Thinker's Dilemma: Humanistic Approach in Motivation

By KJ Lim and Aminath A. Manik

The humanistic theory has been one of the main themes in understanding motivational behaviour. In this essay, we will talk about some of the founding “fathers” of the humanistic theory and how their contributions has helped developed contemporary views, and impacted the understanding of motivation. The humanistic approach has fundamentally developed over the last century and the two profound individuals responsible are Abraham Harold Maslow and Carl Ransom Rogers.

CARL RANSOM ROGERS

Carl Rogers was born on January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois, Chicago. He was born to Walter A. Rogers and Julia M. Cushing. Roger’s father worked as a civil engineer and his mother was a housewife. As a child, Rogers was very intelligent and with an education background in a religiously strict and ethics first setting, he became an independent and a disciplined person. After obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Columbia, he spent his years working in academia and held positions at Ohio State University. Thereon, Rogers has developed his theories and approach on therapies and contributions to the field of psychology.

ABRAHAM HAROLD MASLOW

Abraham Maslow was born on April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the eldest of seven children born to his parents and was classes “mentally unstable” by a psychologist. His parents who themselves were uneducated first generation Jewish immigrants from Russia, pushed him hard for academic success. Not surprisingly, he became very lonely as a boy, and found his refuge in books.After getting married to Bertha (his first cousin against his parents’ wishes) he and Bertha moved to Wisconsin so that he could attend the University of Wisconsin. Where, he became interested in psychology, and his school work began to improve dramatically. He spent time there working with Harry Harlow, who is famous for his experiments with baby rhesus monkeys and attachment behaviour.

A year after graduation, he returned to New York to work with E. L. Thorndike at Columbia, where Maslow became interested in research on human sexuality. Maslow served as the chair of the psychology department at Brandeis from 1951 to 1969. While there he met Kurt Goldstein, who had originated the idea of self-actualization. It was also here that he began his crusade for a humanistic psychology, something ultimately much more important to him than his own theorizing.

THEORY

Humanistic views of motivation focus on the learner as a whole person and everyone has the potential to make contribution to society and be a good and likeable person if their needs are fulfilled. It examines the relationships among physical, emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy, beginning with survival and safety needs, progressing through belonging and esteem needs, and ending with intellectual and aesthetic needs, reflects the “whole person” that is central to humanistic views of motivation.

Carl Rogers also emphasized people’s attempts to become self-actualized and suggested that unconditional positive regard is essential in the development of it.

Carl Rogers’s theory is developed in the premise that human beings are basically good and possess an innate tendency to grow and mature. Rogers (1951) suggested that organisms have one basic tendency, which is to “actualize, maintain and enhance the experience self.” Rogers also recognized that humans have needs and they have the tendency to coordinate their needs in order to develop the self. Rogers stated that humans’ self is constructed from their interaction with the world and although their tendency to actualize is innate, it is that through pain and suffering people find the route to self-actualization.

Rogers went further to describe and emphasized that the “force of life” which is the self-actualization tendency, the built-in motivation that is present in every life form to achieve its potential to their fullest extent. The most powerful motivation drive of a person is to become “fully functioning” which means that a person experiences optimal psychological adjustment, optimal psychological maturity, complete congruence, and complete openness to experience.

Rogers pointed out there are potential problems that could arise if an individual’s positive regards is centred on pleasing others. Movements towards socialization worth and away from innate worth is antithetical to self-actualization and people should listen to their inner voice to judge what is good for their well-being, a process which Rogers calls organismic valuation process.

Maslow’s theory states that individuals have certain needs that must be met with a hierarchical manner (from the lowest to highest). The lower the needs in the hierarchy, the more fundamental they are and the more a person will tend to abandon the higher needs in order to pay attention to sufficiently meeting the lower needs. For example, when we are ill, we care little for what others think about us and all we want is to get better.

Maslow believed that fulfilling the needs in the correct order would allow individuals to become self- actualised, fully able persons. So only after the basic physiological needs; such as food, shelter, warmth is met can individuals move on to the next stages; the need to feel secure, to be loved and accepted and so forth.

Figure 1. Maslow's hierarchy of needs. (EPD Photos.Courtesy Gale Group.)

Maslow developed his theory not by studying mentally ill patients, which is where most psychological knowledge had derived from up to that point, but by studying healthy, productive, creative individual’s lives and careers. He concluded that, there were common characteristics which were shared by successful individuals – including self-acceptance, openness and respect for other individuals.

Maslow described other needs that did not fit into his hierarchy. These included cognitive needs, such as curiosity and scientific interest, as well as aesthetic needs, which include the need for beauty and order. As Maslow studied self-actualizing individuals, he also discovered a range of needs that extend beyond self-actualization. He called these needs transcendence needs or B-values. They refer to needs to contribute to human welfare and to find higher meanings in life. Although transcendence needs are usually described as lying somewhere beyond the need for self-actualization, these needs are not included in most formulations of Maslow's needs hierarchy yet it he believed that it played a big role in every individual. Instinct often helps us make decisions which an individual may think is hard to make but Maslow believed that it is our inner voice telling us what we really think is the right decision to be made for that particular situation. It helps from leading to self-destruction. We also have positive needs that may become neutral in the worst case scenario for an example a student sitting for an exam and not being sure if he/she will do well yet you still work hard on other papers with a positive attitude (i.e. you do not let yourself become sad about it become depressed and not concentrate on rest of the work), as human behaviour does respond to needs but we will be wrong to think or say that all our needs are only physiological in nature. So we can say that needs is what actually what motivates our action. As they say “a human’s heart can never be fulfilled”.

DISCUSSION

Like many other theories, some may find the humanistic approach to be valid while others see it for the numerous inherent flaws. This theory includes the focus on both the positive nature of humankind and the free will associated with change. Unlike Freud's theory and the biological approach, which focus on determinism or our lack of power over us, Maslow and Roger see the individual as very powerful.

Another aspect of humanistic theory is the ease in which many of its aspects fit well with other approaches. Many therapists have adopted a humanistic tinge in their work with clients such as humanistic Psychotherapy which was greatly influenced by Maslow and also Client Centred Psychotherapy which was by Rogers (Gladding, 2009). While they may argue humanistic theory does not go far enough, they see the benefit of the core components in helping people change.

Over the years humanistic theory has been greatly used in different professions. If you take a health class, you are likely to discuss Maslow's hierarchy. If you study economic or business, you will also focus on moving upward in our lives in order to be more aware of who we are and where we fit in with the world. It is the same with many other professions, including literature, criminology, and history, among others, as the basics of humanistic thought strike an undertone in all of what is considered human.

However, with the good always comes the bad, and this theory is no different. Some critics say that humanistic thought appears to centre on its lack of concrete treatment approaches aimed at specific issues. With the basic concept behind the theory being free will, it is difficult to both develop a treatment technique and study the effectiveness of this technique.

There are those who believe humanistic theory falls short in its ability to help those with more sever personality or mental health pathology. While it may show positive benefits for a minor issue, using the approach of Roger's to treat schizophrenia would seem ludicrous.

Finally, humanistic theory makes some generalizations about human nature that are not widely accepted as complete. Are people basically good or are there some individuals who are not capable of this? Can we adequately argue that everyone follows the same levels as Maslow explained, or are these levels, and even what they stand for, be determined by the individual? Why do some people seem to make negative choices even when positive solutions are staring them in the face? These questions plague humanistic thought and the difficulty in researching the theory does not provide any freedom. Yet there are a number of different ways in which the pursuits of your goals can be met and you may need to overcome obstacles such as fear or duty, before you can fully develop and become self-actualized.

CONCLUSION

Humanistic theory an important step in understanding how it plays a big role in motivation, it suggests that the achievement of happiness is frequently dependent upon achieving, or giving you the licence to investigate and pursue your own deepest interests and desires. Humanistic theory has been incorporated into many differing views on psychotherapy and human change. Humanistic undertone in treatment provides a nice foundation for change, it helps people evaluate their life and see what are the most important things they want in their life and as well as giving the right motivation to reach this goal. While it may not be sufficient, it may still be necessary for a significant personality change to occur.

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