After reading about modern perspectives in psychology, the humanistic perspective caught my attention. Such a perspective in would be very applicable in the learning process of human beings. People are always learning new things as they try to discover their potential.

The humanistic approach in psychology is often referred to as Humanism. It focuses mainly on an individual potential and self-actualization. Humanistic psychology has the belief that people are innately good and any social and mental problems are just a deviation from this natural tendency of humans. The approach began to respond to concerns about limitations of Psychodynamic theories (Fernald, 2008). Psychologists such as Maslow felt that Psychodynamic does not address issues adequately. The humanistic approach is different from other approaches in psychology by its emphasis on subjective meaning, determinism rejection and concern for growth rather than pathology. As the perspective suggests, people have personal agency and are motivated to use their free will to pursue their full potential. All human behaviors are motivated by the need for personal growth. Human beings are always looking for new ways to learn, become better and experience self-actualization.

Maslow developed the humanistic theory of personality. The theory states that for people to achieve their full potential they have to move from the basic needs to self-actualization. Maslow focuses much on free will, innate drive and self-actualization.  Human have different levels of needs from the basic needs to the most advanced. One has to master the lower level before proceeding to the upper level (Fernald, 2008). The need for self-actualization is the most advanced of them all. Personality is based on the successful fulfillment of all the layers of human needs.

Reference

Fernald, L. D. (2008). Psychology: Six perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Response to Svitlana Starodubtseva

Hi Svitlana, I agree with you that there are seven designated perspectives in Psychology. They all have different explanations as pertains to human behaviors. Personally, I am more interested in the humanistic perspective. The perspective that humans are good and any problems they experience are just a deviation from this fact intrigues me. People have personal agency and are motivated to use their free will to pursue their full potential. All human behaviors are motivated by the need for personal growth. Human beings are always looking for new ways to learn, become better and experience self-actualization. This approach is different from the others in that it puts much emphasis on determinism rejection, subjective meaning, and concern for positive growth rather than pathology. All the seven approaches all have explanations about human habits and how different problems can be approached. Researchers have found different new ways of forecasting human behavior through these perspectives.

Response to Haoyan Li

Hi Haoyan, nice explanation of the humanistic perspective, the approach began to respond to concerns about limitations of Psychodynamic theories. Psychologists such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers felt that Psychodynamic does not address issues adequately and so introduced the humanistic approach. Abraham Maslow developed the humanistic theory of personality. The theory states that for people to achieve their full potential they have to move from the basic needs to self-actualization. Maslow focuses much on free will, innate drive and self-actualization.  Maslow says that the most advanced of the human needs is self-actualization. Human needs are of different levels and one has to master on level before proceeding to the next level with the highest level being self-actualization. Humanistic psychology has the belief that people are innately good and any social and mental problems are just a deviation from this natural tendency of humans. Human beings are always involved in the learning process.

Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?