Discuss the principles of the humanistic approach to personality.

The major humanistic psychologists are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. The major tenet of humanistic psychology is that humans are endowed with free will that gives meaning and personal direction to our lives. Rogers developed the self-theory of personality, suggesting that the self organizes how you relate to the world. The impressions you have of yourself make up your self-concept. The degree of liking you have for yourself is your self-esteem. In order to have high self-esteem, children need to receive unconditional positive regard, or total acceptance of themselves. However, children generally receive only conditional positive regard, in which they are only partially accepted. Finally, the concept of self-ideals refers to the idea that people often compare themselves to some ideal person. When we fail to measure up, self- esteem may suffer. Maslow focused on higher-order motives in explaining
personality. He felt people wanted esteem, respect, and self-actualization (our drive toward fulfilling our unique potentials as individuals).