Psychological Perspectives
...hological perspectives, and the theory then held that our four humors (bodily fluids) determined all human behaviour. Today, a somewhat similar notion is held, though it has expanded to suggest that our biological predispositions and our genes dictate our behaviour. For example, the females on both my mother and father’s side of the family lack the ability to play mostly any sport, and I too as a result of this am also unable to successfully play sports. No matter how hard I work to improve my athletic abilities, I will never be able to play because I was predisposed to the inability to succeed in sports, and I also lack the “athlete gene” that the others in my family also lacked. The Humanistic Perspective The humanistic perspective focuses on studying a person as a whole rather than in specific areas, in order to understand that individual’s behaviour. As defined by Maslow, the founder of the humanistic perspective, behaviour is determined by one’s self-image, the desire to be seen in a positive light by others, and eventually the drive to achieve self-actualization. The perspective holds that the lack of positive regard and disagreement between one’s self-image and one’s experiences in life, result in psychological flaws. For example, I enjoy discussing my school work with a friend who is in the same field of study with me, in order to gain perspective on the task at hand. If I am able to help her with the material, and she understands it, I feel I have an understanding of the material, and thus gain positive regard, therefore improving my previous concept regarding that subject. If, on the other hand, I am unable to respond with an understandable and correct answer I feel negative and feel as though I have failed myself with that material. The Cognitive Perspective The cognitive perspective is the study of how one’s internal mental processes, which include memory, thinking, and recall, affect his or her behaviour. The perspective holds that in trying to achieve goals, each person has different characteristic ways of reaching that goal. Over time, these personal strategies ultimately become a consistent manner, which thus is the composition of a person’s behaviour. Thus, personality is determined by what he or she does in the duration of their life, rather than something that he or she is born with. For example, when preparing for a volleyball game, I will sit down with myself, or my team and we discuss what we want to achieve during the game. I try to set high, yet achievable goals for myself, and try my best no to worry about the outcome, especially if it is negative. I am consistent in this preparation because it helps me gain perspective on the situation and usually I achieve what I initially set out to do. The Psychodynamic Perspective The psychodynamic perspective focuses its attention on Freud’s theory that behaviour is governed by the person’s actions from birth to age five, their unconscious desires as well as their inner conflicts. Unconscious desires revolve around conflict between the id, ego and superego. The conflict between an individuals inborn instinctual drives to achieve pleasure at any cost and the drive to behave perfectly at all times. Conflicts between these two drives are moderated by the superego. For example, my room tends to be messy, and oftentimes I find myself to be very unorganized in almost anything. Even though I become frustrated with my...