Personality Theorist Paper
...that focused on an individuals free will, experiences, and desire for personal growth. The main principle of humanism is that people are inherently good and deviating from this normal way of behaving is a result of mental and social issues (Wagner, 2008) rather than underlying unconscious motivations or a process of conditioning. Thus, the main goal of humanism can be defined as “. . . the development of self actualized autonomous people” (Learning Theories, 2008 para2). Abraham Maslow, a key contributor to the humanistic theory, stressed the importance of self actualization and would eventually introduce an idea that certain needs must be met before one can reach a point of self-actualization.
Maslow, the first of seven siblings, was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1908. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia that were both uneducated but wanted the best for their children, so naturally Maslow was hard pressed to do well in school and developed an interest in books as a result. Maslow first began his studies in law at a local city college in order to satisfy his parents but eventually moved to Wisconsin where he began attending at the University of Wisconsin. It is there that he found an interest in psychology and his grades began to improve as a result. While there, he worked with Harry Harlow who is well known for studying attachment behavior and his experiments with Monkeys (Boeree, 2006). By 1934, Maslow held a BA degree, an MA degree, and a PhD, all from the University of Wisconsin and all in the same subject, psychology. He returned home a year after graduation to work with E.L Thorndike which is when he became interested in the study of human sexuality (Boeree, 2006). Later, Maslow came into contact with various other European intellectuals such as Adler, Fromm, and Horney while teaching full-time at Brooklyn College (Boeree, 2006). Although, on...
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