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The Influence of Psychology

The social and psychological theories of our time also have an impact on our beliefs.Before the past few decades, people were urged to be self-disciplined,self-critical, and self-effacing. They were urged to practice self-denial,to aspire to self-knowledge, to behave in a manner that ensured they maintained self-respect. Self-centeredness was considered a vice."Hard work," they were told," leades to achievement,and that in turn produces satisfaction and self-confidence." By and large,our grandparents internalized those teachings.When they honored them in their behavior,they felt proud;when they dishonored them,they felt ashamed.

Today the theories have been changed--indeed,almost exactly reversed.Self-esteem,which nineteenth-century satirist Ambrose Bierce defined as "an erroneous appraisement," is now considered an imperative.Self-centeredness has been transformed from vice into virtue,and people who devote their lives to helping others,people once considered heroic and saintlike,are now said tobe afflicted with"a disease to please."The formula for success and happiness begins with feeling good about ourselves.Students who do poorly in school,workers who don't measure up to the challenges of their jobs,substance abusers,lawbreakers--all are typically diagnosed as deficient in self-esteem.

In addition,just as our grandparents internalized the social and psychological theories of their time,so most contemporary Americans have internalized the message of self-esteem.We hear people speak of it over coffee;we hear it endlessly invoked on talk shows.Challenges to its precepts are ususlly met with disapproval.

But isn't the theory of self-esteem self-evident?No.A negative perception of our abilities will,of course,handicap our performance.Dr Maxwell Maltz explains the amazing results one educator had in improving the grades of schoolchildren by changing their self-images.The educator had observed that when the children saw themselves as stupid in a particular subject(or stupid in general),they unconsciously acted to confirm their self-images.They believed they were stupid,so they acted that way.Reasoning that it was their defeatist attitude rather than any lack of ability that was undermining their efforts,the educator set out to change their self-images.He found that when he accomplished that,they no longer behaved stupidly!Maltz concludes from this and other examples that our experiences can work a kind of self-hypnotism on us,suggesting a conclusion about ourselves and then urging us to make it come true.

Many proponents of self-esteem went far beyond Maltz's demonstration that self-confidence is an important ingredient in success.They claimed that there is no such thing as too much self-esteem.Research does not support that claim.For example,Martin Seligman,an eminent research psychology,cites significant evidence that,rather than solving personal and social problems,including depression,the modern emphasis on self-esteem causes them.

Maltz's research documents that lack of confidence impedes performance,a valuable insight.But such research doesn't explain why the more global concept of self-esteem has become to dominant.The answer to that question lies in the popularization of the work of humanistic psychologists such as Abraham Maslow described what he called the hierarchy of human needs in the form of a pyramid,with physiological needs (food and drink) at the foundation.Above them,in ascending order, are safety needs,the need for belongingness and love,the need for esteem and approval,and aesthetic and cognitive needs(knowledge,understanding,etc.).At the pinnacle is the need for self-actualization,or fulfillment of our potential.In Maslow's view,the lower needs must be fulfilled before the higher ones.It's easy to see how the idea that self-esteem must precede achievement was derived from Maslow's theory.

Other theories might have been adopted,however.A notable one is Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's,which was advanced at roughly the same time as Maslow's and was based on both Frankl's professional practice and his experiences in Hitler's concentration camps. Frankl argues that one human need is higher than self-actualization； self-transcendence, the need to rise above narrow absorption with self.According to Frankl,"the primordial anthropological fact is that being human is being always directed,and pointing to something or someone other than oneself:to a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter,a cause to serve or a person to love."A person becomes fully human"by forgetting himself and giving himself,overlooking himself and focusing outward."

Making self-actualization (or happiness) the direct object of our pursuit,in Frankl's view,is ultimately self-defeating; such fulfillment can occur only as "the unintended effect of self-transcendence."The proper perspective on life,Frankl believes,is not what can give to us,but what it expects from us;life is daily--even hourly--questioning us, challenging us to accept "the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for[each of us]."

Finding meaning, according to Frankl's theory, involves "perceiving a possibility embedded in reality" and searching for challenging tasks "whose completion might to [one's] existence."But such perceiving and searching are frustrated by the focus on self:"As long as modern literature confines itself to,and contents itself with,self-expression-not to say self-exhibition-it reflects its authors' sense of futility and absurdity.What is more important,it also creates absurdity.This is understandable in light of the fact that meaning must be discovered,it cannot be invented.Sense cannot be created,but what may well be created is nonsense.

Whether we agree completely with Frankl,one thing is clear :Contemporary American culture would be markedly different if the emphasis over the past several decades had been on Frankl's theory rather than on the theories of Maslow and the other humanistic psychologists.All of us would have been affected--we can only imagine how profoundly--in our attitudes,values,and beliefs.

Translation:

Too long

自翻：

心理暗示：

社会理论和心理学理论在时间中对我们的信念也有一定影响。数十年前，人们被要求做到自律，自我批评以及谦虚的品质。他们被要求行为处事自我节制，追求有自知之明，要表现出一直自重的一种习惯。以自我为中心被视为缺点。“努力工作”，人们被告知，“实现目标，然后依次获得满足和自信”。总体来说，我们的祖辈接受并吸收这些教育。在他们的行为中获得荣誉时，他们感觉到自豪。当他们未能做到时，他们感到羞愧。

如今这些理论已经全部发生改变——的的确确的发生，几乎正好与过去相反。19世纪的讽刺作家Ambrose Bierce将“自负”定义为“一种错误的评价”，人们现在也在认真思考这个观点。以自我为中心也从缺点变成了优点，并且致力于帮助他人的那些人，过去被认为是楷模，是品德高尚之人，现在却苦恼于被说成是“一种讨人欢喜的病”。那些成功和快乐的法则都开始变成我们自己的感受要好才行。在学校表现不好的学生，工作中无法胜任工作的工人，挥霍无度的人，违反法律的人——他们所有的人都是在自负方面有缺陷的代表。

此外，就像我们的祖辈将社会习性和心理习性在时间中的影响消化吸收，大量同时代的美国人也将自负这条信念消化吸收。我们听到人们在喝咖啡的时候谈论它，我们不断的听到人们在对话中调用这个词。挑战这条准则通常都是碰到了不赞成的势力。

但是自负的理论是不证自明的吗？不是，关于我们能力消极的感受当然会阻碍我们的执行力。Maxwell Maltz教授研究得出一个神奇的结果，教育者可以通过改变学校学生的自我形象来提高学生的水平。教育者观察到当一个孩子在一个特殊的情景下认为自己愚蠢（或者正常的情境下认为自己愚蠢），他们就会不知不觉在行动中认同自己的这种自我形象。他们相信自己就是愚蠢的，因此他们的行为就显得愚蠢。从而推论出失败主义的态度要比缺乏能力要严重，这些态度都在潜意识中毁掉他们的努力，教育者打算改变这种自我形象的认知。他们发现当他们实现这个想法，这些孩子的行为就不再显得愚蠢。Maltz根据这些和其他例子推断出我们的经验可以以一种自我催眠的方式运作于我们自身，给自己一个关于自身结论的暗示然后推动我们自身去实现这个结论。

许多关于自负的支持者都在Maltz证明的基础上有了更深的认识，自信对于成功是更重要的元素。他们声称没有太多自负这样的事情。研究没有支持这种声明。例如，Martin Seligman,一位杰出的心理研究学家，引出了重大的证明，比起解决个人和社会问题，包括关于沮丧，现代过大的自负更容易导致这些问题。

Maltz的研究文件中表示缺乏自信会阻碍执行力，一个非常有价值的见解。但是如此多的研究不能解释为什么越来越多的关于自负的全球观点变得更有说服力。问题的答案在于人文主义心理学家的工作大众化，就像Abraham Maslow描述的那样将人类的需求描述为金字塔结构，生理需求（吃和喝）作为基础。在基础之上，按升序分别是，安全感的需求，爱和归属的需求，被尊重和认可的需求，审美和认知的需求（知识，学问等）。在金字塔顶的需求是自我实现或者说是我们潜能发挥。在Maslow的观察中，高级需求必须要在低级需求实现后才能实现。这就可以轻易看出自负一定要再自我实现之前完成这个想法是源自Maslow的理论。

然而其他理论也许也被采用。一个著名的例子是奥地利精神病学家Viktor Frank的理论，这个理论的发展时期和Maslow的理论差不多在同一时期，这个理论是建立在Frankl的专业实践以及其在集中营时的经验之上。Frankl提出一个人的内心的渴望远比自我实现和自我超越的需求要强大，这种渴望的提升是通过自我专注度来实现的。依照Frankl的说法，原始人类学的事实是人类常常需要被管理，并且指出某些事或人不同于其自身：去履行一些意义或者其他人类的相遇，服务于一结果，或者爱一个人。“一个人变成完人”是通过忘记自身的存在，奉献自己，认识自己并且聚焦于外界来实现。

在Frankl的眼里，我们直接完成自我实现（或快乐）的追求，最终会导致自我挫败；这样的实行仅仅会以“自我超越的非预期效应”的现象发生。Franklz相信在生命中适当的愿景不是我们能给自己提供什么，而是我们期望自己实现什么；生命的日常，即使每一小时，都要问自己，都要挑战自己接受：“人生的责任是找到困境的本质的答案并且履行那些不断安排给我们中任何一人的任务。”

根据Frankl的理论，找到的含义包括“在现实中植入一个可能性的认知”并且找到挑战的任务“完成的这些任务是有可能存在的”。但是这种认知和寻找会由于自身意愿而感到挫败：“就像文学范围内的自身表达一样，就内容而言，作者的自我表达没有说成自我展现，这些都是反映作者自身关于无价值和谬论的感受。更重要的事情到底是什么，他们也是在创造谬论。这是鉴于事实的一种理解，意义需要被发现，而不是被发明。感受不会被创建产生，但是荒谬的事情有可能被创建产生。

无论我们是否同意Frankl的观点，有一件事情是非常清楚的：如果在过去的几十年间人们关注的重点在Frankl的理论上而不是在Maslow和其他人本主义心理学家的理论上，那么同时代美国人民的文化会有明显的不同。我们每一个人都会被影响--我们能做的仅仅是想象究竟影响有多深刻——被我们的看法，价值观和信仰的影响。

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