Final answer:
The humanistic perspective is the psychological approach suggesting an innate inclination toward positive qualities like love and joy. This perspective, championed by figures like Maslow and Rogers, values personal growth and self-fulfillment as fundamental aspects of personality.
Explanation:
Humanistic Perspective:
The humanistic perspective is the modern theoretical approach to personality that suggests we are naturally inclined to love, joy, and goodness. Developed as a response to the deterministic views of psychoanalysis and behaviorism, humanism focuses on the potential for innate good in all humans and heavily emphasizes personal growth and self-actualization. Pioneers of this perspective, such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, believed in the innate capacities for growth, self-determination, and the pursuit of self-actualization, which is the achievement of one's fullest potential.
The humanistic perspective is particularly concerned with personal control, intentionality, and a predisposition for "good," integral for an individual's self-concept and behavior. This approach encourages looking at the person as a whole and is optimistic about human nature, contrasting sharply with the more deterministic psychodynamic and behaviorist perspectives that dominated early psychology. The belief that people inherently strive to become the best version of themselves is central to this psychological viewpoint.