Sample Essays on Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality

Introduction

The ebook provides an overview to personality through many theories and approaches. Personality indicates what constitutes the differences among people. According to Engler (2013), the formation of personality is based on the inherited characteristics. The genetic aspects can be divided into three aspects that include introversion-extroversion. In spite of the genetic makeup, personality can be influenced by external factors that include the environment. The discussion will provide relevant comparison between the humanistic and biological frameworks on personality. The study of Abraham Maslow is also relevant in understanding the formation of personalities. Maslow’s need hierarchy provides the influences of needs to understand the nurturing of personality. Biology has an extensive influence on the development of personalities in people. It will also investigate the relationship between Maslow’s model arguments and the biological factors. Further, analysis of the humanistic theory and biological factors indicates the differences that exist between the theories. The paper will investigate the biological and human approaches towards the formation of personality.

The growth needs can lead to a greater extent of improving the personality of people in their workplace. Maslow’s framework shows the implication of personality formation on the growth needs. Maslow believes that people are usually aware of their drives and motives considering the environments around them.  Thus, Maslow focused on understanding the positive implications towards people. Depending on the different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy, it is evident that needs could be achieved after formation of relevant personalities. The growth needs seek to cover the intrinsic values in individuals for personal growth and development. The growth needs provide relevant correlations for people who are focused on new cultures in the society. The growth needs are correlated with personal growth and development in their life and careers. Personality contributions focus on the respect of systematic satisfaction of the different level of needs as implied by Maslow. Therefore, the order of the growth needs among the workers can lead to strong personality formation.

Researchers have investigated the biological factors that include the formation of personality. The influence of biology on the personalities of people is revealed by in born personality traits. Children are usually born with certain personalities. These inborn personalities are influenced by genetic makeup of the persons. The genetic foundations can lead to differences in the person’s physiology. Furthermore, the biological influences on the formation of personality interact with the environmental factors to influence development. Biological factors are also based on environmental choices, such as, a child growing up in certain cultures and circumstance. This makes children adapt to certain ways reflecting their immediate environment (Miner, 2002). In addition, dispositions may include the personality of the people based on the biological factors. Since these dispositions influence the personal experiences on the environment, they stimulate the formation of personalities in a certain way. Therefore, the structure of the biological factors is crucial in the development of personality and can be influenced by the immediate environments.

There exists a strong correlation between biology and the Maslow’s model. Maslow facilitates the revelation of the different needs that make people’s personalities. Each level of need is based on the selection criteria. According to the theory, people are influenced by their personalities in order to make satisfactory decisions. Thus, the quality of the personalities indicates how better the persons can satisfy their needs. According to Engler (2013), the biological model reveals that brains are the focus in the formation of personalities. Maslow’s theory relates the brain’s states with the hierarchical needs based on personality development process. Each person is biologically complex and different.

Biological aspects insist that the characteristics of the people from their personalities. The concepts of human psychology provide that value of person is based on their self determination. Abraham argued that personality development can be determined by various biological factors. These include diseases or genetics. These biological factors can influence the brain in forming a person’s personality. The structure of the brain plays a significant role in the development of personality. Abraham’s theory concepts incorporate the biological implications to promote personal development. This relates to Maslow’s model of human motivation (Miner, 2002). Generally, the biological factors relate to Maslow’s model of personality development because the biological factors that include brains, heredity and physical features are required at the growth level. This confirms the relations between biology and the concepts of Maslow’s model of personality development.

The biological factors can be said to be not similar from the humanistic concepts and frameworks. The humanistic theories focus on the selection of own actions and behaviors unlike the biological factors. In contrast, biological concepts are different from the humanistic frameworks, as they focus on a person’s internal aspects including the brains and the genes that people cannot control. Psychological understanding is usually based on people’s observations. The humanistic frameworks are not based on beliefs that people are good, but the thinking process (Miner, 2002). Biological understanding acts on the beliefs that personality is controlled by the genetic makeup. They do not use thinking and feelings in making their adjustments. Therefore, the concepts of biology and humanistic theories may be incompatible. In most occasions, the theories rely on past events and occurrences to assert the knowledge while biological factors use the present genetics to determine the formation of the personality. Researchers who support the biological theory argue for the genes as the main determinant of personality (Schultz, & Schultz, 2012). Generally, the biological factors are complex and need clear elaboration while the humanistic theories are simple.

Conclusion

There are different factors that influence the definition of personality. The factors that lead to the formation of personality can be biological or humanistic. The influences of growth needs can lead to personality development. However, the biological factors assist in the formation of personality. The biological factors could interact with the environmental factors to influence personality growth. Biological factors are also based on environmental choices such as varied childhood settings. Based on the arguments of Abraham, personality development can be determined by various biological facts. These include physical characteristics and genetics. These biological factors can influence the brain in forming a person’s personality. In most occasions, the concepts of biology and humanistic theories may be incompatible. For example, biological factors use the present genetics to determine the formation of the personality while, the humanistic theories uses past information. These indicate that the humanistic concepts  and biological frameworks are different.

References

Engler, B. (2013). Personality theories. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Miner, B. J. (2002). Organizational behavior: foundations, theories, and analyses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2012). Theories of personality. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning