Phenomenal field theory
Encyclopedia
| Phenomenal field theory | |
Concepts Phenomenal field Phenomenal self Proponents Donald Snygg Arthur W. Combs Developers Carl Rogers Carl Rogers Carl Ransom Rogers was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology... Relevant works Individual behaviour |
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| Psychology portal | |
Phenomenal field theory is a contribution to the psychology of personality proposed by Donald Snygg and Arthur W. Combs. According to this theory, all behavior is determined by the phenomenal field of the behaving organism.
Description
The phenomenal field is our subjective reality, all that we are aware of, including objects and people, and our behaviors, thoughts, images, and ideas like justice, equality, and so on. Snygg and Combs emphasize that this phenomenal field is the true subject-matter for psychology.According to the authors, motivation
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
is "the basic need of everyone to preserve and enhance the phenomenal self
Self (philosophy)
The philosophy of self defines the essential qualities that make one person distinct from all others. There have been numerous approaches to defining these qualities. The self is the idea of a unified being which is the source of consciousness. Moreover, this self is the agent responsible for the...
, and the characteristics of all parts of the field are governed by this need".
Learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
takes place through differentiation, being a matter of improving the quality of one's phenomenal field by extracting some meaningful detail from the confusion that surrounds us.
Psychopathology
PsychopathologyPsychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
is caused by a threat, which is the awareness of a menace to the phenomenal self. If the person reacts appropriately to the threat, mental health is preserved. If not, the threat leads to defenses, neurotic and psychotic symptoms, and even criminal behavior. Consequently, psychotherapy consists of freeing clients from unappropriate perceptions, behaviors, cognitions, and emotions they have set up to protect themselves from threat.
See also
- Organismic theoryOrganismic theoryOrganismic theories in psychology are a family of holistic psychological theories which tend to stress the organization, unity, and integration of human beings expressed through each individual's inherent growth or developmental tendency...
- Cognitive-affective personality systemCognitive-affective personality systemThe Cognitive Affective Processing System is a contribution to the psychology of personality proposed by Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda in 1995...
- Hypostatic model of personalityHypostatic model of personalityThe hypostatic model of personality is a contribution to the psychology of personality, summarized by Codrin Stefan Tapu in 2001. It argues that the person presents herself in different aspects or hypostases, depending on the internal and external realities she relates to, including different...
- Personality systematicsPersonality systematicsPersonality systematics is a contribution to the psychology of personality and to psychotherapy summarized by Jeffrey J. Magnavita in 2006 and 2009. It is the study of the interrelationships among subsystems of personality as they are embedded in the entire ecological system. The model falls into...