Chapter 12 Experience Existence the Meaning of Life

Chapter 12 Experience, Existence, the Meaning of Life: Humanistic and Positive Psychology Lecture Slides created by Tera D. Letzring Idaho State University © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. © 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Objectives • Discuss the main issues of humanistic psychology • Discuss positive psychology • Discuss the implications of phenomenology © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1

Humanistic Psychology • Goal: overcome the paradox of studying humans • Implications of self-awareness • Do people have free will? If they do, what does this mean and how is it possible? © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2

Phenomenology: Awareness Is Everything • At the center of humanity • Central insight: Phenomenology is psychologically more important than the world itself – Basis of free will © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 3

Phenomenology: Awareness Is Everything • “We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are. ” –Talmud • “It is not things in themselves that trouble us, but our opinions of them. ” –Epictetus • “I do not react to some absolute reality, but to my perception of this reality. It is this perception which for me is reality. ” –Carl Rogers © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4

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 • Introspection © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 5

Existentialism • A reaction against rationalism, science, and the industrial revolution • Purpose: regain contact with the experience of being alive and aware • Key questions: – What is the nature of existence? – How does it feel? – And what does it mean? © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 6

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Existentialism: Three Parts of Experience • Biological experience (Umwelt) • Social experience (Mitwelt) • Psychological experience (Eigenwelt) © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 8

Existentialism: Thrown-ness and Angst • Thrown-ness – An important basis of your experience – Being thrown into modern society is particularly difficult • Angst – Anguish – Forlornness – Despair © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 9

Existentialism: Bad Faith • Our moral imperative – Requires existential courage or optimistic toughness – This can be avoided • Living in bad faith © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 10

Existentialism: Bad Faith • Creates three problems – Living a cowardly lie – Unhappiness – It is impossible “What is not possible is not to choose. . If I do not choose, I am still choosing. ” –Sartre © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 11

Existentialism: Authentic Existence • The alternative to bad faith • Will not relieve loneliness and unhappiness – Because every person is alone and doomed – Life has no meaning beyond what you give it – The essence of the human experience: understanding that you must die © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 12

Existentialism: Authentic Existence • Allows us to be aware of our freedom and this gives us dignity • The existential challenge • Ask: What does life want from me? – Strive to better the human condition © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 13

Existentialism: The Eastern Alternative • Existentialism is European, Western, and focused on the individual • Existentialism is fundamentally wrong – The self is an illusion – This illusion is harmful – True nature of reality – All people are interconnected – Immortality © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 14

Existentialism: The Eastern Alternative • Anicca • Enlightenment – Achieved by understanding that nothing will last forever and that the well-being of others matters as much as your own – Leads to universal compassion • Nirvana: a serene, selfless state © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 15

Optimistic Humanism: Rogers and Maslow • Began with existential assumptions – Phenomenology is central – People have free will • Added another crucial idea – People are basically good © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 16

Optimistic Humanism: Self-Actualization • People have one basic tendency and striving: to actualize, maintain, and enhance their own experience • People can be understood from the perspective of their phenomenal field • Actualization – Goal of existence is to satisfy this need © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 17

Optimistic Humanism: The Hierarchy of Needs • Basic assumption: The ultimate need or motive is to self-actualize • Hierarchy of needs: how human motivation is characterized – Lower needs must be met first © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 18

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 19

Optimistic Humanism: The Hierarchy of Needs • Practical applications – Career choice – Employee motivation – Understand happiness in different cultures © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 20

Optimistic Humanism: The Hierarchy of Needs • Update to Maslow’s hierarchy © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 21

Optimistic Humanism: The Fully Functioning Person • Be clearly aware of reality and yourself • Face the world without fear, self-doubt, or neurotic defenses • Importance of unconditional positive regard • Conditions of worth – Limit your freedom to act and think © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 22

Optimistic Humanism: Psychotherapy • Goal: help the client become a fully functioning person • The therapist develops a genuine and caring relationship with the client and provides unconditional positive regard © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 23

Optimistic Humanism: Psychotherapy • Jobs of therapist – Help the client perceive own thoughts and feelings – Make the client feel appreciated • Goals – Allow insight – Remove conditions of worth © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 24

Optimistic Humanism: Psychotherapy • Efficacy research – Real and ideal self-perceptions became more closely aligned after therapy • Criticism of research – Both real and ideal selves change with therapy – Having closely aligned real and ideal selves is not always a good measure of psychological adjustment © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 25

Think About It • If a psychotherapist is treating a murderer, do you think therapist should give the client unconditional positive regard? Why or why not? © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 26

Personal Constructs: Kelly • Based on how one’s cognitive system assembles various construals of the world • Help to determine how new experiences are construed • Each person has a unique set © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 27

Personal Constructs: Kelly • Role Construct Repertory (Rep) Test – Identify three important people and then identify how two of them are similar and different from the third – Repeat with ideas, traits, and so on © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 28

Personal Constructs: Kelly • • Chronically accessible constructs Sources of constructs Personal construct system Sociality corollary © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 29

Personal Constructs: Kelly • Constructs and reality – Constructive alternativism – Implications for science • Scientific paradigms are frameworks for construing the meaning of data • Researchers choose which paradigm to use • Importance of being aware that other paradigms exist and are equally plausible © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 30

Personal Constructs: Kelly • Maximizers versus satisficers – “How you choose to see the world will affect everything in your life” (p. 443) • Questions the construals of reality that you are taught © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 31

Flow: Csikszentmihalyi • Optimal experience • Autotelic activities • Flow – Tremendous concentration, total lack of distractibility, thoughts concerning only the activity at hand – Mood that is slightly elevated – Time seems to pass very quickly • When challenge matches skill © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 32

Flow: Csikszentmihalyi • The secret for enhancing your quality of life • Would you spend the majority of your life in a state of flow if you could? © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 33

Self-Determination Theory: Deci and Ryan • Based on distinction between two ways of seeking happiness – Hedonia – Eudaimonia • Hedonia is dangerous • Extrinsic versus intrinsic goals © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 34

Self-Determination Theory: Deci and Ryan • Three central intrinsic goals – Autonomy – Competence – Relatedness • Research support for advantages of following intrinsic goals • Claim of universality © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 35

Positive Psychology • Health means more than the absence of disease • Traditional psychology overemphasizes psychopathology and malfunction and ignores the question of the meaning of life • The focus of positive psychology is positive phenomenon and the meaning of life © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 36

Positive Psychology • True happiness comes from overcoming important challenges – Investigates the traits, processes, and social institutions that promote a happy and meaningful life – Factors that contribute to happiness and subjective well-being © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 37

Positive Psychology • Optimism: advantages and disadvantages • Character strengths and virtues: courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, transcendence – Difficult to identify virtues for everyone – May be evolutionarily based – But not everyone has them all © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 38

Positive Psychology Tradition Courage Justice Humanity Temperance Wisdom Transcendence Confucianism E E T Taoism E E T Buddhism E E E T E Hinduism E E E Athenian philosophy E E E T Christianity E E E Judaism E E E Islam E E E © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 39

Positive Psychology • Not the complete rebirth of humanism – It does not say much about existential anxiety or the difficult dilemmas that arise from free will – Focuses on subjective well-being © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 40

The Implications of Phenomenology: The Mystery of Experience • Conscious experience cannot be explained by science and is difficult to describe in words • Problems – Assuming conscious awareness is not important and proceeding as if it did not exist – Treating conscious experience as a form of information processing done by a computer © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 41

The Implications of Phenomenology: The Mystery of Experience • Cognitive theories: consciousness is a higherorder cognitive process that organizes thoughts and allows flexible decision making • What does it feel like to be alive and aware? How could you tell whether a computer had this feeling? © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 42

The Implications of Phenomenology: Understanding Others • To understand another person, you must understand his construals • Discourages judgmental attitudes • Consequence: cultural and moral relativism • Do not judge the values and practices of other cultures from the perspective of your own © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 43

Clicker Question #1 The alternative to bad faith is a) living an authentic existence. b) being connected with others and happiness. c) achieving nirvana. d) experiencing thrown-ness. © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 44

Clicker Question #2 According to optimistic humanism, the goal of life is to a) understand other people. b) self-actualize, or maintain and enhance life. c) enhance one’s social experience, or Mitwelt. d) achieve enlightenment. © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 45

Clicker Question #3 Which of the following is true about flow, or autotelic experience? a)People who spend more time in flow tend to be depressed. b)During flow, time seems to pass very slowly. c)People experience a very positive state during flow. d)In order to experience flow, a person’s skills must meet the challenge of the activity. © 2016 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 46