Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Psychology of Personality 250

November2, 2015

Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Each individual has their own distinctive personality. The personality is what helps to make each person unique. McLeod (2007) defines an approach as “A perspective that involves certain assumptions about human behavior. The way they function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are appropriate for undertaking this study. There may be several different theories within an approach but they all share common assumptions (para 1). This paper will discuss the growth needs to influence personality. This paper will also examine biological factors that influence the formation of personality, the relationship of biological factors and the basic aspects of the humanistic theory.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow was best known for his hierarchy of needs theory. This theory explained human behavior pertaining to the essential needs for survival, growth and the contribution to the formation of an individual’s personality. The five stage model of the hierarchy of needs can be broken down into basic needs such as psychological, safety, love and esteem and growth need such as self-actualization.

The first set of needs is psychological needs. These needs include air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep and sex. In order to move to the next level of needs an individual need to meet the requirements of the most basic necessities of these needs.

The next level of needs is the safety needs. This level of needs include protection from the elements, security, order, law, stability and the freedom from fear. Each individual needs to feel that they have a form of protection from certain circumstances. An individual’s growth will only progress when these needs are met to a certain degree.

The third level consists of love and belongingness. This level includes needs such as friendship, intimacy, affection and love from family, friends and romantic relationships. This level incorporates not only the longing and need for an intimate relationship but the need to belong to a group and to feel accepted as well.

The fourth level consists of esteem needs. This level is made up of needs such as achievement, mastery, self-esteem, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect and the respect of others. These needs contribute to the ability to build one’s self up and feel worthwhile, competent and independent; while the esteem of others helps an individual to feel respected and appreciated.

The last level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-actualization. The needs at this level include realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experience. Maslow’s belief was that self-actualization is the highest form of need an individual has. Friedman & Schustack (2012) state “self-actualized people have a realistic knowledge of themselves and accept themselves, while unactualized people may occasionally have a peak experience but are  more likely to be frightened than enlightened by it” (p.303). Maslow believed that all individuals could have a peak experience, but not all individuals can reach self-actualization. The hierarchy of needs helps to explain how basic human needs motivate human behavior which influences the development of an individual’s personality.