Abstract
Humans vary in many aspects of their psychology with differences routinely found in patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behaviours, setting individuals apart across time and place. Though many psychologists have attempted
to account for these individual differences, one area that has continued to generate interest and disagreement is the
concept of motivation. Today, understanding behavioural motivation remains one of the most important questions facing
personality theorists. In an attempt to better account for human motivation, the present exploration reviews seminal
theoretical positions put forward by Sigmund Freud from a Psychoanalytical perspective and contrastingly, that of Carl
Rogers from the Humanistic approach. Critical consideration is specifically applied to how verifiable each perspective
may be and the degree of empirical support either account has attained to date. Whilst understanding human motivation
is not a new endeavour, the present exploration provides a contemporary critical assessment of traditional psychological
explanations.
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