The Theoretical Foundations of a New Psychology

Humanness can be understood on the basis of three components: Three motives; three behaviours; three feelings; three thoughts; three problems; and three solutions. In other words, if you were to reduce all psychological theories down to their basics, each theory would merge onto these three factors, which cannot be reduced any further. Almost every theory mentions them, but they’re never placed in their proper context. They’re simply too ‘large’ for an individual theory to see, and most attempts to step back and look at the bigger picture become very confused as they try to incorporate seemingly inconsistent details. In contrast, the three components I’m about to discuss are very simple. In fact, they’re so simple, they will seem obvious.

Component 1 (Hope)
Approach, control, hope, joy, depression, sadness, hopelessness, happiness, dreams, goals, disappointment, excitement, extraversion, positive affect.

Component 2 (Faith)
Avoidance, anxiety, worry, rumination, fear, anger, faith, belief, trust, peace, calmness, serenity, relaxation, neuroticism, negative affect.

Component 3 (Truth)
Truth seeking, clarity, escape, escapism, self-deception, lies, self-enhancement, responsibility, cloudiness, delusions, hallucinations, numbness, authenticity, honesty, genuineness.

From a a metatheoretical standpoint, these components reflect a massive number of psychological theories, including core biblical ideas that are reviewed elsewhere. Importantly, they sit well with other broad theoretical models such as BIS/BAS, PA/NA, and the Tripartite model of depression, anxiety and distress. They are also based on the dynamic affective theories of Carver, and emotion regulation theories more generally, such as James J. Gross' modal model of emotions. Clearly, component 3 has not been bundled with the first two components in previous theories. This may primarily be attributed to the difficulty in measuring this component. Factor analysis would therefore be very unlikely to derive such an implicit factor, and ideas such as self-deception are somewhat taboo when discussing issues of disorder. However, the three factors also reflect the three basic diagnostic categories of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and psychotic disorders. This gives them massive explanatory power. This model may also clarify the common coexistance of depression, anxiety, and psychotic features; which cross current diagnostic boundaries.

So what shall these components be named? One system is to use their functional features: hope, faith, and truth. Another is to use their expressions: joy, peace, and understanding. Another is to use somewhat more psychological terms, such as approach, avoidance, and escapism. The problem with this final category however, is that they are valenced differently. Approach is a positive component, whilst avoidance and escapism are negative. For the time being, they will be referred to as hope, faith, and truth.