Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality

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Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality PYS 250 May 30, 2012 Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality As children physically grow up, their mental capacities increase as well. A child has a brain like a sponge. Absorbing every bit of knowledge he or she comes in contact with. The older the child gets, the more the child is taught and learns within their surrounding environment. Psychologist have studied what makes humans do the things they do, why they do these things, what are the causes for the brain to think in certain ways for years, and if biology plays a role in the development of their personality. In the field of psychology, Abraham Maslow was world-renowned for the creation of his theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Hierarchy of Needs theory that Maslow created has five different stages that start from the bottom with the most basic needs and continue to work its way up to more complex needs. This theory means that humans must satisfy their most basic needs to survive. These physiological needs or basic biological essentials consist of food, sleep, clothing, shelter, breathing, and water. This is the first of the five steps that must be met before progressing on to other necessities. Maslow also believed that some of these steps occur at the same time (Friedman, & Schustack, 2009). As the individual grows up, and matures, their personality increases and develops, this in turn, motivates the individual to continue up these Hierarchy of Needs steps. The second step is the need for survival through the security of shelter, feeling safe, going to school, and having a job. When the personality of the individual develops, the needs will also increase as well. The more the person goes up these steps, the more social and psychological the needs become. The natural environment of the individual’s upbringing has many effects

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