external consequences that
certain action may bring.
Stage 1: Obedience-and-Punishment Orientation
Focuses on the child’s desire to obey rules and avoid being punished.
For example, an action is perceived as morally wrong because the
perpetrator is punished; the worse the punishment for the act is, the
“worse” the act is perceived to be.
Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation
Stage 2 expresses the “what’s in it for me?” (WIFM) position, in which
right behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in
their best interest. Stage two reasoning shows a limited interest. Stage
two reasoning shows a limited interest in the needs of others, only to
the point where it might further the individual’s own interest.
Level 2: Conventional
Throughout the conventional level, a child’s sense of morality is tied to
personal and societal relationships. Children to continue to accept the
rules of authority figures, but this is now due to their belief that this is
necessary to ensure positive relationships and societal order.
Adherence to rules and conventions is somewhat rigid during these
stages, and a rule’s appropriateness or fairness is seldom questioned.
Stage 3: Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation
Children want the approval of others and act in ways to avoid
disapproval. Emphasis is placed on good behavior and people being
“nice” to others.
Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation
The child blindly accepts rules and convention because of their
importance in maintaining a functioning society. Rules are seen as
being the same for everyone, and obeying rules by doing what one is
“supposed” to do is seen as valuable and important. Moral reasoning
in stage four is beyond the need for individual approval exhibited
in stage three. If one person violates a law, perhaps everyone
would-thus there is an obligation and a duty to uphold laws and
rules.
Level 3: Post Conventional
Throughout the post conventional level, a person’s sense of morality is
defined in terms of more abstract principles and values. People now
believe that some laws are unjust and should be changed or
eliminated. This level is marked by a growing realization that
individuals are separate entities from society and that individuals
may disobey rules consistent with their own principles. Some
theorists have speculated that many people may never reach this level
of abstract moral reasoning.
Stage 5: Social-Contract Orientation
The world is viewed as holding different opinions, right and values.
Such perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each
person or community. Laws are regarded as social contracts rather
than rigid edicts. Those that do not promote the general welfare
should be changed when necessary to meet the greatest good for
the greatest number of people.
Stage 6: Universal-Ethical-Principal Orientation
Moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical
principles. Generally, the chosen principles are abstract rather than
concrete and focus on ideas such as equality, dignity, or respect. Laws
are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a
commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust
laws. People choose the ethical principles they want to follow, and if
they violate those principles, they feel guilty. In this way, the individual
acts because it is morally right to do so (and not because he or
she wants to avoid punishment), it is in their best interest, it is
expected. It is legal, or it is previously agreed upon.