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Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. You have indicated that you require at least 200 words and citations only. This to me implies that you are already quite familiar with personality families and Rollo May and all that you need help in is in the way to present him as a theorist who had the greatest impact in the field. This then will be a short essay. I think however that 200 words is rather short so we should expand it a little to around 300 words. This way we can create a small outline to follow and present our arguments as best as we can. I suggest the following Outline:
1. Introduction - what the passage is about, 50 words. Here say that this is about the theorist Rollo May and his work on personality theory that makes him, to you, the one with the greatest impact.
2. Overview of his work - discuss key points - 100 words.
3. Overview of impact of his work - discuss the implications this had in the field.
4. Summary - in 50 words, close your argument.
The short narrative below follows this outline although it is far longer. It should get you started with ideas and information that you need. Don't forget to include ideas from your own class materials . Good luck with your studies.
Sincerely,
OTA 105878/Xenia Jones
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On Rollo May
It is my view that American psychologist Rollo May had the greatest impact in the field of personality theory due to his ideas on existentialism and humanistic psychology. His 1969 book 'Love and Will' established him as a foremost thinker. In it, he argued that awareness of death is essential to life and that human beings are always in a struggle to find meaning in which traditional social structures often provide. It is these structures that allow for the development of ideas of self and explanation of the mysteries of life. Without them, human beings must look for meaning elsewhere, in particular, within themselves. These views are revolutionary in that they are both existential and humanistic, lending psychological theory a philosophical perspective.
Personality theories are theories that attempt to explain the dynamics and structure of 'self'. How is the idea of self formed knowing that we are unique, that we are 'us' and different from, removed, yet in communication with others? These are among the questions personality theorists ask. For Rollo May, personality is developed in stages - from a stage of innocence we start rebelling to traditions and conformity seeking for freedom but unknowing of the notion of responsibility that comes with freedom. Then comes the stage of decisions, where an individual decides what they want to do with their lives, fulfilling their rebellious needs (i.e. freedom) to the ordinary stage where the need for a less-demanding pace pushes one to adopt traditional values and conform with what is socially expected. The very last stage is the creative stage, that stage where an individual becomes a 'true adult' where simple egocentricism is overcome by self-actualization, an existential stage that leads one to confront issues and use all developed capacities via reason and creative problem solving leading to creating life-meaning.
In all these stages, anxiety is essential as anxiety is seen not as a negative element. He explains in an interview (1987) in a PBS interview - "I think anxiety is associated with creativity. When you're in a situation of anxiety, you can of course run away from it, and that's certainly not constructive...We are conscious of our own selves, our own tasks, and also we know we're going to die. Man is the only creature -- men, women, and children sometimes even, are the only creatures who can be aware of their death, and out of that comes normal anxiety. When I let myself feel that, then I apply myself to new ideas, I write books, I communicate with my fellows. In other words, the creative interchange of human personality rests upon the fact that we know we're going to die." This view has had such a huge impact in the personality theory that it is adjudged that he established the field of existential psychology where death and the anxiety of death and failure spurs human activity and meaning-making, in particular, activities that lead to personality development.
It is for these reasons that I believe Rollo May had the greatest impact in the field as he brought a new perspective into psychological theory by adapting existential philosophy and humanistic views, he made psychology look into the impact of meaning-making and the relationship of traditions, values and social structures in the way human beings come to define and understand who they are.
Word Count:555
Resources:
(Web)
http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/may.shtml
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/persintro.html
(Interview)
Mishlove, J. (host)(1987).Thinking Allowed, Conversations On the Leading Edge of Knowledge and Discovery : Interview with Rollo May. PBS.
(Book)
May, Rollo (1969). Love and Will. WW Norton.