Philosophies of human nature held by psychologists: Behavioral vs. psychoanalytic vs. eclectic theoretical orientations

Abstract

Little is known about the philosophies of human nature held by psychologists with different theoretical orientations. If any assumption about this topic is made at all, it is that beliefs about people probably conform to the ideology underpinning the particular orientation to which the psychologist ascribes. The purpose of this research was to determine whether psychologists of three theoretical orientations--psychoanalytic, behavioral, and eclectic--differed with regard to their philosophies of human nature and, if so, what form these differences might take. A related research question was whether these psychologists adhered to the basic tenets underlying their self-stated theoretical orientations. A total of 93 doctoral level psychologists from the Philadelphia area participated, with 23 belonging to the behavioral orientation, 30 to the psychodynamic orientation, and 31 to the eclectic orientation. The remainder were of other orientations. Two instruments were administered to the participants. The first instrument was the Philosophies of Human Nature Scales, a six scale tool designed to evaluate beliefs about people. The second, the Kurlansik Theoretical Assumptions Scale, was constructed by this researcher to determine level of adherence to the tenets of the psychoanalytic versus behavioral orientations. A demographic questionnaire was also developed and administered. Canonical correlation, ANOVA, and post hoc testing were used to evaluate the results. The results of this study demonstrated no significant differences among the three orientation groups with regard to philosophy of human nature. However, significant differences among the orientation groups on the Kurlansik Theoretical Assumptions Scale indicated that these groups hold to the tenets underlying the orientations. Philosophy of human nature was found to differ by religious groups and level of experience