Verified Document

Choice Theory And Human Behavior Essay

Related Topics:

Mottern (2008) writes that Dr. William Glasser's internal control approach labeled as 'Choice Theory' postulates that the following five fundamental needs drive all of human behavior -- a physiological need to survive and 4 psychological needs (belongingness or love or acceptance; authority or acknowledgement or accomplishment; independence, or individuality or choice; and learning or excitement or enjoyment. To sum up, choice theory basically suggests that one's behavior is one's own choice.People develop all through the course of their lifespan. In this context, the term 'development' may be defined as: one's capacity of making progressively better choices with regard to fulfilling one's fundamental needs. A choice will then be "good" if it brings one nearer to satisfying fundamental needs in a harmless manner (both to ourselves and others). A less effectual or "bad" choice would be one that fails to bring one nearer to satisfying fundamental needs, or one that poses harm to oneself or others. We make choices right from babyhood through all of life's physiological developmental phases -- childhood, teenage, young adulthood, middle adulthood and old age. Everyone progresses from dependency on other people to have their needs met to consciously deciding and acting to fulfill their fundamental needs themselves. This progress is called development;...

One won't traverse multiple developmental phases but will progressively improve and make more efficient choices to fulfill one's needs. Such progression is marked by decreased motivation to satisfy needs. Although every fundamental need drives man to attain satisfaction, one point to bear in mind is that need fulfillment is itself continuously changing. Needs fulfillment changes relational environment and relationship changes (Mottern, 2008).
With age and change of life roles, people begin satisfying their fundamental needs in different ways. Fundamental needs of children are chiefly fulfilled by dependency on parents. Teens meet their fundamental needs by means of peer relationships, while young adults do so through intimate/spousal relationships and interactions with people they encounter in educational and workplace settings. Middle-aged people fulfill fundamental needs through workplace relations and elderly individuals do so through their relationships with close friends and spouses. While fundamental needs remain the same, a person's life roles undergo change, depending on the choices made for satisfying them (Mottern, 2008).

Incorporating Components of the Choice Theory



According to Schaller (2016), social workers foster social growth and change as well as empower people, thereby improving…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Social Work Theories Human Behavior Is Very
Words: 1534 Length: 6 Document Type: Creative Writing

Social Work Theories Human behavior is very difficult to predict on a consistent basis. The amount of stimuli that the human mind intakes causes an infinite amount of possibilities that the person can choose from. Luckily for professional social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists conducting many experiments have developed certain theories that can explain human behavior. These models are tools that healers and doctors can use to help identify and eventually treat

Human Behavior Through the Lens
Words: 1703 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

From issues mundane to issues involving the survival of humankind itself, Prospect Theory helps people to analyze the way they analyze the world in order to come up with a much better understanding of the potential risks and outcomes they are faced with. The assignment of value within the decisions and outcomes has a bearing on the decisions themselves, and as each group of people assigns certain value to

Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Family Challenges
Words: 921 Length: 3 Document Type: Chapter

Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Family Challenges Human interactions are guided by the ability of every player to get close to the other in such a manner that allows each of them to handle the issues that affect them. This is mostly witnessed in a family setup, where the people are made to understand the best of what can upset them at all times. This is where the players in

Human Behavior to Understand the Range of
Words: 3040 Length: 9 Document Type: Article Review

human behavior to understand the range of behaviors that people show under the influence of emotions, parenting, culture, attitudes, values, ethics, force and genetics. It is understood through this research how the human behavior can be usual or unusual and acceptable or acceptable. The main focus is on the work of social scientists including Finn, Jacobson, and Payne. Finn and Jacobson wrote an article "Just practice: Steps toward a

Understanding of Human Behavior
Words: 2130 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Human Relation -- A Social Science Perspective Fundamental differences between the social sciences and the natural sciences Science is commonly taken to be an attempt at predicting, understanding, and explaining our world, using distinctive modes of analysis for developing theories. However, defining a collection of attributes that distinguish sciences from religion, fortune telling, astrology and other such disciplines (not categorized under sciences), which also aim at understanding and explaining our world, is

Theories of Behavior Applied
Words: 1009 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Paper

Behaviorist and Cognitive Theory Psychology took a center stage and significant change in the early 20th Century when the behaviorism school of thought became dominant. This was a major change from other theoretical perspectives that existed before hence rejecting emphasis on unconscious and conscious mind. Behaviorism strove to see that psychology becomes a more scientific discipline in that focus will be mainly on observable behavior. This approach to psychology whereby the

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now