Personality and

the
Meaning of Life
PSYCH 215
February 26, 2017
Overview
›  Humanistic psychology
›  Hierarchy of needs
›  Existentialism
›  Flow
Explaining Mankind’s
Inhumanity to Mankind
Freud’s view
›  at the most basic level, humankind is
barbaric and cruel
›  we need cultural rules to control these
impulses
Roger’s View (Humanistic Perspective)
›  humankind is good
›  evil is a cultural construction
Humanistic Perspectives
Begins with a critique of behaviorism and
psychoanalysis
› essentially negative view of
humanity
› behavior is driven by prior
contingencies or primitive impulses
Can these perspectives explain joy or
artistry?
Carl Rogers
People are basically good
Phenomenological approach
› tounderstand people, you need to
understand their unique view of reality
› depends on communication, which is limited
Phenomonology:
› One’s conscious experience of the world is
more important than the real world itself
Phenomenology:
Awareness Is Everything
›  Construal
›  Everyone’s is different
›  Forms the basis of how you live your life
›  Free will is achieved by choosing your construal

›  Introspec@on

5
Carl Rogers
Sense of self is crucial in human
experience
› most people are struggling to
become their real selves
› Self: an organized set of conscious
perceptions of who you are
›  perceptions of character and abilities
›  self in relation to others
›  goals and ideals
Goal of Rogerian Therapy
Bring ideal and actual self into alignment
Look at the discrepancies in your
questionnaires
Two ways to accomplish alignment
› Raiseactual ratings
› Lower ideal ratings
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Rejects psychology’s reliance on animal
studies
›  rats have few motivations, other than
physiological ones
›  culture is an adaptive tool, designed to
satisfy the physiological needs
›  the forces that drive rats are mostly
absent from humanity
Release from pain is not sufficient to describe
human behavior
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Humans pursue positive goals
as well, once lower level
needs are met
›  providesa positive view of human nature
Ultimate need is to self-actualize
› can only be attempted after lower
level needs are fulfilled
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Existentialism
Existentialism
›  Focuses on the experience of existence
›  Famous philosophical movement:
Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre
›  Key questions:
›  What is the nature of existence?
›  How does it feel?
›  What does it mean?

›  Focus on personal responsibility

Existential Psychology
›  Goal of humans is to integrate
›  We are conscious of self and need to make
choices
›  Thus, must recognize and confront
paradoxes in our lives
›  Paradox: two opposing things that cannot
exist without one another
›  E.g., good and evil, life and death
Viktor Frankl
›  Austrian psychiatrist, initially interested in
Freud and Adler’s work
›  Spent 2 yrs 10 mos. in German
concentration camps
›  By the end of the war, lost his pregnant
wife, parents, and brother
›  Frankl s theory focused on the meaning
of human existence as well as man s
search for such meaning
›  Primary motivational force in humans
›  No matter the state of the world, our attitude
can always help us
Flow
Last night at 7pm
›  What were you thinking about?
›  Where were you?
›  What was the MAIN thing you were doing?
›  What other things were you doing?
›  WHY were you doing this particular activity?
›  I had to
›  I wanted to
›  I had nothing else to do
How did you feel about the
MAIN thing you were doing?
›  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
›  (low) (high)
›  Challenges of the activity
›  Your skills in the activity
›  Was this activity important to you?
›  Were you satisfied with how you were
doing?
Describe your mood during
the activity
›  1 2 3 4 5
›  Very – some – neither – some – very

›  Alert---- Drowsy
›  Happy ---- Sad
›  Active ---- Passive
›  Involved ---- Detached
Csikszentmihalyi
Focused on how to make each moment an
optimal experience
Flow
›  a state of mind
›  skills and challenge are high and perfectly
matched
Interviewed expert swimmers, climbers,
chess players
Interviews regarding flow
›  occurs during task we have chance of
completing
›  must be able to concentrate on task
›  clear goals and immediate feedback
›  enhances concentration
›  worries and frustration of daily life are removed
›  total absorption in task
›  concern for self disappears
›  passage of time is altered
Optimal Experience in Work
and Leisure
Experience sampling method
›  people are signaled during day by
beeper
›  complete brief questionnaire
›  What does this approach buy you that
traditional approaches do not?
› provides data that is phenomenological
Sample of 107 working adults
Assessed challenges and skills
 Optimal Experience in Work
and Leisure
CHALLENGE
HIGH LOW

HIGH
SKILLS

LOW
 Optimal Experience in Work
and Leisure
CHALLENGE
HIGH LOW

HIGH flow boredom

SKILLS

LOW anxiety apathy

Results
When does flow occur?
› 54% of the time at work
› 17% of the time in leisure
Does flow at work depend on job?
› managers 64% of time in flow
› clerical workers, 51%
› blue-collar workers, 47%
Results
›  Affect,potency, concentration, creativity,
satisfaction, and motivation were all
higher in flow states
Conclusion
›  Theobligatory nature of work masks the
positive experiences it engenders (p. 821)
 Optimal Experience in Work
and Leisure
CHALLENGE
HIGH LOW

HIGH
SKILLS

LOW
 Optimal Experience in Work
and Leisure
CHALLENGE
HIGH LOW

HIGH flow boredom

SKILLS

LOW anxiety apathy