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Humanistic and Existentialist Theorists

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Comparison of Two Theories

a. Describe one Humanistic/Existentialist theorist (Maslow, Rogers, or May) and their theory. You can use the questions you used in your paper for Week 3 if you wish.
b. THEN, describe one dispositional theory/theorist (Allport, Eysenck, Cattell, etc.)
c. Compare and contrast these two theories/theorists.

Make each section (a, b, c) approximately the same length. Have a short introduction and short conclusion. If you wish to discuss your personal opinion, that can be part of the conclusion.

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A comparison between humanistic and existentialist theorists are provided.

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Describe one Humanistic/Existentialist theorist (Maslow, Rogers, or May) and their theory.
Describe one dispositional theory/theorist (Allport, Eysenck, Cattell, etc.)
Compare and contrast these two theories/theorists.

You did Eysenck already. So you know that he held to a semi-genetic point of view. In fact, he holds that the person has little chance of overpowering his genetic inheritance. His emphasis on IQ and race caused him, to an extent, to favor two groups: the English and the Jews. This meant that those from southern and eastern Europe were lower on the IQ scale, and Africans were lower still.

Then we have the famous two poles of personality: outgoing, neurotic and psychotic. The psychotic was added a bit later, and takes more from the outgoing type than the neurotic type. He also held that pathology, when it affects the brain and our behavior, represents a single thing, usually, it is stated as a response to some sort of stress or basic social imbalance.

His personality types then derive from the combination of the outgoing and neurotic traits in different proportions. Basically, his personality types too, derive from some imbalance. The sanguine is controlled by the Id, and seeks utilitarian pleasure. The melancholic seems to be a contemplative type, though not necessarily depressed, as it later came to be defined. The Choleric is one who seeks to take over and take responsibility, while finally, Phlegmatic
people seem to be inert, satisfied with whatever comes their way.

Now, instead of defining these as based on elemental imbalance, he traces these conditions to the nature, activity and structure of the brain. The cortical arousal syndrome refers to that central part of the brain that produces excitement, heat and power. Yet, this typifies introverts, while extroverts are not so aroused.

I'm sure you know these two works, where the above information is detailed.

Eysenck, HJ (1965) The Causes and Cures of Neurosis. Knapp
Eysenck, HJ (1967) The Biological Basis of Personality. Transaction

OK, that is my take on Eysenck, it might not be identical to yours.

I spent quite a bit of time on the existentialists in grad school. It is a set of ideas with which I'm quite ...

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