Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Fromm: Humanistic
Psychoanalysis
© The McGraw−Hill^201
Companies, 2009need to give up their sense of self. They do not have to surrender their freedom and
individuality in order to fit into society because they possess an authentic sense of
identity.
Frame of Orientation
A final human need is for a frame of orientation.Being split off from nature, hu-
mans need a road map, a frame of orientation, to make their way through the world.
Without such a map, humans would be “confused and unable to act purposefully and
consistently” (Fromm, 1973, p. 230). A frame of orientation enables people to or-
ganize the various stimuli that impinge on them. People who possess a solid frame
of orientation can make sense of these events and phenomena, but those who lack a
reliable frame of orientation will, nevertheless, strive to put these events into some
sort of framework in order to make sense of them. For example, an American with a
shaky frame of orientation and a poor understanding of history may attempt to un-
derstand the events of September 11, 2001, by blaming them on “evil” or “bad”
people.
Every person has a philosophy, a consistent way of looking at things. Many
people take for granted this philosophy or frame of reference so that anything at odds
with their view is judged as “crazy” or “unreasonable.” Anything consistent with it
is seen simply as “common sense.” People will do nearly anything to acquire and re-
tain a frame of orientation, even to the extreme of following irrational or bizarre
philosophies such as those espoused by fanatical political and religious leaders.
A road map without a goal or destination is worthless. Humans have the men-
tal 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). Ac-
cording to Fromm, this goal or object of devotion focuses people’s energies in a sin-
gle direction, enables us to transcend our isolated existence, and confers meaning to
their 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 sepa-
rate 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 re-
sults in insanity. Thus, people are strongly driven to fulfill them in some way or an-
other, either positively or negatively.
Table 7.1 shows that relatedness can be satisfied through submission, domina-
tion, or love, but only love produces authentic fulfillment; transcendence can be sat-
isfied by either destructiveness or creativeness, but only the latter permits joy; root-
edness 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).
Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis 195