Principles of Psychology

Lesson 04 – Schools of Psychology

Gayathri Chamika
BA.Hons.Psychology ( Peradeniya)
Mphil. Counseling Psychology. Reading. (Peradeniya)
Dip. in. Counseling ( Pera)
Dip. In. Counseling psychology (IBSC)
Motivational speaker
Aspiring Counselor
Social worker
SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Structuralism
• In 1879, Wilhelm Wund founded
the first Psychology laboratory at
the University of Leipzig in
Germany, creating structuralism,
the first school of Psychology.

• This arose from the systematic

presentation of Wound's own
theories of laboratory Psychology.

• The accepted theories of the natural

sciences greatly influenced the
theories of the school of
Structuralism.
• It is an accepted theory in physics
that by analyzing any physical object,
its basic structure can be understood.

• Similarly, structuralists have shown

that the human mind can be analyzed
into subtle parts.

• That is, they believed that the human

mind was a physical phenomenon
made up of microscopic particles.

• Thus, the method they used to

analyze the mind was
"Introspection"
• E.B. Tichner, who trained under
Wundt was Wundt's foremost
student and pioneer in building
structuralist theory.

• However, in later times,

structuralism was subjected to many
strong criticisms.

• This showed the inadequacy of the

introspection method they used.

• They pointed out that this argument

is not an acceptable method and the
information they obtained is not
enough for it.
Functionalism
• Instead of studying
the structure or form
of the mind, the
functionalists studied
how the mind works
when the human
being interacts with
the environment
around him.
• The school was pioneered by William
James, an American philosopher and
psychologist.

• James's ‘Principles of Psychology’,

written in 1890, describing the principles
of functionalism was one of the greatest
psychological book of its time.

• He pointed out that in studying the

functioning of the human mind, attention
should also be paid to human behavior.

• Accordingly, he tried to study facts with

objective observations on how individual
behavior behaves properly and what
factors affect it.
 Psychoanalysis

• Sigmund Freud is considered the founder of this theory.

• Sigmund Freud aided his own clinic, not university laboratories, to
build this theory.
• The principles here led to new avenues of personality, emotion,
motivation, mind and psychotherapy.
• The school of Psychoanalysis stands out as a school that introduced
new concepts and new approaches to Psychology.
• Psychoanalysis has influenced a number of
disciplines, including linguistics, political science,
ethics, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, and
every field of art.

• Inspired by psychoanalysis, the creators of universal

literature emerged. That is, poetry, stories, songs,
movies, and so on.

• Because of this, psychologists at the time were

reluctant to accept psychoanalysis as a school of
psychology.

• But the influence of psychoanalysis today is evident

not only in psychology but also in the whole of
human consciousness.

• As a result, psychoanalysis has developed into an

independent international organization.
• Due to this extension of psychoanalysis it has
become a very popular school of thought
among the general public.

• Psychoanalysis, unlike all other schools of

thought, is based on the personality of the
individual, Freud.

• The first thing he did there was to study and

analyze his mind carefully.

• The majority of theories and principles of

psychoanalysis were developed by Freud
himself.

• The task of his followers was to nurture,

change, and interpret these theories and
principles
 Sigmund Freud's
previous analysis of
the mind
Freud likened the human
mind to a floating iceberg,
and in his psychoanalysis
divided the mind into
three main parts. That is,
1. Consciousness
2. Subconscious
3. Unconscious
 Unconscious
Consciousness • The third of the four invisibles below sea
level on the iceberg was likened to the
• The small part, like a
quarter of what
unconscious. Subconscious
• The unconscious is far from our
appears to be an understanding, and Freud regarded it as • He introduces
iceberg, was likened to the most important part of the mind. the subconscious
consciousness. • This is the primary and most powerful part
of the mind.
as another
• Consciousness is aspect of the
• The energy required for living behaviors lies
involved in voluntary in the unconscious. unconscious.
actions, such as • That is why Freud called it the basis of the
thinking, reasoning, mind.
• It is closer to the
speaking, and • Freud emphasizes that unconscious also consciousness.
cognition. has a profound effect on human
personality.
 Sigmund Freud's later
analysis of the mind
Here Freud presented it more
systematically without
canceling out the previous
interpretations. The latter
analysis, like the previous
analysis, divided the mind into
three parts. That is,
1. Id
2. Ego
3. Super Ego
 Id • The ego of the new interpretation is
similar to the ignorance of the previous
interpretation.

• Part of the super ego also belongs to

the unconscious.

• Id is inherited by the individual from

birth and ego and super ego develop
after birth.

• According to Freud, the most important

part of the mind is Id.

• Id is the energy source of the mind.

''ඉඩ් යනු ඇවිස්සී ඇති අවුල්ජාලයකින් යුත්
උතුරන කල්දේරමක්" • It creates mental energy and they are
- called Instincts.
සිග්මන්ඩ් දරායිඩ් -
Instincts • Instinct is the intense need
to release the various
tensions that arise in the
body.

• This need produces the

energy needed for mental
functioning.

• According to Freud, there

are two main types of
instincts that are important
to a person's personality.
That is,
1. Life Instinct
2. Death Instinct
Life Instinct • Life Instinct consists of a person's
self-defense motivations and sexual
motivations.

• Freud's focus was on sexual

impulses, which he says were
influenced by the person's
personality.

• Freud did not use the term 'sex' in a

narrow sense in his theory.

• He meant to satisfy the senses in

every way.

• He used the term 'Libido' to describe

the desire for life as an energy.
Death Instinct • Death instinct consists of
destructive impulses about
oneself as well as others.

• That is, from the impulses of

aggression, violence, suicide,
paranoid pornography,
anger, and so on.

• Death Instinct and Life Instinct

are of equal importance and
this is more or less active in
every person, he said.
• The ultimate determination of the ego is to satisfy the
desires that arise in oneself and to attain happiness.

• It is therefore functional under the pleasure principle.

• Id is the selfish party of the mind and represents

several factors necessary for human existence.
Hunger, thirst and sexual desire are the main ones.

• Id value judgments are not recognized.

• In addition to desires, many anxious experiences that

are suppressed by the individual are also embedded
in the ego.

• In this case, the blockade is temporary. Things that

are temporarily suppressed remain in the
unconscious.

• This inadvertently affects a person's personality.

• Freud describes several
instances in which the
unconscious desires and
anxious experiences
embedded in the Id are
re-conscious. They are,
* Dreams
* Hypnosis
* Neurotic disorders
* Free association
* Mistakes
 • The principle here is reality.
Ego
• Id causes stress to satisfy a desire, but Ego
holds on to it until the right moment to
activate it.

• Freud points out that the ego is developing

in the human mind to control the resistance
between the external environment and the
Id.

• The ego is constantly trying to create ways

to satisfy the needs of the Id according to
the conditions of the external environment.

• This is a very difficult task and requires a

good understanding and the strength to
reason.
• Id likens the ego to a Bull
and the ego that controls it
to the man who controls
the Bull.

• With the development of

ego in a child, his motor
system develops. This
allows him to organize his
various activities.

• This is a psychological
aspect of the mind.
Super Ego • The person becomes civilized with the development
of super ego.

• It develops in parallel with the growth of the ego.

• Culture, values, religion, and parental counsel have a

powerful influence on the development of super ego.

• Super ego is representative of social ideals and its

governing principle is morality.

• The conscience of the person also exists in this super

ego.

• Super ego consists of two main parts.

■ Ego Absoluteness - The pride that a person
feels after doing actions that are considered
good by society.
■ Conscience - The pain of guilt that a person
feels after any anti-social and immoral act
 The most important
role of the super ego
is to prevent certain
desires arising from
Id, which is
considered a
criminal act that is
not approved by
society. In this
function, there is a
sharp conflict
between the Id and
the super ego.
 Freudian Principles of Personality Development
• Freud's view was that a person's personality development was the
development of his sexual impulses.

• He also describes a person's personality development as a development of

homosexual desires.

• Freud describes five stages of a person's personality development. They are,

1. Oral Stage
2. Anal Stage
3. Phallic Stage
4. Latent Stage
5. Genital Stage
 • During the first year after birth, the baby's
1. Oral stage psychic desires are activated orally.

• As well as the baby being satisfied, the main

connection between the baby and the mother
is through oral contact.

• And the mouth is the only way to connect the

child to the outside world.

• At this stage, the child's principles of well-being

are activated in the mouth, and various things
are ingested.

• The child should not be neglected or

overprotected at this stage.

• It is at this point that the satisfaction of

aggressive desires begins.

• Dissatisfaction with this stage can lead to

abnormal behaviors.
Eg: smoking, frequent drinking, excessive
2. Anal Stage • After the end of the first year, the main psychiatric
region of the body migrates to the anus.

• From then until the third year the Anal Stage is

active.

• During this time the pain is active in the rectum

and is satisfied with the defecation process.

• When defecate, the muscles and nerves in the

rectum and colon are stressed and with the
defecation, the tension ends and feel happy.

• This is the original form of adulthood, outbursts of

anger, and outbursts of desire.

• It is during this time that the mother gives the child

hygiene training.
• The child becomes anxious because the
action, which was previously free, now
has to be subjected to some training.

• This leads to the development of super

ego.

• Freud argues that this training should be

given with extreme caution, as it affects
later personality development.
Eg: a child who does not learn this
systematically may later become an
abusive or greedy person.

• The child who focuses heavily on this

training will later become a disciplined
person.
3. Phallic Stage • During the fourth and fifth years after
birth, sexual desires migrate to the
genitals.

• At this stage the child has a passion

for his penis and likes to show off and
touch it.

• Several important events in

personality development take place
during this period, and can be
attributed to two main types of moods
that occur in both boys and girls. That
is,
1. The Oedipus Complex
2. The Electra Complex
1. Oedipus Complex • The Oedipus complex is when a boy has a
strong attraction to his mother.

• He sees the relationship between mother and

father and thinks that the father is the main
obstacle to the relationship between himself
and his mother.

• With that mentality he hates his father and is

afraid that his father will cut off his penis.

• This mentality is called the “pruning

complex”.

• He confirms this idea by seeing the gender of

the girl.

• Unable to compete with his father, he wants

to be like his father and imitates his father.

• This time he gets masculinity.

2. Electra Complex • When a girl sees a boy's penis, she
becomes sexually jealous
because she does not have such a
penis.

• She thinks that her mother was the

cause of the injustice.

• Because of this she hates her

mother and is close to her father.

• She follows her mother to get her

father to own her.

• At this point she gets femininity.

• Here Freud points out one important
point.

• That is, in a girl, it is not fear but

inferiority complex that arises in
relation to her genitals. He points out
that this is a factor that prevents a
woman's personality from developing
to its peak and points out that a
woman's personality development
stops at some point.

• It is during this period that a boy is

tempted to choose a mate who is
similar to his mother and a girl who is
similar to her father when she reaches
puberty.
4. Latent Stage • After approximately five years
of age, the psychological
sexual activity of both the boy
and the girl disappears
temporarily.

• This period lasts for about 12

years.

• During this time many important

changes in personality
development take place and
the most important thing is that
children develop rapidly
physically and intellectually.
5. Genital Stage • Reproductive sex begins after the age of
12, when the child reaches adolescence.

• This is the longest sexual phase in a

person's life and lasts until they are about
21 years old.

• It is during this stage that a person's sexual

desires become fertile.

• This is the first time he has turned to the

opposite sex to satisfy his sexual desires.

• It is also during this stage that the

individual develops the physical and
mental strength needed to bear and
nurture a child.
Anxiety & Defense Mechanism

• Anxiety in a person occurs when the

ego is stressed.

• That is, anxiety develops in a person

when a purposeful behavior is
interrupted for some reason.

• Anxiety is an extremely unpleasant

emotion that arises in the mind.

• According to psychoanalytic
analysis, anxiety is the root cause of
all abnormal behavior.
Defence Machanism • Defense Mechanisms are tactics that
unconsciously arise in the individual to
protect the ego at this point. But they
are not realistic and can only bring
some relief to the person at the
relevant time. Freud described a
number of such Defense Mechanisms,
some of which are as follows.
* Repression * Projection
* Displacement * Rejection
* Reactor * Sublimation
* Reverse
* Symbolic Behaviours

• Defense Mechanisms are very

important in building a mental defense
structure to protect against a
catastrophic situation caused by
anxiety.
 The unconscious expulsion of a person
from the experience of anxiety is
called "Repression". On the face of it,
those experiences seem to have been
forgotten. But of course it has not been
forgotten. They are very securely
Repression stored in the unconscious. Those
unpleasant experiences may come
back to consciousness later.
 When feelings or thoughts that cause a
person severe anxiety arise from him,
that feeling or thought is directed to
another person to get rid of that anxiety.
In other words, he puts his guilt on
Projection someone else.
Ex: blaming a teacher for failing an exam
 This is where a person's
anxiety experience is
replaced by something
else.
Displacement Ex: hitting a chair
 Denial can be introduced as a
subconscious action that the
person cannot face the reality in
a certain stressful experience.
Rejection Ex: parents not acknowledging
that the child is dead
 When a person does something
that makes him anxious, he does
the opposite of what makes him
anxious.
Ex: if the anxiety occurs while
going on the bus, not getting on
Reactor that bus
 • What happens here is that the person
tries to alleviate that anxiety by causing
an event that causes anxiety. This bears
some resemblance to the projection.
This is where the anxious thought
comes into play.
• Ex: a boy is asked to date a girl but the
girl does not like it and says that her
Rationalism character is not so good
 This is where a person's powerful
motivations come into play in a way
that is acceptable to society. Obtaining
social approval for those desires is
done unconsciously by the individual.
Sublimation Ex: if a person's sexual impulses are
strong, he may be a talented designer.
 This tactic is used by the person to
escape from a traumatic event.
Ex: * Not going to university
because she can't stand for the
Reverse torture
 A person repeats some other behavior to
overcome an anxious behavior. This is called
"symbolic behavior".
Ex: Lady Macbeth tries to wash her hands from
Symbolical Behaviors time to time, remembering the blood on her
hands after the king's death.
Followers of Freud
• Early followers of psychoanalysis
include Carl Jung, Alfred Adler,
Karen Horney, and Erich Fromm.

• Initially, they all agreed with

Freud, but later disagreed with
Freud.

• Many of these presented an

environmental factor, saying that
consciousness and
unconsciousness were not
sufficient to understand man.
 Carl Jung
• The most important
difference between
Freud and Carl Jung
was their views on
Libido.
• Freud interpreted it as
sexual desire, and
Jung likened it to a
common life force.
 Alfred Adler
• Alfred Adler's theories are also
completely different from Freud's
theories.
• Although Freud argued that behavior is
strongly influenced by the past, Adler
argued that behavior is influenced by
the future, not the past.
• He also emphasized the unity of
personality rather than dividing it into
parts.
• He also developed his psychology on a
social basis, separate from biological
factors.
• It was said that in order to understand a
person's personality, one has to look at
the relationships that the person has
with the society.
 Karen Horney
• Karen Horney, according to Freud, said
that a person's personality develops
from a very young age, but went against
Freud and disagreed with psychological
development.

• She said that the oral stage and the

Oedipus complex could not exist and
that the child's development depended
on the parents' treatment of the child.

• She also pointed out that socio-cultural

and environmental factors influence the
development of infants.
 Erich Fromm
• Erich Fromm also believed
that society is a factor that
strongly influences human
personality.

• He pointed out that the

primary purpose of human
life is not to satisfy impulsive
impulses but to live a very
secure life.
• The first important revision of psychoanalysis was
made by new Freudians. Among them were the
first followers, such as Jung, Adler, and Reek.

• After Freud's death in 1939, the Second Significant

Revolution of Psychoanalysis took place.

• It was called "Ego Analysis" and was directed by

Eric Erickson.

• The Third Amendment emphasized the importance

of social and interpersonal factors, rather than the
fixed importance of consciousness or
unconsciousness.

• Eric Fromm, Harry Sullivan and Karen Horney are

the psychologists of the Third Amendment.
Behaviorism
• A revolution was taking place against the schools of
structuralism and functionalism, and its pioneer was J.B.
Watson is an American Psychologist.

• He sharply criticized the method of introspection, saying

that it was an obstacle to the development of Psychology
as an independent science.

• This revolution officially began in 1913 with an article

published by him.

• He pointed to the inability of the existing system to

develop Psychology and to allow room for behaviorism.

• Accordingly, since the method of introspection and the

concept of 'mind' are not scientific, he was of the opinion
that they should be excluded from Psychology.
• Watson chose human behavior
as the basis of psychology.

• The proper foundation of

scientific psychology was laid
with the beginning of the
behavioral school.

• Here he rejected philosophical

words and all concepts that
could not be subjected to
scientific research and
observation.
Ex: mind, soul, consciousness,
introspection
• The main weakness of behaviorism
was the extremist idea that only by
changing the environment could a
person be created the way he
wanted to be.

• It was so powerful that he made

such a statement.

• "Give me a dozen healthy children,

they will be trained in my own
special training center and I will
randomly select any child and
make that child a doctor or a
lawyer or a talented artist,
regardless of his abilities location or
anything else."
• Although the School of
Behavioral Psychology was
Watson's creation, the
background he needed to
build that school was set
decades ago.

• Where special mention

should be made of the
research done by
physiologists Thorndike and
Ivan Pavlov on animals.
 E.L. Thondike
• Thondaik, an American psychologist, researched
the factors that determine the behavior of humans
and animals.

• There he discovered the theory that learning to

respond to different stimuli in the external
environment establishes different behaviors of
organisms.

• An organism does not respond to every stimulus it

receives, it only responds to stimuli that affect its
existence.

• Thondaik pointed out a number of factors that

affect this behavioral learning.

• He called them Attempt erroneous learning theory,

exercise theory, Fast Learning theory, and reward
theory.
• Attempt Erroneous learning theory
That the organism learns the correct
response to a stimulus after repeatedly
responding incorrectly.

• Exercise Theory
That learning can be confirmed by
regular practice of any stimulus response
relationship.

• Fast Learning Theory

That some learning in life is better learned
faster. It affects a person's pre - learning and
personal maturity.

• Reward and Punishment Theory

That learning can be easily confirmed by
the giving and rewarding of rewards.
 Ivan Pavlov
• Pavlov's research
suggested that new
behaviors could be
generated by linking a
learned or charged
response to a natural
or non - charged
stimulus.
 Pre-condition
Unconditioned or natural The unconditioned or natural
stimulus response

No Response
Conditioned or neutral stimulus
 At the conditioning

The unconditioned or
Unconditioned or natural
natural response
stimulus
 After the
conditioning

Conditioned Conditioned Learning or new

or neutral or learned behavior
stimulus response
Classical Conditioning Theory
• This simple theory of Pavlov is known as the 'classical
conditioning theory'.

• Pavlov, who further nurtured this theory, put forward the theory
of generalization (ස්ාමානයකරණය) and Abstinence (නිරුන්දනය) in
relation to it.

• Normalization is the expression of a number of similarly

charged stimuli to the same responses to a given stimulus.

• Organism generalization also leads to new learning.

• Abstinence is the breaking down of the connection between a

charged stimulus and an charged response, or the elimination
of learned behavior.

• It can also be done by increasing the gap between the

charged stimulus and the charged response.

• The charged stimulus can also be linked to the charged

response by linking other stimuli.
• Using the theories of Thondaik
and Pavlov, Watson analyzed
each behavior as the result of a
stimulus-response relationship.

• Watson's ideas were further

developed by B.F. Skinner
introduced a new concept to
behaviorism called
reinforcement.

• This concept is very similar to

Thondaike's theory of rewards
and punishment.
• Pavlov's classical conditioning theory points out that life
can be described as a series of simple learning, while
Skinner's concept of reinforcement can also explain
more complex learning.

• Reinforcement is the intensification or weakening of an

organism's behavior by systematically managing the
outcome.

• Skinner's concept of reinforcement is called the operant

Conditioning.

• The effects of behaviorism extend to the fields of

psychology, including general psychology, education,
society, children, industry, and psychotherapy.

‘Every American psychologist, consciously or

unconsciously, is systematically behaviorist. ‘

-Bergmann, 1956-
Gestalt Psychology
• This can be described as one of the
oldest schools of psychology in history.

• It emerged as a complement to the

weaknesses of the schools of
structuralism, functionalism, and
behaviorism.

• It was based on the idea of the 'whole'

put forward in 1880 by the Australian
Christian von Ehrenfels.

• He pointed out that "a melody is formed

where seven tones come together, but
the melody is not the same as these
seven tones."
• He was of the opinion that the
whole quality is a pattern or
organization, and that it is
acquired by the cognizant
through a high mental
capacity.

• This Gestalt system was

developed by,
1. Max Wertheimer
2. Kart Kaffka
3. Wolfhang collar
4. Kurt Levin
• The word 'Gestalt', a German word, implies the
whole picture.

• The Gestalts' basic view was that the mind is

functional, not structural or analytical, but
organized, and that human thought is always
more inclined to analyze an object as a whole
than to isolate and analyze it.

• Criticizing the prevailing structuralist, functional,

and behavioral theories, they argued that
individual behavior as a whole should be studied
in this way.

• Three major psychological concepts developed

with the contribution of Gestaltists can be
specifically identified. That is,
1. The concept of cognition
2. The concept of learning
3. The concept of personality
 Perception Concept
• Gestalt's main teaching of perception is that
human perception takes place not
structurally but organizationally.

• Their teaching was that what is perceived is

spontaneously organized and perceived by
the brain and nervous system, and therefore
we are constantly perceiving the whole
pattern.

• It was from this theory that the famous Gestalt

text was created, which states that 'the whole
is always more important than its
components'.

• Among the main theories that come up in

Gestaltic teachings are the theory of image
and background and the theory of the whole.
 Theory of image and
background
• This means that our perception always
takes place relative to a particular
background.

• This is just as important for color

perception as it is for shape
perception.

• Each color has a meaning relative to

its background.

• Also, if there is no clear difference

between the background and the
image, it is difficult to identify the
shapes of the image.
 The theory of whole
• Gestaltists put forward four other principles in relation to this theory. That is,
1. The principle of congruency
2. Principle of proximity
3. Principle of closure
4. The principle of continuity
1
1. Congruency: 2
Congruency is the cognition of objects of similar shape into a single file.
2. Proximity:
Cognition of nearby objects in a single file.
3. Closure:
It is the perception of an object as a whole, regardless of its shortcomings.
4. Continuity:
Cognition of a group of objects placed separately into certain patterns as a single continuous
chain. 3
 Gestaltists point out that the theory of
image and background and the theory of
the whole are due to the activation of the
nervous system
 The concept of learning
• Instead of the Stimulus-Response Theory put
forward by behaviorists as a cause of behavior,
Stimulus Organization Response

This theory was put forward by Kofka, a Gestaltist.

• He pointed out that man's learning process and
problem solving take place through a realisation
process.

• That is to say, the concept of realisation states that

by considering all the factors relevant to the
problem as a whole, its solutions are immediately
apparent to man.
 The Concept of Personality
• The Gestaltist view of personality was primarily
developed by Kurt Levin.

• According to this theory, the human personality is

an independent entity with a mental environment.

• Levin called the person and his mental

environment a living space.

• The internal nature of this living space, its

functionality, its dynamics and its development are
described at length by Levine.

• The teachings of the Gestalt school extend to a

wide range of disciplines, including general
psychology, child psychology, applied
psychology, therapeutic psychology, educational
psychology, and social psychology.
Cognitive Psychology
• Although cognitive psychology was formally
developed as a school in the 1960s and 1970s,
its historical background dates back to the
early 19th century.

• J. N. Herbert pointed out that the form of the

human mind plays an important role in a
person gathering knowledge from the outside
world.

• The School of Cognitive Psychology was born

with an emphasis on behavior or the
importance of cognition.

• They believed that human behavior was not

simply caused by external factors or by
physical needs, such as hunger and thirst.
• They explained that the
cognitions in a person also
motivate him for certain
behaviors.

• They say that there is a

factor that strongly
motivates people to go
against behaviors.

• This factor can be expressed

as happiness, curiosity,
activity requirement etc.
• The basic idea of cognitive behaviorists were that
people work because of their desire for work and
the satisfaction they get from working.

• The school of cognitive psychology can in a sense

be described as a mixture of all schools of thought,
except psychoanalysis and existential psychology.

• But cognitionists opposed behaviorists, and their

primary goal was to study mental activity.

• Here referred to as mental activity,

1. Acquiring (උපාර්ජනය)
2. Processing (ස්න්තතිය)
3. Storing (ස්න්නිධිය)
4. Retriering information (දතාරතුරු ප්‍රතිනිර්වදයතාවය)

• Thus, it is clear that cognitive psychologists have

focused on the very complex functions of the
human mind.
Humanistic and Existential School
• Due to its influence on psychology, it
has been described by some critics
as the third force in psychology.

• The distinguishing feature of the

school of humanism and
existentialism is its broad
philosophical basis in comparison
with other schools of thought.

• Humanistic and existential

psychology originated from the
humanistic and existential
philosophy.
 Humanistic and • The tradition of humanist
Existential Philosophy philosophy developed among
European philosophers over the
centuries.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a
Frenchman, was a prominent
humanist philosopher in Europe.

• In addition, writers such as Oscar

Wilde, aesthetic poets,
playwrights such as Bernard
Shaw, artists such as Picasso,
professors of psychology such as
Brontano, and human rights
activists contributed to the
development of humanism.
Existentialism
• Existentialism is another philosophical tradition that
developed in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries
after World War II.

• Existentialist philosophy arose in search of answers to

the questions of human existence and the meaning of
human life.

• The central concept of this philosophy was

individuality and personal existence.

• As eminent Existentialist philosophers,

* Soren Kikigard
* Frederick Nietzsche
* Martin Heidegger
* Jean-Paul Sattre
* Albea Camu
* Dostoevsky

• The uniqueness of this philosophy is that they made

their vision known through works of art.
• Central to the concept of Existentialism was the close
connection with humanism.

• They described the most important thing about man

as his 'existence' and interpreted it as the existence
or meaning of human life.

• Existentialists did not mean the physical existence of

man but the spiritual existence.

• For human life to be meaningful, man must have the

ability to act voluntarily.

• When man is socialized, man also has to act in the

same way that a machine works.

• So the person becomes paralyzed.

• The paralyzed man feels that he has lost himself.

• They called it Existential Anxiety.

• A person suffering from Existential
anxiety feels that life is meaningless,
that he is lonely and that his humanity
is depleted.

• According to Existentialists, this

anxiety is the cause of abnormal
behaviors.

• So they pointed out different ways to

make life meaningful.

• Meanwhile, atheist Existentialists

pointed out that the ultimate solution
was to turn to God, while non-atheistic
Existentialists pointed out that life
could be meaningful through human
devotion and sincere love.
• Due to the close relationship between humanism
and Existentialism are considered to be the same
school of psychology.

• But there are clear differences between humanistic

psychology and Existential psychology.

• The main feature of humanistic psychology was the

optimistic attitude towards man.

"Humanistic psychology provides a complete analysis

of man, including his natural energy, his thinking,
emotions and activities, his evolution and
development, his interactions with various
environmental factors, his range of experience, and
finally his place in the universe. Should be included in
the analysis. “
- First President of the Humanitarian Psychological
Association of the United States J.F.B. Bugental -
• Abraham Maslow is considered the
greatest psychologist in humanistic
psychology and its pioneer.

• A central concept of humanism is the

concept of self.

• It means the feeling of 'I', 'mine', 'self' that

a person possesses.

• The theory of need put forward by him

extends to a number of fields of
psychology.

• Its culmination is self-realization.

• Maslow described the development of self

as fulfilling needs as a dynamic
motivational force of personality.
Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow points out that on average,

a person is satisfied when his
physical need is 85%, his security
need 70%, his love need 50%, and
his self-esteem 50%.
 "The main motivating force of the individual is self-
realization."
- Carl Rogers -
• The person who has attained self-realization is rational.
Free from external forces. Is insightful. Such was Rogers'
view of himself as a man of full activism.

• Rogers said that if a child is treated according to the

behavioral conditional method, that child's motivation
for realization will be harmed.

• This is because the self-concept of a child who has

been trained in a conditional behavior is also attributed.

• Therefore, he said, children should be treated to an

unconditional response code.

• That is, the child is always treated as a genius, not based

on behavior.
• Humanists say that abnormal behaviors are
caused by damage to a person's self.

• Individual identity can be damaged by

individuals and organizations.

• As these individuals and institutions try to

control the behavior of the individual, a
conditioned behavior is created in the
individual.

• Humanitarians point out that controlling a

person's behavior without giving them a
chance to do so will severely damage their
value.

• A psychiatrist who has conducted research on

Existential psychotherapy, R. D. Laing points out
that the human mind has two parts. That is,
1. True identity (Internal identity)
2. False identity (external identity)
• As a therapy for people with abnormal
behaviors, existentialists suggest helping
the person to explore his own identity.

• Both of these psychologies consider the

reality of the person to be his or her
current perception of the outside world.

"The identity of the person whose thorn is

stuck in a finger depends on the pain he
feels at that moment."
- Aristotle –

• Accordingly, indentify is not a person's

past memories or future expectations but
only present experiences.
• Both of these approaches acknowledge that
understanding one's perceptional world is essential in
order to properly understand one's behavior.

• Humanists and existentialist are of the opinion that the

individual has the ability to make the decisions
necessary to solve his problem and that he should be
responsible for the decision.

• An outsider should not influence it and to do so is to

encourage the person to go down the wrong path.

• They also believe that the individual has the power to

make the right decisions to solve his or her problem.

• They also regard man as an indestructible whole, his

body, mind, spirit and environment as an indivisible
whole. They therefore emphasized that the individual
should be understood as a whole.