Theories Of World View

World View Paper

University of Akron

Throughout history, psychological theories have been shown shape and impact people’s thoughts, behavior, and worldview. Theories such as those introduced by Karen Horney, George Kelly, and Abraham Maslow are prime examples. Horney presented the interpersonal psychoanalytic theory, which carried a modern view of biological roles and interpersonal relationships. Kelly offered up his own theory called the personal construct theory; the focus lies on an individual’s constructs or cognitions, which branch out to apply to emotions and behavior as well. The final theory comes from Abraham Maslow called the need hierarchy theory. This theory emphasizes the necessity of lower-order
There are two main areas where I have differing opinions from Horney: safety needs and having basic needs fully met. She viewed healthy development as the ability to obtain safety and love from a parent, while unhealthy as the opposite. While I agree with Horney that safety needs are universally important in children, I do not view them as the sole factor that determines healthy development or preventing basic anxiety. In my experience, I have known a few people who, although they have not had all of their basic safety needs met, such as having a consistent home or losing a parent at a young age, still grew up into well-developed
Obtaining full self-actualization, according to Maslow, exists as a lifelong process of working to achieve one’s full potential (Waehler, 2013). Reasons arise that interfere with this achievement, which Maslow lists in seven key points. Such interferences include a lack of childhood love, personal anxiety, and overprotective parenting (Waehler, 2013). Maslow’s self-actualization as well as the interference points are two other areas in which I disagree. I support his theory of self-actualization, but think that more than one percent of the population can reach full self-actualization. His interferences can also be used as stepping stones for growth; when applied to my earlier example regarding children in third world countries, they continually experience such blocks. These children may not get love from their parents or may experience anxiety from a multitude of possible factors, however not all of these children allow their experiences to weigh them down. Stories about children rising above their life troubles and becoming successful in sports or business can be found constantly in the media today. Maslow’s theory presents a useful focus on growth and development, yet limits its view in regards to