Linda Sargent Wood
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377743
- eISBN:
- 9780199869404
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377743.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter concentrates on the life and work of psychologist Abraham Maslow. In his influential book Motivation and Personality, he embraced holistic ideas explicitly: “Holism is obviously ...
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This chapter concentrates on the life and work of psychologist Abraham Maslow. In his influential book Motivation and Personality, he embraced holistic ideas explicitly: “Holism is obviously true—after all, the cosmos is one and interrelated; any society is one and interrelated; any person is one and interrelated.” Inspired by Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer and anthropologist Ruth Benedict, Maslow crafted a humanistic psychology that focused on the healthy, whole, and “self‐actualized” person. His holism bestowed personal meaning, gave him a means for discussing social change, and countered reductionistic, mechanistic approaches inherent in behavioral and Freudian psychology. As he concentrated on the development of the healthy individual, he also imagined a future world of self‐actualized individuals knit together in a “eupsychian” (psychologically whole) paradise. He hoped for the establishment of just, democratic, peaceful societies. His holism was thus about the community as well as the individual. His work influenced psychology, education, countercultural philosophies and practices, the Esalen Institute and other personal growth centers, business management, and the holistic health movement.Less
This chapter concentrates on the life and work of psychologist Abraham Maslow. In his influential book Motivation and Personality, he embraced holistic ideas explicitly: “Holism is obviously true—after all, the cosmos is one and interrelated; any society is one and interrelated; any person is one and interrelated.” Inspired by Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer and anthropologist Ruth Benedict, Maslow crafted a humanistic psychology that focused on the healthy, whole, and “self‐actualized” person. His holism bestowed personal meaning, gave him a means for discussing social change, and countered reductionistic, mechanistic approaches inherent in behavioral and Freudian psychology. As he concentrated on the development of the healthy individual, he also imagined a future world of self‐actualized individuals knit together in a “eupsychian” (psychologically whole) paradise. He hoped for the establishment of just, democratic, peaceful societies. His holism was thus about the community as well as the individual. His work influenced psychology, education, countercultural philosophies and practices, the Esalen Institute and other personal growth centers, business management, and the holistic health movement.
Mathew Thomson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287802
- eISBN:
- 9780191713378
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287802.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter considers the relationship between psychological thinking and the emergence of what has been called the ‘permissive society’ in the post-war era. It suggests that counter-cultural groups ...
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This chapter considers the relationship between psychological thinking and the emergence of what has been called the ‘permissive society’ in the post-war era. It suggests that counter-cultural groups regularly associated with a permissive shift were in fact attracted to psychology because, like many earlier in the century, they recognized it as a potential source of values and a new politics. In fact, the psychology that rejected values was that represented by Hans Eysenck and behaviourism. Nevertheless, through case studies of anti-psychiatry, humanist psychology and the growth movement, and consciousness-raising within feminism, the chapter traces a crisis of confidence in the 1970s in a politics of the personal and in psychology as a source of social rather than merely individual well-being. The great advance of a ‘therapy culture’ in Britain has largely been a subsequent phenomenon — in the excitement of the 1960s and 1970s, this was still on a relatively small scale.Less
This chapter considers the relationship between psychological thinking and the emergence of what has been called the ‘permissive society’ in the post-war era. It suggests that counter-cultural groups regularly associated with a permissive shift were in fact attracted to psychology because, like many earlier in the century, they recognized it as a potential source of values and a new politics. In fact, the psychology that rejected values was that represented by Hans Eysenck and behaviourism. Nevertheless, through case studies of anti-psychiatry, humanist psychology and the growth movement, and consciousness-raising within feminism, the chapter traces a crisis of confidence in the 1970s in a politics of the personal and in psychology as a source of social rather than merely individual well-being. The great advance of a ‘therapy culture’ in Britain has largely been a subsequent phenomenon — in the excitement of the 1960s and 1970s, this was still on a relatively small scale.
Nadine Weidman
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226372884
- eISBN:
- 9780226373072
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226373072.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In the 1960s, the psychologist Abraham Maslow became the public face of humanistic psychology, an interpretation of human nature that he spent decades developing and that stressed the fulfillment of ...
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In the 1960s, the psychologist Abraham Maslow became the public face of humanistic psychology, an interpretation of human nature that he spent decades developing and that stressed the fulfillment of each individual’s inborn potential. This chapter analyzes the counterculture’s uptake of Maslow’s ideas. To judge by Esalen’s ready adoption of his psychological approach, the chapter argues, first, that a certain kind of explicitly unconventional science held enormous appeal for members of the counterculture. Second, the chapter explores the apparent ease with which Maslow traveled between hippie retreat and corporate boardroom, a movement indicative of a broad exchange of people, practices, and ideas between the counterculture and the establishment, as the precepts of humanistic psychology pervaded both. Third, the chapter analyzes the reciprocal influence between this major psychological theorist and his countercultural followers. Though he was often dismayed by the hippies’ attitudes and antics, Maslow shaped his notions of psychological growth and of the ideal society in response to his experiences in countercultural contexts. The leaders of Esalen, meanwhile, appropriated his ideas without slavishly following them, adapting his theories of self-actualization and peak experience in new ways to meet their own needs.Less
In the 1960s, the psychologist Abraham Maslow became the public face of humanistic psychology, an interpretation of human nature that he spent decades developing and that stressed the fulfillment of each individual’s inborn potential. This chapter analyzes the counterculture’s uptake of Maslow’s ideas. To judge by Esalen’s ready adoption of his psychological approach, the chapter argues, first, that a certain kind of explicitly unconventional science held enormous appeal for members of the counterculture. Second, the chapter explores the apparent ease with which Maslow traveled between hippie retreat and corporate boardroom, a movement indicative of a broad exchange of people, practices, and ideas between the counterculture and the establishment, as the precepts of humanistic psychology pervaded both. Third, the chapter analyzes the reciprocal influence between this major psychological theorist and his countercultural followers. Though he was often dismayed by the hippies’ attitudes and antics, Maslow shaped his notions of psychological growth and of the ideal society in response to his experiences in countercultural contexts. The leaders of Esalen, meanwhile, appropriated his ideas without slavishly following them, adapting his theories of self-actualization and peak experience in new ways to meet their own needs.
Arlene Stein
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199733583
- eISBN:
- 9780199381937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199733583.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture, Comparative and Historical Sociology
As children of survivors moved into young adulthood in the 1970s, some of them fused feminism, ethnic politics, and humanistic psychology to develop a collective identity as the “second generation.” ...
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As children of survivors moved into young adulthood in the 1970s, some of them fused feminism, ethnic politics, and humanistic psychology to develop a collective identity as the “second generation.” Their quest to separate from their parents made them, paradoxically, more likely to listen to their stories, and more likely to coax their parents to share their stories with them. Armed with a new, more affirmative understanding of the status of victimhood, descendants urged their peers to “break the silence” about their familial legacies and make storytelling a vehicle for self-transformation, collective identification, and social action.Less
As children of survivors moved into young adulthood in the 1970s, some of them fused feminism, ethnic politics, and humanistic psychology to develop a collective identity as the “second generation.” Their quest to separate from their parents made them, paradoxically, more likely to listen to their stories, and more likely to coax their parents to share their stories with them. Armed with a new, more affirmative understanding of the status of victimhood, descendants urged their peers to “break the silence” about their familial legacies and make storytelling a vehicle for self-transformation, collective identification, and social action.
Kennon Sheldon, Geoffrey Williams, and Thomas Joiner
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300095449
- eISBN:
- 9780300128666
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300095449.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Self-determination theory is grounded in the belief that people work best and are happiest when they feel that they are in control of their own lives. This book explains the ramifications of the ...
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Self-determination theory is grounded in the belief that people work best and are happiest when they feel that they are in control of their own lives. This book explains the ramifications of the theory and provides clinical examples to show that it can be used to motivate patients undergoing treatment for such physical or psychological issues as diabetes management, smoking cessation, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. The first part of the book provides historical background to self-determination theory, showing that it is humanistically oriented and has three decades of empirical research behind it. In the process, the book discusses why humanistic psychology fell out of favor in academic psychology; why “self-help” and New Age books have such perennial popularity; and why it is so important for authorities to support patients' sense of self. The remainder of the book presents many specific case examples to describe the theory's application.Less
Self-determination theory is grounded in the belief that people work best and are happiest when they feel that they are in control of their own lives. This book explains the ramifications of the theory and provides clinical examples to show that it can be used to motivate patients undergoing treatment for such physical or psychological issues as diabetes management, smoking cessation, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. The first part of the book provides historical background to self-determination theory, showing that it is humanistically oriented and has three decades of empirical research behind it. In the process, the book discusses why humanistic psychology fell out of favor in academic psychology; why “self-help” and New Age books have such perennial popularity; and why it is so important for authorities to support patients' sense of self. The remainder of the book presents many specific case examples to describe the theory's application.
Kenneth B. Kidd
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816675821
- eISBN:
- 9781452947709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816675821.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter discusses the characteristic of picturebook psychology, which represents and textualizes child play, focusing on author-illustrator Maurice Sendak. Picturebook psychology began with ...
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This chapter discusses the characteristic of picturebook psychology, which represents and textualizes child play, focusing on author-illustrator Maurice Sendak. Picturebook psychology began with child study, child analysis, and progressive educational work and has since been revised by humanistic ego psychology and bibliotherapy. In Where the Wild Things Are (1963), Sendak updates Freud’s famous dream of the Wolf Man, giving picturebook psychology a neo-Freudian makeover and establishing psychological wildness as the very stuff of child life. The chapter concludes with some discussion of the 2009 film version by Spike Jonze, as well as Dave Eggers’s novelization, published the same year.Less
This chapter discusses the characteristic of picturebook psychology, which represents and textualizes child play, focusing on author-illustrator Maurice Sendak. Picturebook psychology began with child study, child analysis, and progressive educational work and has since been revised by humanistic ego psychology and bibliotherapy. In Where the Wild Things Are (1963), Sendak updates Freud’s famous dream of the Wolf Man, giving picturebook psychology a neo-Freudian makeover and establishing psychological wildness as the very stuff of child life. The chapter concludes with some discussion of the 2009 film version by Spike Jonze, as well as Dave Eggers’s novelization, published the same year.
Douglas R. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823225507
- eISBN:
- 9780823235506
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823225507.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, American Philosophy
This chapter explores the origins of pragmatism between 1898 and 1916. Intellects like Herbert Schneider, Joseph Blau, and others, kept the pragmatic tradition alive, but it became highly visible ...
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This chapter explores the origins of pragmatism between 1898 and 1916. Intellects like Herbert Schneider, Joseph Blau, and others, kept the pragmatic tradition alive, but it became highly visible when Richard Rorty confronted that tradition with its own limitations. The neopragmatic movement brought new readers to the texts of Peirce, James, Schiller, and Dewey. James brought pragmatism to religion, to humanistic psychology, and to the sociology of science. Pierce influenced the notion of scientific method, legal interpretation, and linguistic analysis. Dewey brought pragmatism to American culture through his work in education, political practice, and aesthetic practice by way of his work with the Barnes Foundation.Less
This chapter explores the origins of pragmatism between 1898 and 1916. Intellects like Herbert Schneider, Joseph Blau, and others, kept the pragmatic tradition alive, but it became highly visible when Richard Rorty confronted that tradition with its own limitations. The neopragmatic movement brought new readers to the texts of Peirce, James, Schiller, and Dewey. James brought pragmatism to religion, to humanistic psychology, and to the sociology of science. Pierce influenced the notion of scientific method, legal interpretation, and linguistic analysis. Dewey brought pragmatism to American culture through his work in education, political practice, and aesthetic practice by way of his work with the Barnes Foundation.
