Personality psychology chapter11 self actualization and self determination

Chapter Eleven Self-Actualization and Self-Determination Self-Actualization • Carl Rogers • Actualization—tendency to develop capabilities in ways that maintain or enhance the organism (present in all living creatures) • Self-Actualization—promotes maintenance or enhancement of the self – Moves person toward greater autonomy and selfsufficiency – Promotes congruence, organization, wholeness, and integration in the person Self-Actualization (Continued) • Organismic value process—mechanism that evaluates whether experiences are actualizing – If not, nagging sense that something isn’t right – If yes, person is operating as “fully functional person” Need for Positive Regard • Strong motive for love, friendship, and affection from important others – Unconditional Positive Regard—given without any conditions or contingencies – Conditional Positive Regard—given only in situations that meet particular conditions • Conditions of Worth—conditions under which a person is considered worthy of regard • Conditional Self-Regard—application of conditions of worth to self Implications of Conditions of Worth • Conflicts between self-actualization and fulfilling conditions of worth – Example: Desire to be a musician in conflict with recognition of parents’ aspirations for their child to be a doctor • Sometimes hard to tell true desire from conditions of worth – Condition of worth is a precondition for acceptance and is always coercive Self-Determination • Ed Deci • Three needs that must be satisfied for a life of growth, integrity, and well-being – Autonomy (Self-determination) – Competence – Relatedness Self-Determination • Self-Determined Actions—done because of intrinsic value to self – Longer interest is maintained • Controlled Actions—done to gain payment or satisfy external pressure – Rewards can undermine intrinsic value of some activities and turn them into controlled actions • Activities are resistant to this effect if the reward informs you about your competency Introjection and Identification • Introjected Regulation: – Applies standards of “should” and “ought” to behavior – Behavior done to avoid guilt or to get self-approval – Control exerted from external sources • Identified Regulation: – Process whereby behavior comes to hold personal meaning and value (often for growth) over time – Not as self-determined as intrinsically motivated behavior, but it’s close Need for Relatedness • Represents an intrinsic need • Characterized by genuine connectedness with others and unconditional acceptance • Not a need based on pressure or demand • Not in conflict with autonomy Self-Concordance • Pursuit of goals that are consistent with core values • These bring more contribution to a sense of wellbeing • Creates a positive spiral of benefit Greater effort Pursuit of core goals Higher success Higher well-being More satisfaction Free Will • Emphasizes that people are free to determine: – How they act – What to become – If they are to be self-actualized or accept conditions of worth • Reactance—assertion of freedom when a threat to freedom is perceived • Perceptions of free will can be experimentally manipulated The Self • Development of the self represents gradual differentiation during infancy • Self-Concept—set of qualities a person sees as being a part of herself – Actual—perception of the way you really are – Ideal—what you really want to be • Self-actualization creates a closer fit between the actual and ideal selves Incongruity, Disorganization, and Defense • Incongruence—a disorganization in the self that is detected by the organismic value process – Leads to anxiety – Can cause low self-esteem • Ways to defend against anxiety of incongruence – Distortions of the experience • Rationalization – Prevent from reaching awareness • Denial • Avoid situations that trigger perceptions of incongruence Self-Esteem Maintenance and Enhancement • Defenses protect and maintain self-esteem • Conditions necessary for an event to have an effect on self-esteem – Event attributable to you – Event must be interpreted as good or bad • Defense against failures – Minimize negativity of event (wasn’t so bad) – Resist attributions to stable qualities of self • Blame others, lack of effort, excuses • Enhancement through success – Attribute to stable characteristics of self – Claim control of those characteristics Self-Handicapping • Acting in a way that creates condition for failure • Hard goals and substantial risk of failure represent threats to self-esteem • Create an external situation on which potential failure can be attributed and selfesteem can be maintained • No threat to stable qualities of the self Hierarchy of Motives • Abraham Maslow – Focused on most well-adjusted, fully functioning people – Examined motivations and how they are organized Selfactualization need Esteem needs Love and belonging needs Safety and physical security needs Physiological needs Implication of Hierarchy • Low-level needs are more primitive and demanding than higher-level needs • Power of motive forces decrease as you go up the pyramid • Higher-level motives represent more distinctly human characteristics • Needs at lower level must be met before attending to higher-level needs • Low-level needs are deficit motivated and highlevel needs are growth motivated Self-Actualizers • Efficient and accurate in perceiving reality • Accepting of themselves, others, and of nature • Spontaneous in thought and emotion, natural rather than artificial • Problem-centered, concerned with eternal philosophical questions • Independent and autonomous when it comes to satisfactions • Freshness of appreciation of ordinary events • Deep ties, but only with a few persons • Appreciate, for its own sake the process of doing things • Philosophical, thoughtful, nonhostile sense of humor • Maintain inner detachment from culture in which they live • Appear temperamental and even ruthless Peak Experiences • Times when actualization is clearly occurring • Heightened sense of connection to elements in surrounding environment • Clarity of perception • Distortion of time • Subjective feelings of awe, wonder, and ecstasy • More common during work than leisure Existential Psychology • Emphasis on individual’s personal experience in life with a focus on the existential dilemma • Central construct—“Dasein” – Translates as being-in-the-world – Conveys a sense of experience as an autonomous, separate, evolving entity in the world • Key issue in life is the inevitability of death – Results in angst – How to respond to this realization Nothingness Authentic Being Terror Management • Attempt to construct lives imbued with meaning and value as a response to the potential terror of mortality • Often define meaning by social and cultural processes – Group identity is important – Rejection of indications of animal nature Assessment • Many assessment techniques – Interview—content analysis organizes responses into meaningful groups – Q-Sort—Sort items into piles that correspond to particular criteria (e.g., most like you to least like you) – Inventories for self-actualization, autonomy, and control Problems in Behavior • Problems arise from: – Incongruity and the negative affect that results – Living in order to meet conditions of worth – Not living in ways that promote selfacutalization Therapy • Client-Centered Therapy: – Responsibility for improvement lies with client – Removes distractions, so self-actualization processes can move client toward greater integration – Therapist demonstrates unconditional positive regard and empathy – Nonevaluative, rather therapist reflects with • Clarification of feelings • Restatement of content ... or enhancement of the self – Moves person toward greater autonomy and selfsufficiency – Promotes congruence, organization, wholeness, and integration in the person Self- Actualization (Continued)... precondition for acceptance and is always coercive Self- Determination • Ed Deci • Three needs that must be satisfied for a life of growth, integrity, and well-being – Autonomy (Self- determination) – Competence... worthy of regard • Conditional Self- Regard—application of conditions of worth to self Implications of Conditions of Worth • Conflicts between self- actualization and fulfilling conditions of worth