The Development of Personal Autonomy Essay

One of my intellectual virtues is autonomy. I have always been able to function on my own, my comprehension of responsibility influences everything I do and everything that I work hard for. Motivated by my independent nature, I push myself to grow. My parents trust me to make the right decisions for myself, however with this blind trust, they fail to feel the need to guide me. As a result, I became my own parent, relying on myself for guidance: making sure I stay out of trouble, always making have my homework done, not allowing myself to spend money frivolously. This aspect of my personality has always benefitted my performance in school.

In Why We Do What We Do, motivational psychologist Edward Deci explains that, “External cunning or pressure... can sometimes bring about compliance, but with compliance comes various negative consequences, including the urge to defy” (9). This “external motivation” can cause worry and stress, while being autonomous--motivated by your inner self--“is associated with positive aspects of personality” (183). When autonomous, you choose your own adventures authentically, and, as a result, experience more positive consequences.

While in college, Behavioral Psychology greatly intrigued Maslow but, soon found aspects he disagreed with. He found Behavioral and Psychoanalytic psychology only focused on the negative primitive aspects of humanity. Maslow argued that although humans can be cruel and negative there are also positive aspects of humanity such as compassion, kindness, empathy and many others. He felt that current schools of thought during his time watered down humanity made it seem simplistic and he wanted there to more positivity to add to the complexity that is humanity. Humanistic Psychology according to Shiraev (2015), “a value of orientation that holds a hopeful and constructive view of people and of their substantial capacity to be self-determining” (p. 389).

The psychologists believe that individual’s behaviour is linked with the inner thoughts and self-image. The idea is that due to free will people change often. It is humans’ responsibility on how their well-being and lives carry on. This is because we are capable of striving to achieve the best, self-actualisation desire.

Humanistic psychologists are different from psychodynamic theorists because they indicate that our lives are not completely determined by genetics, past experiences, or our present circumstance. Humanistic psychology is inspired by psychoanalysis but is independent from it in the view of personal freedom as a contrast to psychic determinism. We all have the power to choose our destinies, even when fate

Humanists believe that psychological problems - depression, anxiety, personality disorders and many other forms of psychotherapy are the by-products of a stifled growth process. People who seek professional counselling have within them the capacity and the will to grow towards health, but somehow their growth has been interrupted or disturbed. Unlike earlier pathology orientation psychotherapies, the task of the humanistic therapist is through the therapeutic relationship, to create a medium in which clients can return to their natural growth towards psychological wellness. Humanism sees the client as the expert in their own lives and the therapist's role is to facilitate in a warm, comfortable, natural environment rather than initiate as accepted in psychodynamic, behavioural and cognitive behaviour therapies (Cain, 2002, Rogers,

When I was still in elementary school, an ambulance hurried my mother to the hospital because of a torn ligament in her knee. I recall my sister giving my mom her treasured toy horse because she believed that her kindness would somehow make my mother recover. Fortunately, she made a full recovery, but there is a permanent strain on her knee. Though my mother still currently is a Zumba instructor, from time to time, is absent due to her pains in her knee. Therefore, being a physically active family, it dawned to me that this could happen to anyone of us in the family; this prompted my interest in becoming a biologist to be able to help individuals who have similar conditions as my mother. While dream to specialize on ligament and joint recovery

The focus of this paper is the person-centered approach, which is the understanding of personality and human relationships in psychotherapy and counseling in the areas of client-centered therapy, education of student-centered learning, organizations, and other group settings. Even though psychoanalysis and behaviorism have made major contributions to psychology, it has influenced the understanding and practices of the humanistic movement, specifically with the therapies for the different mental disorders. Psychoanalysis understands the unconscious behavior, behaviorism focuses on the conditioning process that produces behavior. Humanistic psychology focuses on the person's potential to act as a whole person in a nurturing environment by

In 2009, I decided I wanted to be on birth control, even though I did not fully know my body or complete family history. Soon after, I suffered from a Pulmonary Embolism, a blood clot in my lung. The shortness of breath and severe agonizing chest pains were almost too horrible to bare. My life almost came to a screeching halt. It was then I found out my family suffered from a genetic disorder and my mother realized we needed more open communication. Having open communication with in the family positively influenced our family structure, in ways I could never have imagined. Now I felt safe and secure in asking my mother everything; sex, love, school, whatever it be. Parent and child relationships are a key factor in an adolescences’ social development and journey towards autonomy. Our textbook, Exploring Lifespan development (Berk, 2010), states that “teenagers still need guidance and protection from dangerous situations. In diverse ethnic groups and cultures, warm, supportive parenting that grants young people freedom to explore while making appropriate demands for maturity fosters autonomy, […] favorable self-esteem, and ease of separation in the transition to college” (p. 329). Open discussion with the family and adequate education are necessary to helping adolescents achieve a high standard of sexual education and autonomy.

Next, the psychological terminology that can be found in the movie is autonomy. Autonomy refers to self-determination whereby people experience self-direction and personal authorization in the regulation of one’s behavior. In other words, people are free to make decision whether to engage or not to engage in the activity without others control. For example, in the movie Leigh Anne is being autonomous when she picks Michael up as she sees Michael walking down the road on the cold freezing rain. Although they drive away after passing Michael, but Leigh Anne then asks Sean to turn the car around and she decided to takes him back in their car and brings him home as Michael has no other place to stay.

In psychology there has been great discussion on human potential and whether it is inherited based on a person’s surroundings or if it derives internally. According to both Maslow and Rogers, they felt that “a person has an inherent tendency toward growth and development, which will lead them to actualize their human potential and in turn become the best they can be” (p.109). To get a better understanding of human potential we have to look further into to the history of self-actualization and self-determination and what these terms mean. It is also important for one to know why self-determination is important and how it plays a part in students with emotional, behavioral and learning disorders. By looking at each of these factors we will be able to learn what self-determination is and how it plays an important role in each of our lives.

classical models are incapable of offering much to the discussion of personal autonomy.1 Due to

It is said that humanistic psychology was developed upon the limitations of behaviourism. The humanistic approach is often referred to as the “third force” in psychology coming after psychoanalysis and behaviourism; it is an alternative approach to psychology (Maslow, 1968). It offered a more wholesome approach to psychology at the time in comparison to behaviourism and psychoanalysis. This essay will compare and contrast behaviourism and humanistic psychology; it will focus on their contributions to psychological theory and their applications in the real world.

“Self-determination theory (SDT) is a macro-theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts. In order for subjects to be considered “healthy”, they will exhibit high levels of autonomy, competence, and relatedness”. (Deci & Ryan, 2008). Humans have studied the idea of motivation as how to make themselves or others reach a specific goal, or find energy to act in front of a struggle in life. Such struggles include grades, evaluations, opinions they fear others might have of them, or many other challenging situations in life, or to find and keep moving forward in order to achieve goals of all kinds. many times a person feels tired, frustrated, or have a lack of energy to continue trying to solve or act somehow for their own good or even for others. Psychologists have found often that people are motivated by their needs, interests, curiosities or incentives in a short or long term, the midpoint between persons’ motives and needs to achieve their goals is part of the self-determination theory. A description of the respective roles and types of motivation in cognitive and social development and in individual differences, and also how social factors influence the initiative of the individuals such as competence, relatedness, and autonomy shows the strongest forms of motivation.

Self-Determination Theory represents a broad framework for the study of human motivation and personality. It focuses on conditions