Eugene M DeRobertis | Brookdale College (original) (raw)

Books by Eugene M DeRobertis

Personality textbooks come in two forms, each with their own style of organizing content. They wi... more Personality textbooks come in two forms, each with their own style of organizing content. They will either be organized in terms of historical affiliation (e.g., Freud and those theories that are historically affiliated with Freud, etc.) or they will offer a series of disparate research foci. Both approaches make it difficult for students to attain a coherent, synoptic grasp of the subject matter. Profiles of Personality offers an alternative. It presents personality theories on the basis of a meta-narrative that guides the student through an unfolding story of personality and personal becoming. The meta-narrative of the text reflects the whole person emphasis that gave rise to the study of personality in the first place. As Walter Mischel once noted, the study of personality was intended to become the meta-discipline for integrating the findings and general principles of psychology as a whole as they speak to the person as a whole. Profiles of Personality moves progressively deeper into the world of macro-integrative theorizing, increasingly exposing the role of paradox in the differential-integrative process of personality formation. Highlights of this new edition (from University Professor's Press) include brief discussions of gerotranscendence, gender, and education, additions to the analysis of narrative, and an expanded section on multiculturalism and the ecopsychological culture of place.

In this text, the history of phenomenological research on learning is synthesized and brought for... more In this text, the history of phenomenological research on learning is synthesized and brought forward into the areas of existential learning, the development of enthusiasm about learning (from childhood through adulthood), and paradigmatic creative experience. Original research findings are derived using the Giorgi method of descriptive phenomenological analysis in psychology. The results, structural and eidetic in nature, are then integrated from a holistic developmental viewpoint: that of Existential-Humanistic Self-Development Theory (EHSDT). An evolving developmental partnership between learning and creativity emerges as the proper conceptual frame for considering optimal growth and the relative maturity of situated becoming oneself (i.e., the process of self-cultivation). The resulting perspective is supported by cutting edge trends in neuroscience and related to pedagogy and education.

Child psychology textbooks rarely include material on humanism that can be used as a guide for st... more Child psychology textbooks rarely include material on humanism that can be used as a guide for students. Freudian and Eriksonian psychoanalysis, behaviorism and social learning theory, genetic perspectives, the cognitive approaches of Piaget and Vygotsky, and ecological theories all regularly appear in child psychology textbooks. While there are humanistic currents in Eriksonian psychoanalysis, Vygotsky’s theory, and ecological approaches due to their holism (e.g., their emphases on the child’s social context and enculturation), these approaches are not specifically dedicated to a systematic and rigorous humanization of psychology per se. Hence, they are generally not referred to as humanistic theories, nor are they presented in textbooks as belonging to the tradition of humanistic psychology. To be sure, there are works pertaining to child development that allow one to view child development in a more humanistic fashion. I have found these works within two related currents in developmental psychology: humanistic-developmental self-theory and phenomenological child psychology. However, these works have not been brought together into an organized form that would allow them to attract more attention in child psychology on the whole. To this end, this book explores humanistic-developmental self-theory and phenomenological child psychology as options for instructors who wish to expose students of child psychology to humanism at the college or graduate level.

The first chapter discusses the need for the text, its theoretical orientation, and the structure of the book. In the next three chapters, theories of self development are derived from the works of Carl Rogers, Karen Horney, D. W. Winnicott, Heinz Kohut, and Charlotte Bühler. Chapters Five and Six introduce the reader to existing self-development theories created by Richard Knowles and Daniel Stern. Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine explore major aspects of childhood experience (i.e., perception, affect, time, space, and maternal relations) from a phenomenological perspective. The final chapter provides an overarching theoretical viewpoint that can be used to put developmental issues into perspective. The perspective offered there is holistic and open to dialogue between various schools of thought, such as American humanism, postmodern psychology, existential-phenomenology, psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, neo-analytic and psychodynamic theories, Vygotskian theory, and ecological psychology.

Though it is not well known, humanistic psychologists of various persuasions have been studying c... more Though it is not well known, humanistic psychologists of various persuasions have been studying child development for over a century with very little recognition. The purpose of The Whole Child is to bring together Eugene M. DeRobertis’s most recent efforts to establish the foundations of an existential-humanistic approach to child development and further develop existential-humanistic self-development theory (EHSDT). The philosophical-anthropological foundations of the book reach back as far as Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. Existential-humanistic child psychology is rooted in the works of individuals like Wilhelm Dilthey, Edmund Husserl, Alfred Adler, William Stern, Kurt Koffka, Heinz Werner, Kurt Lewin, Charlotte Bühler, D. W. Winnicott, Ernest Schachtel, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Karen Horney, Carl Rogers, M. J. Langeveld, Heinz Kohut, and others. Contemporary applications in the current volume include the role of the imagination in child development, embodiment, well-being research, dynamic systems approaches to child development, and the impact of consumer culture on self-development. This book is the follow-up volume to his Humanizing Child Developmental Theory: A Holistic Approach (2008).

Papers by Eugene M DeRobertis

The Journal of Individual Psychology , 2022

This article follows the author's personal process of discovering the import of Alfred Adler's In... more This article follows the author's personal process of discovering the import of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology for the creation of Existential-Humanistic Self-Development Theory (DeRobertis, 2012, 2017; DeRobertis & Bland, 2020). The article begins by noting a prolonged period of fundamental unfamiliarity with Adler due to a conspicuous absence from the author's formal education. It then highlights the myopic coverage that he was exposed to from secondary sources, which was subsequently outmoded by exposure to the works of Hall and Lindzey (1978), Ansbacher (1971, 1990), and Adler himself. The author discovered his developmental viewpoint owed much to Adler's work on the social conditions of development, the language of the body, creative power, final fiction, and Gemeinschaftsgefühl. The article concludes with signposts for future study, some of the ways in which Adler's views have proven to be ahead of their time, and a call for psychologists to recognize the contemporary significance of Individual Psychology in a contentious cultural climate.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2022

In this brief commentary on Abraham Maslow's (1969) Toward a Humanistic Biology, it is argued tha... more In this brief commentary on Abraham Maslow's (1969) Toward a Humanistic Biology, it is argued that Maslow's engagement with life science was a way for him to highlight the importance of innovative research for the development of third force psychology. The way Maslow envisioned psychology as involving two forms of objectivity indicate that, had he been steeped in phenomenology, he likely would have endorsed a hermeneutic-phenomenological vision of science. It is further argued that his vision of the third force was inherently developmental and laced with cultural themes.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2023

This article traces the early history of existential-humanistic developmental psychology. It is a... more This article traces the early history of existential-humanistic developmental psychology. It is argued that this area of inquiry was built upon the pioneering work of a heterogeneous array of authors from numerous backgrounds, including American humanistic psychology, European existential and phenomenological psychology, social and self-styled psychoanalysis, personalistic psychology, comparative psychology, Gestalt psychology, education and pedagogy, philosophy, and anthropology. The conceptual yield of the historical overview was distilled down to a cluster of four broad themes: the whole developing person-in-context, lived-time, the living body, and an enduring call to pedagogy.

Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology., 2021

This article challenges the myriad criticisms of humanistic psychology's scientific status by dir... more This article challenges the myriad criticisms of humanistic psychology's scientific status by directly confronting their common underlying claim: that humanistic psychology lacks an adequately empirical epistemological underpinning. Aristotelian epistemology is shown to be foundational to humanistic psychology's approach to the empirical in contradistinction to the tradition of positivistic empirical psychology, the epistemological roots of which lie primarily in atomism. Core characteristics of humanistic psychology's approach to the empirical are explicated from an account of Aristotelian epistemology as revived and elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas. The explication is brought to fruition by way of an illustration using Edmund Husserl, one of humanistic psychology's primary progenitors, as an example. The analyses herein find humanistic psychology's empirical epistemological underpinning to emphasize (a) the confluence of the a priori and a posteriori; (b) the qualitative structure of knowledge; (c) formative meaning bestowal; (d) situated knowing; (e) intentional, presentational grounding; (f) imaginative presence to phenomena; (g) intuitive insight into essences; and (h) bracketing the naturalistic assumptions of positivistic empirical psychology.

The Humanistic Psychologist

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2021

Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi launched the "positive" psychology movement with a conspicuously ne... more Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi launched the "positive" psychology movement with a conspicuously negative strategy: the seemingly deliberate character assassination of humanistic psychology. Their critical remarks, not at all original, appeared designed to distance positive psychology from humanistic psychology and (ironically) to paint a portrait of positive psychology as being more original than it really was. Seligman has since apologized for disparaging humanistic psychology, and this article assesses both the content of that apology and its value in the ongoing discussion concerning the relationship between humanistic and positive psychologies. The apology was found to be superficial and laced with more extensive explicit and implicit negative assessments of humanistic psychology. These assessments were found to range from theoretically biased partial truths to completely unfounded claims, all unworthy of scientific discourse and in need of fact checking. The unabated dissemination of these arguably damning and unsubstantiated views is framed in terms of van Kaam's observations concerning the collectivist leanings of postindustrial psychological science, which fly in the face of the humanistic revolution.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2020

This article presents a textual analysis of the inaugural issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psyc... more This article presents a textual analysis of the inaugural issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The analysis culminated in the creation of a composite narrative that expresses the character of the humanistic vision for psychological science, a historical snapshot of the evolving humanistic revolution circa 1961. The analysis showed humanistic psychology to have proposed a nonreactionary, inclusive, integrative approach to psychology. This approach was anchored in a radicalized image of humanity, one that would not rely wholly on theories and methods of research designed for nonhuman beings. The findings further indicate that, from its inception, humanistic psychology was envisioned to be a unique amalgam of what would today be considered cultural psychology, cognitive psychology, and developmental psychology, without being reducible to any one of these subfields. It was and remains an effort in earnest to do justice to a truer self, engaged in the process of becoming, operating within biological and cultural parameters.

Journal of Phenomenological Psychology , 2020

This study was an eidetic, phenomenological investigation of cross-cultural learning that involve... more This study was an eidetic, phenomenological investigation of cross-cultural learning that involves overcoming an experience of personal threat. The study and its findings were placed within the context of Husserl’s genetic phenomenology and the extant humanistic literature on cross-cultural encounter. This appeared especially appropri- ate given phenomenology’s history “within the movement of the so-called ‘Third Force’ psychology” (Giorgi, 1970, p. xi). The eidetic reduction revealed the phenomenon to be rooted in an essential unfamiliarity with the other compounded by presumptions of the other as representing a substandard foreignness harboring danger. For the phe- nomenon to unfold required the learner to witness spontaneous emotional expression and empathically discover that the other struggles and suffers “like any other human being.” Openness to the other progressively builds and new meanings emerge from the interpersonal exchange as compartmentalized, intellectualized understandings of the other are outmoded.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2020

Psychology students and professionals alike often do not realize that Edmund Husserl addressed co... more Psychology students and professionals alike often do not realize that Edmund Husserl addressed core themes of Jean Piaget's genetic epistemology and that the respective works of Piaget and Husserl share various conceptual kinships. This article articulates these kinships and also considers divergences between Piaget's and Husserl's viewpoints. In carrying out the latter, Husserl's philosophical insights are offered as phenomenological critiques of Piaget's theory. Conceptual kinships were anchored in a multideterminant view of cognitive development, a self-regulated perspective on development, attempts to take on Kantian themes in new ways to overcome traditional empirical and rationalist epistemolo-gies, emphases on genesis, world-formation, and world-expansion, an examination of the way science culturally exemplifies world-expansion, and a belief in the convergence of truth and value. Critiques were framed in terms of Piaget's implicit assimilatory bias and his decentration bias. Avenues for approaching Piaget from a humanistic, phenomenological orientation to psychology were also considered.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2019

Humanistic psychology has a long tradition of developmental thought. Yet, no place has been reser... more Humanistic psychology has a long tradition of developmental thought. Yet, no place has been reserved for a specifically humanistic perspective in developmental psychology textbooks. This article presents a humanistic perspective to serve as a convenient guide for the potential creation of a textbook entry. A highly condensed account of Existential-Humanistic Self- Development Theory (EHSDT) is outlined and compared with the theories that most frequently garner coverage in developmental textbooks. Suggestions for further research on the major themes of EHSDT are also provided. These include the role of the imagination in shaping the trajectories of lifespan development, the intercorporeal and multicultural em- beddedness of the narrative imagination, the self-cultivation process, cooperative culture creation, thriving amid paradox, and the ways in which motivational dynamics operate within diverse social contexts. Carefully planned rollout of such research should help prevent further marginalization of explicitly humanistic developmental theory on the basis that it challenges some of the fundamental assumptions of the established theories and, accordingly, tends to be met with resistance or, at best, indifference.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2018

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a contemporary macrotheory of motivation, personality, and wel... more Self-determination theory (SDT) is a contemporary macrotheory of motivation, personality, and wellness that has accumulated a large empirical research base. Many of its basic principles are humanistic in character, but there is little literature on it from within the ranks of humanistic psychology. This article presents an overview of the theory designed specif- ically for a humanistic audience and considers SDT’s potential as a contemporary variant of humanistic psychology. SDT’s core concept of autonomy is compared with the humanistic notion of willing, which formally introduces paradox as a fundamental aspect of self- development. Paradox is then pursued as a theme that can be used to tap the humanistic potential of SDT. Subsequent analyses focus on various integrative strengths or virtues derived from Knowles’s (1986) existential-phenomenological interpretation of Eriksonian (1963) developmental theory, certain optimal forms of experience, happiness, and well- being. We conclude with some exploratory remarks concerning motivation, personality, and the paradoxical bipolarity of human nature.

Few readily identify Maslow as a developmental psychologist. On the other hand, Maslow's call for... more Few readily identify Maslow as a developmental psychologist. On the other hand, Maslow's call for holistic/systemic, phenomenological, and dynamic/ relational developmental perspectives in psychology (all being alternatives to the limitations of the dominant natural science paradigm) anticipated what emerged both as and in the subdiscipline of developmental psychology. In this article, we propose that Maslow's dynamic systems approach to healthy human development served as a forerunner for classic and contemporary theory and research on parallel constructs in developmental psychology that provide empirical support for his ideas—particularly those affiliated with characteristics of psychological health (i.e., self-actualization) and the conditions that promote or inhibit it. We also explore Maslow's adaptation of Goldstein's concept of self-actualization, in which he simultaneously: (a) explicated a theory of safety versus growth that accounts for the two-steps-forward-one-step-back contiguous dynamic that realistically characterizes the ongoing processes of being-in-becoming and psychological integration in human development/maturity and (b) emphasized being-in-the-world-with-others with the intent of facilitating the development of an ideal society

Individual psychology was a precursor to the emergence of numerous social and interpersonal appro... more Individual psychology was a precursor to the emergence of numerous social and interpersonal approaches to psychology and pedagogy. The child’s education is never left to fate, genetics, or environment. At the same time, Adler did believe that the child’s social situation has the strongest effect on the outset of development. Responsibility falls on the educator to appeal to the creative power or “free artistic creation” of the pupil. Individual psychology stresses the idea that a child only really
becomes a full-fledged student within an interpersonal field characterized by community feeling.

V. Zeigler-Hill & T.K. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

The humanistic perspective on personality emphasizes the individualized qualities of optimal well... more The humanistic perspective on personality emphasizes the individualized qualities of optimal well-being and the use of creative potential to benefit others, as well as the relational conditions that promote those qualities as the outcomes of healthy development. The humanistic perspective serves as an alternative to mechanistic and/or reductionistic explanations of personality based on isolated, static elements of observable behavior (e.g., traits) or self-concept.

The Humanistic Psychologist

This article presents phenomenological findings from Stephen Strasser’s eidetic study of human ha... more This article presents phenomenological findings from Stephen Strasser’s eidetic study of human happiness. Happiness was found to be an experience of incomplete completion implicating the total being-becoming of the person upon having attained a perceived good affiliated with the highest levels of personal existence. As an exceptional mode of personal fulfillment, happiness relates to determinate subject-world interactions, yet always transcends them in its infinitely meaningful
quality. In addition to explicating the qualitative meanings that structure the experience of happiness, Strasser identified 6 manifestations of the phenomenon: contentment, good fortune, harmony, rapture, release, and transcending anticipation. Moreover, happiness is distinguished from several phenomena that are closely related to happiness, but do not share its eidos: pleasure, enjoyment, joy, and serenity.

Personality textbooks come in two forms, each with their own style of organizing content. They wi... more Personality textbooks come in two forms, each with their own style of organizing content. They will either be organized in terms of historical affiliation (e.g., Freud and those theories that are historically affiliated with Freud, etc.) or they will offer a series of disparate research foci. Both approaches make it difficult for students to attain a coherent, synoptic grasp of the subject matter. Profiles of Personality offers an alternative. It presents personality theories on the basis of a meta-narrative that guides the student through an unfolding story of personality and personal becoming. The meta-narrative of the text reflects the whole person emphasis that gave rise to the study of personality in the first place. As Walter Mischel once noted, the study of personality was intended to become the meta-discipline for integrating the findings and general principles of psychology as a whole as they speak to the person as a whole. Profiles of Personality moves progressively deeper into the world of macro-integrative theorizing, increasingly exposing the role of paradox in the differential-integrative process of personality formation. Highlights of this new edition (from University Professor's Press) include brief discussions of gerotranscendence, gender, and education, additions to the analysis of narrative, and an expanded section on multiculturalism and the ecopsychological culture of place.

In this text, the history of phenomenological research on learning is synthesized and brought for... more In this text, the history of phenomenological research on learning is synthesized and brought forward into the areas of existential learning, the development of enthusiasm about learning (from childhood through adulthood), and paradigmatic creative experience. Original research findings are derived using the Giorgi method of descriptive phenomenological analysis in psychology. The results, structural and eidetic in nature, are then integrated from a holistic developmental viewpoint: that of Existential-Humanistic Self-Development Theory (EHSDT). An evolving developmental partnership between learning and creativity emerges as the proper conceptual frame for considering optimal growth and the relative maturity of situated becoming oneself (i.e., the process of self-cultivation). The resulting perspective is supported by cutting edge trends in neuroscience and related to pedagogy and education.

Child psychology textbooks rarely include material on humanism that can be used as a guide for st... more Child psychology textbooks rarely include material on humanism that can be used as a guide for students. Freudian and Eriksonian psychoanalysis, behaviorism and social learning theory, genetic perspectives, the cognitive approaches of Piaget and Vygotsky, and ecological theories all regularly appear in child psychology textbooks. While there are humanistic currents in Eriksonian psychoanalysis, Vygotsky’s theory, and ecological approaches due to their holism (e.g., their emphases on the child’s social context and enculturation), these approaches are not specifically dedicated to a systematic and rigorous humanization of psychology per se. Hence, they are generally not referred to as humanistic theories, nor are they presented in textbooks as belonging to the tradition of humanistic psychology. To be sure, there are works pertaining to child development that allow one to view child development in a more humanistic fashion. I have found these works within two related currents in developmental psychology: humanistic-developmental self-theory and phenomenological child psychology. However, these works have not been brought together into an organized form that would allow them to attract more attention in child psychology on the whole. To this end, this book explores humanistic-developmental self-theory and phenomenological child psychology as options for instructors who wish to expose students of child psychology to humanism at the college or graduate level.

The first chapter discusses the need for the text, its theoretical orientation, and the structure of the book. In the next three chapters, theories of self development are derived from the works of Carl Rogers, Karen Horney, D. W. Winnicott, Heinz Kohut, and Charlotte Bühler. Chapters Five and Six introduce the reader to existing self-development theories created by Richard Knowles and Daniel Stern. Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine explore major aspects of childhood experience (i.e., perception, affect, time, space, and maternal relations) from a phenomenological perspective. The final chapter provides an overarching theoretical viewpoint that can be used to put developmental issues into perspective. The perspective offered there is holistic and open to dialogue between various schools of thought, such as American humanism, postmodern psychology, existential-phenomenology, psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, neo-analytic and psychodynamic theories, Vygotskian theory, and ecological psychology.

Though it is not well known, humanistic psychologists of various persuasions have been studying c... more Though it is not well known, humanistic psychologists of various persuasions have been studying child development for over a century with very little recognition. The purpose of The Whole Child is to bring together Eugene M. DeRobertis’s most recent efforts to establish the foundations of an existential-humanistic approach to child development and further develop existential-humanistic self-development theory (EHSDT). The philosophical-anthropological foundations of the book reach back as far as Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. Existential-humanistic child psychology is rooted in the works of individuals like Wilhelm Dilthey, Edmund Husserl, Alfred Adler, William Stern, Kurt Koffka, Heinz Werner, Kurt Lewin, Charlotte Bühler, D. W. Winnicott, Ernest Schachtel, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Karen Horney, Carl Rogers, M. J. Langeveld, Heinz Kohut, and others. Contemporary applications in the current volume include the role of the imagination in child development, embodiment, well-being research, dynamic systems approaches to child development, and the impact of consumer culture on self-development. This book is the follow-up volume to his Humanizing Child Developmental Theory: A Holistic Approach (2008).

The Journal of Individual Psychology , 2022

This article follows the author's personal process of discovering the import of Alfred Adler's In... more This article follows the author's personal process of discovering the import of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology for the creation of Existential-Humanistic Self-Development Theory (DeRobertis, 2012, 2017; DeRobertis & Bland, 2020). The article begins by noting a prolonged period of fundamental unfamiliarity with Adler due to a conspicuous absence from the author's formal education. It then highlights the myopic coverage that he was exposed to from secondary sources, which was subsequently outmoded by exposure to the works of Hall and Lindzey (1978), Ansbacher (1971, 1990), and Adler himself. The author discovered his developmental viewpoint owed much to Adler's work on the social conditions of development, the language of the body, creative power, final fiction, and Gemeinschaftsgefühl. The article concludes with signposts for future study, some of the ways in which Adler's views have proven to be ahead of their time, and a call for psychologists to recognize the contemporary significance of Individual Psychology in a contentious cultural climate.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2022

In this brief commentary on Abraham Maslow's (1969) Toward a Humanistic Biology, it is argued tha... more In this brief commentary on Abraham Maslow's (1969) Toward a Humanistic Biology, it is argued that Maslow's engagement with life science was a way for him to highlight the importance of innovative research for the development of third force psychology. The way Maslow envisioned psychology as involving two forms of objectivity indicate that, had he been steeped in phenomenology, he likely would have endorsed a hermeneutic-phenomenological vision of science. It is further argued that his vision of the third force was inherently developmental and laced with cultural themes.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2023

This article traces the early history of existential-humanistic developmental psychology. It is a... more This article traces the early history of existential-humanistic developmental psychology. It is argued that this area of inquiry was built upon the pioneering work of a heterogeneous array of authors from numerous backgrounds, including American humanistic psychology, European existential and phenomenological psychology, social and self-styled psychoanalysis, personalistic psychology, comparative psychology, Gestalt psychology, education and pedagogy, philosophy, and anthropology. The conceptual yield of the historical overview was distilled down to a cluster of four broad themes: the whole developing person-in-context, lived-time, the living body, and an enduring call to pedagogy.

Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology., 2021

This article challenges the myriad criticisms of humanistic psychology's scientific status by dir... more This article challenges the myriad criticisms of humanistic psychology's scientific status by directly confronting their common underlying claim: that humanistic psychology lacks an adequately empirical epistemological underpinning. Aristotelian epistemology is shown to be foundational to humanistic psychology's approach to the empirical in contradistinction to the tradition of positivistic empirical psychology, the epistemological roots of which lie primarily in atomism. Core characteristics of humanistic psychology's approach to the empirical are explicated from an account of Aristotelian epistemology as revived and elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas. The explication is brought to fruition by way of an illustration using Edmund Husserl, one of humanistic psychology's primary progenitors, as an example. The analyses herein find humanistic psychology's empirical epistemological underpinning to emphasize (a) the confluence of the a priori and a posteriori; (b) the qualitative structure of knowledge; (c) formative meaning bestowal; (d) situated knowing; (e) intentional, presentational grounding; (f) imaginative presence to phenomena; (g) intuitive insight into essences; and (h) bracketing the naturalistic assumptions of positivistic empirical psychology.

The Humanistic Psychologist

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2021

Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi launched the "positive" psychology movement with a conspicuously ne... more Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi launched the "positive" psychology movement with a conspicuously negative strategy: the seemingly deliberate character assassination of humanistic psychology. Their critical remarks, not at all original, appeared designed to distance positive psychology from humanistic psychology and (ironically) to paint a portrait of positive psychology as being more original than it really was. Seligman has since apologized for disparaging humanistic psychology, and this article assesses both the content of that apology and its value in the ongoing discussion concerning the relationship between humanistic and positive psychologies. The apology was found to be superficial and laced with more extensive explicit and implicit negative assessments of humanistic psychology. These assessments were found to range from theoretically biased partial truths to completely unfounded claims, all unworthy of scientific discourse and in need of fact checking. The unabated dissemination of these arguably damning and unsubstantiated views is framed in terms of van Kaam's observations concerning the collectivist leanings of postindustrial psychological science, which fly in the face of the humanistic revolution.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2020

This article presents a textual analysis of the inaugural issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psyc... more This article presents a textual analysis of the inaugural issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The analysis culminated in the creation of a composite narrative that expresses the character of the humanistic vision for psychological science, a historical snapshot of the evolving humanistic revolution circa 1961. The analysis showed humanistic psychology to have proposed a nonreactionary, inclusive, integrative approach to psychology. This approach was anchored in a radicalized image of humanity, one that would not rely wholly on theories and methods of research designed for nonhuman beings. The findings further indicate that, from its inception, humanistic psychology was envisioned to be a unique amalgam of what would today be considered cultural psychology, cognitive psychology, and developmental psychology, without being reducible to any one of these subfields. It was and remains an effort in earnest to do justice to a truer self, engaged in the process of becoming, operating within biological and cultural parameters.

Journal of Phenomenological Psychology , 2020

This study was an eidetic, phenomenological investigation of cross-cultural learning that involve... more This study was an eidetic, phenomenological investigation of cross-cultural learning that involves overcoming an experience of personal threat. The study and its findings were placed within the context of Husserl’s genetic phenomenology and the extant humanistic literature on cross-cultural encounter. This appeared especially appropri- ate given phenomenology’s history “within the movement of the so-called ‘Third Force’ psychology” (Giorgi, 1970, p. xi). The eidetic reduction revealed the phenomenon to be rooted in an essential unfamiliarity with the other compounded by presumptions of the other as representing a substandard foreignness harboring danger. For the phe- nomenon to unfold required the learner to witness spontaneous emotional expression and empathically discover that the other struggles and suffers “like any other human being.” Openness to the other progressively builds and new meanings emerge from the interpersonal exchange as compartmentalized, intellectualized understandings of the other are outmoded.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2020

Psychology students and professionals alike often do not realize that Edmund Husserl addressed co... more Psychology students and professionals alike often do not realize that Edmund Husserl addressed core themes of Jean Piaget's genetic epistemology and that the respective works of Piaget and Husserl share various conceptual kinships. This article articulates these kinships and also considers divergences between Piaget's and Husserl's viewpoints. In carrying out the latter, Husserl's philosophical insights are offered as phenomenological critiques of Piaget's theory. Conceptual kinships were anchored in a multideterminant view of cognitive development, a self-regulated perspective on development, attempts to take on Kantian themes in new ways to overcome traditional empirical and rationalist epistemolo-gies, emphases on genesis, world-formation, and world-expansion, an examination of the way science culturally exemplifies world-expansion, and a belief in the convergence of truth and value. Critiques were framed in terms of Piaget's implicit assimilatory bias and his decentration bias. Avenues for approaching Piaget from a humanistic, phenomenological orientation to psychology were also considered.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2019

Humanistic psychology has a long tradition of developmental thought. Yet, no place has been reser... more Humanistic psychology has a long tradition of developmental thought. Yet, no place has been reserved for a specifically humanistic perspective in developmental psychology textbooks. This article presents a humanistic perspective to serve as a convenient guide for the potential creation of a textbook entry. A highly condensed account of Existential-Humanistic Self- Development Theory (EHSDT) is outlined and compared with the theories that most frequently garner coverage in developmental textbooks. Suggestions for further research on the major themes of EHSDT are also provided. These include the role of the imagination in shaping the trajectories of lifespan development, the intercorporeal and multicultural em- beddedness of the narrative imagination, the self-cultivation process, cooperative culture creation, thriving amid paradox, and the ways in which motivational dynamics operate within diverse social contexts. Carefully planned rollout of such research should help prevent further marginalization of explicitly humanistic developmental theory on the basis that it challenges some of the fundamental assumptions of the established theories and, accordingly, tends to be met with resistance or, at best, indifference.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2018

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a contemporary macrotheory of motivation, personality, and wel... more Self-determination theory (SDT) is a contemporary macrotheory of motivation, personality, and wellness that has accumulated a large empirical research base. Many of its basic principles are humanistic in character, but there is little literature on it from within the ranks of humanistic psychology. This article presents an overview of the theory designed specif- ically for a humanistic audience and considers SDT’s potential as a contemporary variant of humanistic psychology. SDT’s core concept of autonomy is compared with the humanistic notion of willing, which formally introduces paradox as a fundamental aspect of self- development. Paradox is then pursued as a theme that can be used to tap the humanistic potential of SDT. Subsequent analyses focus on various integrative strengths or virtues derived from Knowles’s (1986) existential-phenomenological interpretation of Eriksonian (1963) developmental theory, certain optimal forms of experience, happiness, and well- being. We conclude with some exploratory remarks concerning motivation, personality, and the paradoxical bipolarity of human nature.

Few readily identify Maslow as a developmental psychologist. On the other hand, Maslow's call for... more Few readily identify Maslow as a developmental psychologist. On the other hand, Maslow's call for holistic/systemic, phenomenological, and dynamic/ relational developmental perspectives in psychology (all being alternatives to the limitations of the dominant natural science paradigm) anticipated what emerged both as and in the subdiscipline of developmental psychology. In this article, we propose that Maslow's dynamic systems approach to healthy human development served as a forerunner for classic and contemporary theory and research on parallel constructs in developmental psychology that provide empirical support for his ideas—particularly those affiliated with characteristics of psychological health (i.e., self-actualization) and the conditions that promote or inhibit it. We also explore Maslow's adaptation of Goldstein's concept of self-actualization, in which he simultaneously: (a) explicated a theory of safety versus growth that accounts for the two-steps-forward-one-step-back contiguous dynamic that realistically characterizes the ongoing processes of being-in-becoming and psychological integration in human development/maturity and (b) emphasized being-in-the-world-with-others with the intent of facilitating the development of an ideal society

Individual psychology was a precursor to the emergence of numerous social and interpersonal appro... more Individual psychology was a precursor to the emergence of numerous social and interpersonal approaches to psychology and pedagogy. The child’s education is never left to fate, genetics, or environment. At the same time, Adler did believe that the child’s social situation has the strongest effect on the outset of development. Responsibility falls on the educator to appeal to the creative power or “free artistic creation” of the pupil. Individual psychology stresses the idea that a child only really
becomes a full-fledged student within an interpersonal field characterized by community feeling.

V. Zeigler-Hill & T.K. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

The humanistic perspective on personality emphasizes the individualized qualities of optimal well... more The humanistic perspective on personality emphasizes the individualized qualities of optimal well-being and the use of creative potential to benefit others, as well as the relational conditions that promote those qualities as the outcomes of healthy development. The humanistic perspective serves as an alternative to mechanistic and/or reductionistic explanations of personality based on isolated, static elements of observable behavior (e.g., traits) or self-concept.

The Humanistic Psychologist

This article presents phenomenological findings from Stephen Strasser’s eidetic study of human ha... more This article presents phenomenological findings from Stephen Strasser’s eidetic study of human happiness. Happiness was found to be an experience of incomplete completion implicating the total being-becoming of the person upon having attained a perceived good affiliated with the highest levels of personal existence. As an exceptional mode of personal fulfillment, happiness relates to determinate subject-world interactions, yet always transcends them in its infinitely meaningful
quality. In addition to explicating the qualitative meanings that structure the experience of happiness, Strasser identified 6 manifestations of the phenomenon: contentment, good fortune, harmony, rapture, release, and transcending anticipation. Moreover, happiness is distinguished from several phenomena that are closely related to happiness, but do not share its eidos: pleasure, enjoyment, joy, and serenity.

The Humanistic Psychologist, 2016

This article offers a narrative frame for envisioning the future of humanistic psychology. Divers... more This article offers a narrative frame for envisioning the future of humanistic psychology. Diverse themes pertinent to the topic were drawn from a wide body of literature and given organizational structure. The analysis presented here suggests that contemporary humanistic psychologists ought to embrace their pluralistic historical lineage, offer a revolutionary image of psychological science, offer an alternative image of the person in psychology, permeate psychology's database, and market humanistic psychology. Various subthemes and concrete suggestions are presented as signposts for the development of humanistic psychology in the 21 st Century.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy, 2014

The Humanistic Psychologist

hardcover); ISBN 978-0-415-88447-1 (paperback). 89.95,hardcover;89.95, hardcover; 89.95,hardcover;39.95, paperback Reviewed by ... more hardcover); ISBN 978-0-415-88447-1 (paperback). 89.95,hardcover;89.95, hardcover; 89.95,hardcover;39.95, paperback Reviewed by Eugene M. DeRobertis

This chapter appears in two publications: It is Chapter Three in "The Whole Child: Selected Pape... more This chapter appears in two publications:

It is Chapter Three in "The Whole Child: Selected Papers on Existential-Humanistic Child Psychology" (ISBN-13: 978-1477635759)

It is the third chapter in "The Radically Human World: Essays in Honor and Memory of Fr. David Smith, C.S.Sp." released by Duquesne University's Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center.

Humanistic Contributions for Psychology 101: Growth, Choice, and Responsibility, 2015

The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Theory Research, and Practice (2nd edition), 2014

Humanistic psychology is best understood as a broad-based, yet theoretically delineated movement ... more Humanistic psychology is best understood as a broad-based, yet theoretically delineated movement rather than a highly specialized school. From its earliest days to the present, humanistic psychology has aspired to be an inherently diverse sort of movement, integrating insights from manifold perspectives. Thus, Yalom (1980) has described humanistic psychology as notably "generous" in terms of its inclusiveness (p. 19). The breadth of humanistic thought extends out to perspectives such as existential psychology, phenomenological and neurophenomenological psychology, personalistic psychology, functionalist psychology, transpersonal psychology, field theoretical psychology, ecopsychology, Gestalt psychology, organismic psychology, and self-styled, social psychoanalysis to name a few. Nonetheless, humanistic psychology does have a characteristic theoretical thrust, which provided the impetus for James Bugental to articulate humanistic psychology's guiding postulates in 1963 . As adapted by Tom Greening for the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Bugental's postulates evidence a very socioculturally sensitive view of human behavior and mental processes. One need only consider the following postulates to see this inherent sociality: (a) Human beings have their existence in a uniquely human context, as well as in a cosmic ecology; (b) Human consciousness always includes an awareness of oneself in the context of other people; and (c) Human beings have some choice and, with that, responsibility. The remaining two postulates secure a place for the integrity of the individual amid the socializing forces that contextualize human psychological life: (a)

Since the completion of my doctoral dissertation in 1999, I have maintained a focused program of ... more Since the completion of my doctoral dissertation in 1999, I have maintained a focused program of qualitative and theoretical research applying third force psychological principles to the study of human development. The overall emphasis of this research has been child development in particular. In my work, I have maintained that there is a distinctly human scientific or humanistic developmental psychology that has been largely overlooked in the history of psychology. When I focus on self-development I use the term Existential-Humanistic Self-Development Theory or EHSDT for short. I use the term existential to refer to this approach due to my background in existentialphenomenology. Existential-humanistic developmental thought is diverse in its origins. Many individuals have laid the groundwork for this perspective, including Wilhelm ). The works comprising my efforts in the area of developmental psychology can be found on my vitae. What follows is a non-exhaustive list of twenty (20) core characteristics gleaned from my explication of an existential-humanistic approach to child development.

Over the course of my career, I have referred to my work as existentialphenomenological and exist... more Over the course of my career, I have referred to my work as existentialphenomenological and existential-humanistic (e.g., DeRobertis 2012a, 2012b). Yet, when I think back to my college education, I consider it a small wonder that I ever found my way to existential psychology. My undergraduate psychology department as a whole was hostile to the threat of philosophy encroaching upon their discipline. For example, one of my psychology professors announced to my cohort that psychologists do what philosophers merely think about. Another psychology professor informed us that anything of substance that existential-humanists contributed to psychology had been absorbed by cognitive psychology. As a professor, I have taken great pride in exposing psychology students to existential insights without such prejudices.

Since the advent of the Internet and subsequent introduction of the World Wide Web in 1992, techn... more Since the advent of the Internet and subsequent introduction of the World Wide Web in 1992, technologically mediated communication has been undergoing a growth rate of geometric proportion. E-mail, Internet-Relay Chat, Web pages and bulletin board postings comprise the overwhelming majority of on-line communications. As primarily linear text processing, this technology has quickly beckoned the creation of personalizing characteristics such as emoticons. With comparable haste, the term "flaming" has been coined whereby loaded and biased language, insults, and derogatory humor offend the reader. Both the necessity of personalization techniques and the emergence of flaming bear witness to the fact that there is a certain shortcoming inherent in this new communication forum. Many of the subtleties of human expression cannot arise when talk is mediated by one's processing platform. Perhaps more importantly, this distancing has the potential to generate an over-inflated sense of empowerment through anonymity. In effect, the would-be individuals become "sender" and "recipient." The anonymity of on-line interactions diminishes the sense of responsibility that is experienced when communication occurs in-person.

Society for Humanistic Psychology Newsletter, 2023

Psychology has always prided itself on being a science, as having earned its emancipation from “m... more Psychology has always prided itself on being a science, as having earned its emancipation from “metaphysics” (meaning philosophy), though not without controversy (DeRobertis & Iuculano, 2005). In harmony with Maslow’s (1961) landmark observations, psychology should become genuinely psychological by becoming hierarchical-integrative, but (putting aside the special nature of each research project, which is a given) lifeworld research, which would necessarily be phenomenologically driven, ought to sit at the top of the hierarchy (DeRobertis, 2017; DeRobertis & Bland, 2020).