The self

• Humanistic Theory


  We are free agents- unique and have free will. We should focus on the present rather than dwelling on the past.
• Self-actualisation


  The idea that each of us has an inborn drive to want to fulfil our potential
• Ideal self


  The person an individual would like to be
• Hierarchy of needs


  Needs that need to be met before we can self-actualise
• Self-esteem


  A measure of how much we value ourselves
• Self-concept


  A person's view of their actual self
• Unconditional positive regard


  Showing an individual love without expecting certain conditions to be met
• Ideas in humanistic theory are vague and difficult to measure objectively
• Humanistic theory is not a very scientific theory
• Humanistic theory focuses too much on the individual, the point of psychology is to predict things about human behaviour
• Humanistic theory ignores genetic evidence- 20-60% of a person's development comes from genetic factors
• Humanistic theory also ignores the idea we can have personality traits
• Trait theory


  Argues we can identify a number of relatively stable and predictable personality features as a way of referring to our personality
• Extraversion


  Sociable, outgoing or reserved, quiet
• Neuroticism


  Unstable= worrying, emotional or stable= calm, secure
• Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995) investigated the impact of pet ownership on adolescent personality
• Research into the self applies to the industry of counselling
• Client-centred approach in depression counselling

  Clients are encouraged to think differently about themselves, counsellor offers empathy to help client value themselves more highly, helps close the gap between self-concept and ideal self
• Social identity theory suggests that people derive their sense of self from group memberships (e.g., gender, race).
• Self-concept refers to how we think about ourselves, including our beliefs, values, attitudes, goals, and aspirations.