This is actually two-part research, but I need to post this to refer to later in another analysis of modern culture. The direction modern culture is headed in is exciting, but to understand that one needs to visit the theoretical framework which makes it such.
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Changing over time: Identity, Transcendence, New Identity.
It is with some sense of irony that I am
discussing the process through which personalities might change over time using
theories that, once constructed, were evaluated and reconstructed over time.
The process of change is not unlike the process which the authors I am writing
from went through during their search for the universal understanding of
motivation. In the first step, we have the introduction and maintenance of a
healthy sense of ego and identity which strives for achievement and a salient
role within society, through which the peak experiences are introduced and then
describe a sense of meaning in itself, that then as though through some alchemy
or catalyzing fire of spiritual individuation the constructions which led to
this ego identity are transcended. This is not a static process and there are
certainly different dispositions which individuals might have, and specific
sets of skills which they may have available that contribute to emotional
maturation, are the genesis of entirely unique individuals although their
values may become similar. So it is not also without irony that I introduce
this idea, that the overall source of generativity had been identified in
transpersonal psychology which is generalizable toward all people, so that we
might understand their unique story throughout the spiritual process. Abraham
Maslow (1974), described very thoroughly what he thought of as the peak
experiences he described them as a mindfulness activity which transcended
normal perceptions of time and space and in which perfect attention toward some
event idea or object was attained. In a sense he reaffirms the idea that any
one thing given complete attention becomes indescribable and magnificent in
itself, and that these relationships transcend typical figure-ground
relationships and are instead experiences without categorization or ontological
judgment, they are outside of the self-other dichotomy. In participatory
spirituality the initial phases of this dichotomy are thought of as a
maturation phase a dialectic which according to Ferrer (2011), “displays what
it may be the deepest dynamics of the self-disclosing of the mystery” (p. 6).
To Ferrer, his motivation was the inevitable discovery of the unfolding of
events played out by the cosmos at his time and place, and his notion of ‘the
mystery’ is describing itself through experiences and systems which can be
explained not unlike Maslow’s peak
experiences. Ferrer (2011), also describes an epistemology for establishing
what he would say are healthy belief systems or religious systems which all can
be said to be striving in the individual sense toward the attainment of
mindfulness and the perfect awareness which Maslow describes as an integral
part of every peak experience. So it is with very little reservation that I say
once a person has a fully healthy and developed sense of self-identity that
each person seeks the meaning found in the peak experiences which inevitably
lead toward mindfulness practice and a healthy sense of being, that is a sense
of being not dependent on the gratification of deficiency needs but instead
based on in-the-moment awareness and on being-cognition. Later in life I
suppose I can describe various differences in pathological personalities which
might be deficiencies in this maturation process, but the question at hand is
about how people are motivated to change.
Ego-Identity
My
conception of the development of ego-identity comes from research on what are
considered the more socially established motivational systems like
expectancy-value theory and social identity theory in the context of
achievement motivation. There is a dialectic present that Weiner (2010),
describes in terms of whether an individual has perceived control over events,
people with high achievement needs might view the world as controllable while
people with lower achievement needs might view the world as more static. This
same dialectic is analogously described in another article about the affective
predispositions toward achievement or toward failure avoidance that individuals
may gain through their developmental processes or temperament (Bjornebekk,
2008). Whenever I am asked to differentiate whether something is caused by a
developmental temperament or through learned responses to the environment I
simply say “yes”. Both of these researchers are describing different types of
people who are motivated to achieve in different ways. Later in this writing it
will be established that there are dialectics like these surrounding even the
notion of people as they are motivated either by satisfying some need generated
through deficiency or through some need facilitated through the realization of
agapean love. In either case whenever presented with a nature versus nurture
dialectical argument some component of both influences is required to solve the
issue in question.
At
the heart of achievement motivation is the concept of self-evaluation and self-categorization
which comes as a part of the valance of tasks and accomplishments (Geen, 1984).
Self-categorization also plays a role in intergroup differentiation as people
might tend to present salient parts of themselves which they have identified
are congruent with a group prototype, a behavior which can simultaneously meet
needs for belonging and for distinctiveness (van Knippenberg, 2000).
Individuals may begin to define themselves in terms of their various group
memberships and identify with the salient traits of each group and bring them
into their own sense of identity (van Knippenberg, 2000). People also tend to
particularly emphasize the distinctiveness of social groups they are in as a
part of reinforcing this identity (Tasdemir, 2011). The cognitive and affective
psychological consequences of accomplishing tasks reflects directly on an
individual’s self-esteem and expectancy of future success, while the
controllability of the outcome reflects on a person’s sense of shame or guilt
about failure, and these affects in turn influence a person’s striving (Weiner,
2010). A person may be motivated through different strategies toward
achievement but success or failure in achievement is internalized as a person
develops a self-actualizing identity and sense of ego. Self-actualization in
this context
is the initial striving to meet one’s potential, where what an individual can be he will strive to be (Maslow, 1943). It should be noted
at this point also that behavior theory is not synonymous with motivation theory,
as we have seen people are individuating themselves in a way that is
distinctive and salient among their social groups and establishing a relational
sense of self using the skills and reference points available in the culture
and surrounding groups. This process of achievement motivation which has been
researched so deeply is what I would call the first phase of healthy
development. This is the establishment and categorization of a distinctive and rewarding
sense of self. This process of self-selection and categorization could be said
to be self-actualization when a person has only the scope of deficiency-needs
to motivate her, and although some people fulfill this need for adequacy and
self-identification some may not move beyond this point in the theoretical
framework I am describing. Maslow’s initial sense of self-actualization may be
fitting for some people in their time and place, and with the strategies they
have formed for meeting their basic needs and for maintaining the individualist
ego. It is at this point I must place in contrast Maslow’s idea of
being-cognition which cannot be said to be striving toward an individual sense
of ego. Instead what Maslow describes as the result of peak experiences a kind
of godly-love or agapean love for a person or object or experience, where the
love for these things is not based on fulfilling a deficiency it is instead
detached, altruistic, admiring, unselfish; it is to be experienced for what it
is and not to gratify individual needs (Maslow, 1974). This kind of
self-transcending admiration is more like a collective ideal and it is not
entirely inconsequential that Maslow and Ferrer both compared this ideal to
more complete descriptions of mindful being in the eastern belief systems
(Maslow, 1974; Ferrer, 2011). What these two kinds of cognition have in common
between the deficiency-need cognition and the being-cognition is that they both
have an underlying generativity which comes from a sense of meaning either from
an egocentric object-ground (self-other) relation or a more collective and
complete transcendent experience. The establishment of identity within society
and as a legacy may begin to show the pathway toward more mature goals that
become understood through the peak experiences.
The
Peak Experiences
Peak experiences are not voluntary,
they are considered non-volitional experiences that will cannot command, that
simply happen to us at our time and place (Maslow, 1974). In a way iterating
this kind of experience for Maslow began to catalyze and consume his initial
sense of self-actualizing people, he could no longer describe self-actualizing
experiences in terms of self and other dialectics or basic needs, and he ended
up recanting some of his previous assertions of what a mature motivational need
looked like (Maslow, 1974). The process Maslow went through is not unlike the
process I am describing of this writing, but to describe the peak experiences
that begin this transformation I would leave it to him. Maslow (1974) states,
“The peak experience is felt as a self-validating, self-justifying moment which
carries its own intrinsic value with it.” (p. 89). Maslow (1974) goes on to
describe these kinds of cognitions as, “so valuable that they make life worth
while by their occasional occurrence.” (p.89).
Some of the examples illustrated were: Moments of parental experience,
such as the way a mother admires her child, as she cares for and perceives all
aspects of an infant; the natural experience, which excludes human utility for
nature but that is instead an appreciation of nature by and for itself (this is
not unlike the ancient eastern philosophy the Tao stipulated by Laozi); the
aesthetic appreciation of beauty, without the inclusion of human projections
upon it, e.g. a section of cancer viewed through a microscope which has
indescribable aesthetic organization if we can forget that it is cancer; the
creative moment in which something is brought from contemplation into
existence; the therapeutic or intellectual insight, which is without the usual
perceptions of time and space but is instead a complete moment in itself; the
sexual orgasmic experience of fusion between heightened biological and
spiritual experience; and lastly some kinds of athletic fulfillment at the
moment of success (Maslow 1974). From the point of view of normal experience,
peak experiences are quite different. When contrasting being-cognition and peak
experience with normal experience, Maslow (1974) asserts, “Peak experiences are
from this point of view more absolute and less relative.” (p. 92). Maslow was
very careful about the use of absolutes but what he is describing in a sense is
the lack of figure-ground relationship in the peak experiences, this peculiar
perceptual experience is what I would build on when describing peak experience
as the result of mindfulness activity. Peak experiences are non-volitional
experiences which are entirely attended to and immersive in nature, and then he
describes it as a passive process which is characterized by an affective sense
of wonder, awe, and humility (Maslow, 1974). After reading Maslow’s description
of the occurrence of peak experiences I would say that mindfulness meditation
and some spiritual practices like it are very similar to what he is describing.
At this point I would focus on the description of peak experiences as being
outside the normal perception of the passage of time, and that the peak
experiences involve absolute attention and awareness of the experience (Maslow,
1974).
Mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation is an activity
which cultivates these kinds of peak experiences. It is a process through which
people strive for a sense of non-judgmental acceptance of each moment, and the
detached observation of sensations, emotions and thoughts (Holzel, et. al,
2008). People who meditate often had undergone some neurophysiological changes,
they had strengthened the grey matter around the left inferior temporal gyrus
and the right hippocampus (Holzel, et. al, 2008). Mindfulness meditation
results in a change in brain circuitry and in magnetic resonance imaging
studies had been found that mindfulness activates the hippocampus regions of
the brain and strengthen them (Engstrom, Pihlsgard, Lundberg & Soderfelt,
2010). There are neurological changes which may increase over time, new brain
circuitry which may enable peak-experience or at the very least, coping with
adversity. Mindfulness-based stress-reduction therapy has been found to be
effective as a means of improving the mental health of individuals, and
mindfulness-based cognitive therapy helps prevent relapse for people who suffer
from depressive episodes (Fjorback, Arendt, Ornbol, Fink & Walasch, 2011).
Not only is being-cognition something that is sought after and achieved through
mindfulness practice, but the practice itself can actually be psychologically
beneficial. Peak experiences are always felt as benevolent in nature and they
are good experiences (Maslow, 1974). Experiencing and cultivating a lot of
being-cognition in the peak experiences enhances perception and attentiveness,
and also tends to lead to more peak-experiences (Maslow, 1974). I am not very
skeptical that mindfulness practice, and the seeking of peak experiences is a
good thing, if I can say it helps people psychophysiologically as well. People
were also more able to differentiate among emotions and better experience
affective states, and mindfulness practice had led to better emotional
regulation in people who were familiar with the skills (Hill & Updegaff,
2012). It makes sense that people seek this kind of attentiveness and
mindfulness, as apparently it is very soothing and beneficial to individuals
who are coping.
Ferrer (2011), stipulates that where
these kinds of mental pursuits are acknowledged, western culture actually
hinders the maturation of nonmental attributes and processes making it normally
necessary to engage in intentional activities like mindfulness meditation in
order to bring these physical and spiritual attributes up to the same
developmental level which the mind achieves through mainstream education.
To wrap up the section on peak
experiences I also have to indicate that these processes which are doubtlessly
beneficial and helpful to individuals are also acquired through unintentional
and selfless pursuits. The peak experiences tend to enlighten us, help us cope
and solve problems, but they also show us a way to achieve a sense of
completeness and agapean love for experience. Maslow finally writes “My
findings indicate that in the normal perceptions of self-actualizing people and
in the more occasional peak experiences of average people, perception can be relatively ego-transcending self-forgetful, egoless.”
(p. 88). It is also necessary to point out for further research that this
theory connects western psychology with egocentrism; traditional self-actualization
can be thought of in the cross-cultural context as a western and individualist
pursuit. Western psychology at the time of the discovery of self-transcendence
regarded cognition as a process which was constantly a response to the
environment and was an instrumental mechanism for maintaining identity (Maslow,
1974). Western psychology was said to view the world only from the standpoint
of egocentric awareness in which individuals were the centering point (Maslow,
1974). I think these descriptions of mindfulness and peak experiences come from
very old ideas except that they are not very old western ideas.
Peak experiences end up inevitably
transcending the ego through an alchemical change of ideas surrounding one’s
self and one’s role in a greater environment. A selfless love for another
person, or experience, place, or object paradoxically catalyzes the sense of
ego-identity forward and through this maturation people begin to be motivated
by the freedom that such an unselfish detachment enables. In contrast Maslow
made up a term which he called rubricizing, which was the necessary
categorization and judgment of people and experience that self-actualizing
people must have; and then he described peak experiences not unlike mindfulness
experiences in the way that these experiences are non-judgmental, passive, they
do not project human needs outward, they are without human utility or need for
recognition (Maslow, 1974).
Conclusion
Abraham Maslow had to go through a
transformation of his work and his ideas to arrive at the notion that there is
not necessarily always an egocentric need which motivates people; the need
might be instead for experiences which illustrate that we’re meaningful and
aware of ourselves and our surroundings in a mindful way. As this kind of
cognition is cultivated, peak experiences happen to us more often than they
would if we had not been having them before, and each one of them creates a
deeper affection for complete understanding and awareness of being, as a
complete picture. The need for rubricising is no longer prevalent in our minds
and we begin to move toward non-judgment and acceptance of experience without
our other more neurotic tendencies and human responses to the environment such
as fear of uncertainty. Instead what really makes work worthwhile is the
experience of being in that time and place and being so fully aware of it that
it takes hold and guides us away from egocentrism and individualist senses of
ego. The transformation of self-actualization from ego-identity to self-transcendence
and awareness is a process which needs dialectics to operate it needs the ego
as fuel for the changes that occur out of the contrasts between our basic needs
and the desire to contact moments of egoless being-cognition. Neither ego or
egolessness could develop without the other. If we do, move into more spiritual
pursuits as a means of becoming more accepting of the experience around us,
there are a few epistemological tests which can help establish the validity of
spiritual experience (Ferrer, 2011). These are: The egocentrism test, a test
which assesses the degree to which a belief system will free people from
narcissism and self-centeredness; the dissociation test, a guideline which
evaluates the ability for a belief system to foster detachment and integrated
development in all dimensions of a person; and the ego-socio-political test
which assesses the amount that ecological balance can be found by the
practitioners of a belief system in terms of basic human rights (Ferrer, 2011).
Applying these ideas realistically
and in order to foster change in the world I have found that transpersonal
psychology enables the recovery of OEF/OIF veterans. The premise is that
because these people have been living a life of service they have established a
sense of transpersonal agapean love for the people they are protecting, and
that through these experiences have become being-people who can go into society
and cultivate this awareness. (Osran, Smee, Sreenivasan & Weinberger,
2010). People through life experience in service have been experiencing the
peak experiences and have already given up an egocentric desire to be
completely independent or individual, we can apply the mindfulness techniques
to help veterans cope with traumatic stress anxiety. We can also point out that, their emotional
and spiritual growth from self-actualizing to self-transcending is useful
experience and can help many others in society within the context of The United
States (Osran, Smee, Sreenivasan & Weinberger, 2010). Not all veterans come
to appreciate the society which they had worked to protect, but through a
non-judgmental stance the society can be objectified and observed critically. A
way to detach and observe a society might be the best way to find something
within it to begin bonding with again. The experience of combat can sometimes
be a peak experience if there is a sense of higher-ordered meaning to the events;
the questions arising about why an individual survives these conflicts might
contribute to a more attentive awareness and therefore peak-experience (Osran,
Smee, Sreenivasan & Weinberger, 2010).
Hopefully, the advent of
non-judgmental and fully attended experiences can become inevitable for people
who might have otherwise lived entirely through acts which fulfill some
deficiency, through the experience of others who have become less egocentric
and a sensitivity to other societies who have abandoned attachments to
completely salient individual identity in favor of communal success,
mindfulness is an activity which can no longer be prevented by the absolution
of egocentric identity.
There is a song, in modern popular
culture by a band named Linkin Park which was just released which might
describe the alchemical process of going to ego, creating identity, and then
transcending ego and identity, it’s called “Burn it Down”. In a sense it is
asking us to do away with independent senses of self which we have created on
our own, to provide the motivation toward a more communal social ideal (Linkin
Park, 2012). Maybe through some combination of eastern and western ideas, it
will become more easy for people to attain a sense of what Ferrer (2011) calls
spiritual individuation. In that discourse Ferrer (2011) relates that although
the end values may be similar, the complete spiritual epistemologies which
people create are unique to them and not universal; so in a way perhaps there
is another spiritual identity to seek through the eventual individuation of
systems which bring us the egoless mindfulness awareness that we strive for, each
in unique ways. The construction of and dissolution of ego, and the dialectic
between the ego and egoless, might be the best way that meaning in experience
can be brought into perception. Of course neither side of such dialectic can be
perfect, but perhaps the potential created between going to and returning from
ego as this paper describes is, the source of change in human behavior.
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