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Chapter 2 theories of personality
Chapter 2 theories of personality
Chapter 11 - Personality Theories
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The purpose of this report is to analyse the personality of the character, Will Hunting from the film Good Will Hunting using the psychodynamic and humanistic theories of personality. The main characters discussed in this text and their relationship to Will can be seen in appendix 1. Will Hunting epitomises a punk prodigy. The 20-year-old delinquent works as a janitor at MIT, solving impossible equations, meant for students, in his spare time. He is soon recruited by one of MIT’s professors and made to participate in a rehabilitation programme with the hope of being employed by the university. Rehabilitation is made challenging as Will is a troubled individual; having grown up in abusive environments and jumping from different foster homes. …show more content…
Humanistic psychology relies on client centred therapy and the idea that each individual has the potential to achieve a position in their psyche named self actualisation. Humanistic psychology differs from psychodynamic theory in that it is optimistic about the human psyche and does not view conflict as inevitable. Humanistic psychology assumes people attach meaning to their unique perspectives on the world and that behaviour is strongly influenced by this. Carl Rogers defined the healthy personality as being one that had congruence between the perceived self and the experienced self and that the individual in question experienced unconditional positive regard from their parent or guardian. He defined an unhealthy personality as being one which lacked these components. Abraham Maslow alternatively suggested a hierarchy for which a person’s healthy personality could be measured by stages of psychological and physical needs (see diagram 2). He suggested that, for a person to achieve self actualisation and become a fully functioning person, they must first satisfy all the needs of each level in the pyramid before moving onto the next
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that includes a five level pyramid of basic human
The protagonist in the motion picture Good Will Hunting is called Will, and he is described to be a high intellect person but with recluse tendencies whereby he has kept to himself mostly having only a few friends near him. The young adult is employed as a janitor in the university where can work out a difficult question presented to the students by the professor. The problem appears to be quite difficult for the students, but he does not struggle. The teacher takes an interest in the young man and stands for him in court and takes responsible for him. He takes him to therapy to treat his psychological disorder which becomes apparent with the actions and words that he utters in the film. Will is tough in the therapy sessions until he later
Good Will Hunting is the graceful tale of a young gentleman’s struggle to find out where he belongs in the world, by first finding out who he himself is. In this film, Matt Damon takes on the role of a disturbed genius that has a keen understanding of the deepness of human character. The film is a voyage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo psychotherapy as an alternative to serving jail time. With the assistance of a psychologist, played by Robin Williams, Will learns about himself and recognizes his individual worth in the world by comprehending what is most important to him in his own life. This motion picture serves as a source of superb example for film technique. Gus Van Sant’s directing ability joined with the writing skills of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also plays Will’s best buddy, Chuckie, is a vibrant mixture of technical features used to induce sentiment and compassion amongst the viewers of this heart-warming film. Characteristics of the color, angles, shots, camera movement, editing, and distortions are all each particularly noteworthy to the general composition of Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting.
The humanistic theory ties into the humanistic perspective. This was first thought of my Abraham Maslow. Unlike the behaviorists, humanistic psychologists believe that humans are not solely the product of their environment. Rather humanistic psychologists study human meanings, understandings, and experiences involved in growing, teaching, and learning. They emphasize characteristics that are shared by all human beings such as love, grief, caring, and self-worth. Humanistic psychologists study how people are influenced by their self-perceptions and the personal meanings attached to their experiences. Humanistic psychologists are not primarily concerned with instinctual drives, responses to external stimuli, or past experiences. Rather, they consider conscious choices, responses to internal needs, and current circumstances to be important in shaping human
Abraham Maslow is known as the father of the humanistic psychology; an approach that look at people from a more optimistic perspective than the behavioral and psychoanalytical approach do. For instance, Maslow held that neurotics and person with abnormal behaviors are not the best representation of the humanity; by the contrary, are those who live a normal life and become self-actualize. Abraham Maslow’s theory states that every single human being have the innate potential to become an achiever driven by inborn needs. His researches were not made on animals, or mental illness people’s case studies, because his ideology; if not, in successful human being such as Franklin D. Roosevelt to found what make does people been high achievers. By successful human being Maslow means rich, full and satisfied human being. The film The Pursuit of Happyness is a case study about Christ Gardner a man whose life may be used as a perfect portray of the Maslow’s Theory.
The character this film is primarily centered around is Will Hunting. Will lives in a tattered house in a bad neighborhood in the city of Boston. He grew up in foster care where he sustained continual physical abuse as a child. Will has a few close friends he is always with but never opens up about anything below surface level. Will is incredibly gifted with intelligence however he works as a custodian at the highly prestigious school, MIT. Professor Lambeau teaches advanced mathematics at MIT and is the one who discovers Will’s incredible talent for solving advanced mathematical theory. Professor Lambeau has high hopes for Will and pushes him into getting jobs with prestigious employers so that his gift is not wasted working as a custodian. Chuckie Sullivan is one of the closest of Will’s friends. They’ve known each other for years and Chuckie drives Will to work every day. Chuckie cares for Will and realizes the gift that he has and tries to convince Will he should be doing something of greater importance with his life. Skylar is a college stu...
Abraham Maslow once stated in his theory "when the need of personality is broken, it creates personality disorder". He meant that, when we are in a situation where we completely lose hope and unable to accomplish certain needs to survive, it causes one 's to move up and down on the ladder of his theory. Maslow began his theory during his studies on monkeys. Being a behavior scientist, he knew that these monkeys had a similar reacting to certain situations that cause them to lack in certain needs they try to accomplish for their survival. But when they are motivated by something or someone else, it encourages them to fulfill the needs they 're lacking. Maslow 's theory consisted
The clinicians that use the approach of the humanistic-existential model believe that to function properly, humans, throughout their lives, have a need to develop perceptions and beliefs about oneself and to accept and value their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regardless of the consequences (Comer, 2016, pg. 58). Humanists argue that people are born good and over the course of their lives, they seek to fulfill their potential known as self-actualization (Comer, 2016, pg. 58). Existentialists believe that human comes to this world with the ability and freedom to choose their destiny and give purpose to their lives (Comer, 2016, pg. 58). From both perspectives, practitioners consider abnormality to be rooted in childhood as a result of
Humanistic personality is any personality theory that asserts the fundamental goodness of people and their striving toward higher levels of functioning. Humanistic personality theory emphasizes that we are positively motivated and progress toward high levels of function, in other words, there is more to human existence that dealing with hidden conflicts (Morris & Maisto p. 364). I think that is relates to my personality development I am seeking higher levels of function. I am very motivated and progress toward bigger rewards for myself.
Will Hunting have shown attributes of lack of love and anti-social behaviors owing to lack of attachment relationship. His behaviral practice is not limited to violence he also shows dislike to people and does not trust many. Also, he is unable to control his basic emotions like anger and has a lot of problems developing relationships with adults and women. Will's anger is one of many defenses that mask his inner feelings and guard his inner self (Affleck, 1997). Will's subconscious is determined, no one will be able to penetrate these defenses and hurt him again. This is as a result of the abuse he went through in his childhood. As an outcome, he does not show empathy to any person. Hunting was betrayed as a child and now exhibits behaviors to protect him from people. The family relationship has a high chance of working on him because from the film the audience can see that the few relationships he has been working. For example, he accepts the friendship offers by Sean Maguire. Moreover, Success of the treatment with Sean occurs when Hunting takes the love offered by Skylar (Cannon, 2013). He develops self-confidence that masks the negative self-esteem he initially had about himself. He takes advantage of the relationship by moving out of Boston and goes to live with Skylar in California. The effect of the gap filled can further be enhanced if the parents are trained
The film “Good Will Hunting” follows the story of Will Hunting (Matt Damon) a self-taught genius who works at one of the most prestigious technology schools; MIT, as a janitor. Will is an orphan with a criminal record of Assault, grand theft auto, assaulting a police officer, etc. Will solves a complex math problem, which leads to him being discovered by professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) as a genius. Professor Lambeau makes a deal with the judge when Will is incarcerated to be on parole under Lambeau’s supervision and Will is ordered to see a therapist once a week. Will Outsmarts many of the therapists, which forces Lambeau to go to his last resort, college friend and psychology teacher Sean Macguire (Robin Williams).
Will is a genius of unprecedented standards, but is never discovered until a MIT professor, Gerald Lambeau (Stellen Skarsgard) sees Hunting, who is a janitor, solve a complicated math equation that had taken him, a Fields Medal winner, over two years to solve. Hunting solved it on a single night.
To start, we are taking a look at Humanism. I drew this mask green because humanistic psychologists believe that people are basically good. humanistic theorists focused on the ways people strive for self-determination and self-realization. They look for the potential for healthy personal growth. According to humanistic psychologists we are searching for self-actualization and self-transcendence. Ultimately, we want to fulfill over full potential with purpose and meaning. They assess people's personalities by having conversations and discussions about intimate subjects. They believe that this leads us to learn more about each other by understanding other's experiences.
This psychology perspective emphasizes individuals ' inherent drive towards self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one 's own capabilities and creativity. It helps the client gain the belief that all people are inherently good. It adopts a holistic approach to human existence and pays special attention to such phenomena as creativity, free will, and positive human potential. It encourages viewing ourselves as a "whole person" greater than the sum of our parts and encourages self exploration rather than the study of behavior in other people. Humanistic psychology acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the human psyche. It is linked to the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. As per usual, there are advantages and limitations to this particular theory. One of the greatest strengths of humanistic psychology is that it emphasizes individual choice and responsibility. Humanistic psychology satisfies most people 's idea of what being human means because it values personal ideals and self-fulfillment. Finally, humanistic psychology provides researchers with a flexible framework for observing human behavior because it considers a person in the context of his environment and in conjunction with his personal perceptions and feelings. As with any viewpoint, humanistic psychology has its critics. One major criticism of humanistic psychology is that its concepts are too vague. Critics
Humans are constructive, goal orientated and capable of change. The environment plays a facilitating or inhibitory role in the individual’s behaviour. These are Carl Rogers’ three core assumptions when conceptualising his humanistic theory of personality. Rogers believes that people are forward looking and driven to fulfil their potential. The entire theory is built on actualising tendency which is an innate potential that allowed to unfold for optimal person development. To gain a better understanding of this theory, this essay will apply the concepts of the theory on a character by the name of Nina starring in The Black Swan. Analysing Nina’s behaviour, we will look at the relationships between organismic valuing process (OVP) and conditions of worth alongside conditional positive regard. The foregoing will be considered, Along with aspects of both self and environment that encourage or disturb actualising tendency. Furthermore, we will look at the concepts of congruity and incongruity.