Biological And Humanistic Paper

Analyzing biological and humanistic

Billy Ocean

Week 3

PSY/250

Dr. James

University of phoenix

AGUC0909A

Many people have different theories when approaching personality, some think its biological and others think it’s humanistic. In this essay I will be describing the biological approach to personality and the factors that influence the formation of personality. I will also be discussing Maslow hierarchy of needs and examine the relationship of biological factors and Maslow theory of personality. This essay will also include the basic aspect of humanistic theory that is incompatible with biological explanations theory. There are many biological approaches to personality; in 1953 James D. Watson and Francis Crick discovered
that DNA was structured as a double helix. Dr. Watson won a Nobel Prize for his role in that research. In 2007 Watson had a computer drive which contained an individual fully sequenced genome. With this information Watson went public becoming the first to do so. With open genetics sequencing, Watson believed that who we are is there in our genes. Years after Watson were forced to resign from his research lab for making controversial remarks about the genetics inferiority of Africans. This biological view of personality was not surprising to parents. Parents believed that children come into this world with their own personality and their way of doing things. Research in child psychology, seems to focus on environmental influences on personality. Parents are giving tons of advice on how to raise their children to be a well-adjusted member to society. Books and movies about child care gives parents advice to take an active role in helping their children grow up to be wonderful, accomplished individuals. The emphasis on the environment is due to some cultural beliefs in opportunities of self-improvements. English philosopher John Locke (1690/1964) wrote that the human mind is a blank slate at birth. There is no doubt that if a child with enough motivation and the proper upbringing can go on to achieves almost anything he or she desire. There is also no doubt that biological factor starting with ones genes affect a person characteristic responses. A person is not born with a blank slate, people start with inherent, predisposition and abilities. By the nineteenth century Charles Darwin argued that people evolved directly from more primitives species. Darwin believed that human was cousins of chimps and apes, by arguing points such as the similarity of human bones, nerves, and muscles to those of other primates. Humans and primates bones, nerves, and muscles are very similar to us today, but were not so similar back then. Behavioral Genomics is the study of how genes affect behavior. The human genome is the complete set of genes located on the 23 pairs of chromosomes that define the biological human being. In 2000 the human genome was unraveled. The genes were mapped and marked on DNA stands. This function or roles of each genes are far from being understood, but the genetic map holds a better understanding personality by discovering the biological instructions given by each of our genes. Deficiency needs: according to Abraham Maslow, needs that are essential for survival including physiological, safety, belonging, love and esteem needs.
Maslow divided organismic needs into two categories. Maslow identified several categories of deficiency needs, which stands for survival. The physiological needs are the basic biological necessities such as food, water, sex and shelter. The safety needs, which is the necessity of a predictable world, one that makes sense. Belongings and loves involve intimate relation with other people. Esteem is the need which involves respect for oneself and for others. All of the d-needs motivates people through deficits, which we need something to fill our void or
drive. Maslow argued that people need the correct social condition to encourage the highest level of self- actualization.
Maslow also argued that people cannot reach the being level (B-level, with B- values or B-motives) if they are busy trying to satisfy their more basic needs. We cannot fulfill our complete human potential and search for beauty and truth if we lack food, safety, love, and esteem. Maslow arranged all these needs into a hierarchy as in psychoanalytic theory a biologically drive that are shared with animals, but the higher uniquely human needs, which are seen as a biologically based but transcendent. The relationship between biological factors and Abraham Maslow theory is that they both believed that human beings evolved from primates in processes. Biological factors and Abraham Maslow both agreed that sex was a big part of human personality. Another relationship that they have is that they tell if a person is going to change or keep the same personality. Biological factors believed that if your parents have it you would get it passed down to you as you get older. Humanistic believed free will is essential to being human and biological factors believe that behavior is determined by biological
tendencies. Erich Fromm approach to personality: Dialectical Humanism, which tries to reconcile the biological, driven side of human beings and the pressures of societal structure by focusing on the belief that people can rise above or transcend these forces and become spontaneous, creative, and loving. Fromm knew the struggle between concepts of free will and determinism is a long standing one. Humanism aspect of personality does not think that character is determined at birth, any person can later become righteous or wicked. We as humans decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate, or cruel. People were not to blame their actions or feelings on others or on evil spirits. Erich Fromm traces human behavior to neither inner drives nor societal pressures, but to a conscious person with certain needs existing with a network of societal demands. The most disciplined personality is the one that transcends the ordinary demands of life and creates an active positive identity involving productive, respectful love of others. Such people achieve a productive orientation as then aimed to enrich the world through their own creative endeavors and humanitarian ethics. In conclusion; the biological theory and the humanistic theory had some valid points that I agreed with and some I disagree with. For example humans evolving primates, because we have the same bones, muscles, and nerves I don’t agree with that biological theory. I do agree with inheriting a trait from a family member. Over all there are many people with different theories about personality and everyone is in titled to their opinion.

Reference
Friedman, H.S. & Schustack, M.W. (2009) Personality: classic theories and modern research (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.