Week 13

Growth motivation and positive psychology
Self-actualisation is a concept proposed by Maslow, as the highest on his pyramid of human needs.  Maslow claimed that not all humans shall reach this level, and that not all humans shall strive towards it.

It has been claimed that all organisms have an actualising tendency, where they shall be guided unconsciously towards genetically determined potentials.  This also motivates the individual towards new experiences.  All organisms also have an organismic valuation process, which is an innate ability for judging whether an experience will promote or reverse growth, so that we can decide whether the process is worth undertaking again.

There are two different types of causality orientation, those of autonomy and control.  Individuals who have an autonomic orietation look inwards for motivation, pay close attention to their own needs and emotions.  Autonomic causality orientation is related to positive functioning in many areas, including self-actualisation.  Control causality orientation relates to relying on external guides, such as social cues, with an individual making actions more related to rewards and social expectations.

The topic of evil interests me, as it seems to come up too often in recent times.  It has been suggested that evil only arises when a person has had negative experiences previously in life.  This would help to explain the current evil of dictators and terrrorists, who have themselves had their countries wronged, so fight back in any way possible.

It has been a struggle for me keeping up with these blogs, but I feel that I have learnt many things on the topic that I would have otherwise glossed over.

Thank you for reading,
Aaron