Theories of Personality 9th Edition

236 Part II Psychodynamic Theories

A road map without a goal or destination is worthless. Humans have the

mental capacity to imagine many alternative paths to follow. To keep from going

insane, however, they need a final goal or “object of devotion” (Fromm, 1976,

p.  137). According to Fromm, this goal or object of devotion focuses people’s

energies in a single direction, enables us to transcend our isolated existence, and

confers meaning to our lives.

Summary of Human Needs

In addition to physiological or animal needs, people are motivated by five distinc-

tively human needs—relatedness, transcendence, rootedness, a sense of identity,

and a frame of orientation. These needs have evolved from human existence as a

separate species and are aimed at moving people toward a reunion with the natural

world. Fromm believed that lack of satisfaction of any of these needs is unbearable

and results in insanity. Thus, people are strongly driven to fulfill them in some

way or another, either positively or negatively.

Table 8.1 shows that relatedness can be satisfied through submission, domi-

nation, or love, but only love produces authentic fulfillment; transcendence can be

satisfied by either destructiveness or creativeness, but only the latter permits joy;

rootedness can be satisfied either by fixation to the mother or by moving forward

into full birth and wholeness; the sense of identity can be based on adjustment to

the group, or it can be satisfied through creative movement toward individuality;

and a frame of orientation may be either irrational or rational, but only a rational

philosophy can serve as a basis for the growth of total personality (Fromm, 1981).

The Burden of Freedom

The central thesis of Fromm’s writings is that humans have been torn from

nature, yet they remain part of the natural world, subject to the same physical

limitations as other animals. As the only animal possessing self-awareness, imag-

ination, and reason, humans are “the freak[s] of the universe” (Fromm, 1955, p.

23). Reason is both a curse and a blessing. It is responsible for feelings of isola-

tion and loneliness, but it is also the process that enables humans to become

reunited with the world.

TABLE 8.1

Summary of Fromm’s Human Needs

Relatedness Submission or domination Love

Transcendence Destructiveness Creativeness

Rootedness Fixation Wholeness

Sense of identity Adjustment to a group Individuality

Frame of orientation Irrational goals Rational goals

Negative Components Positive Components