Humanistic Approach

Question 1

What’s the humanistic approach?

Answer 1

• claims that humans have free will
• self-determined
• we’re all unique
• people should be viewed holistically
• rejects scientific models

Question 2

What’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Answer 2

• Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
• developed hierarchy as a way for employers to get the best out of their employees by understanding their needs
• pyramid shape
• basic needs at the bottom, complex needs at the top
• have to fulfil basic needs before you can achieve the top

Question 3

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 3

1. Self-actualisation
2. Esteem
3. Love/belonging
4. Safety
5. Physiological

Question 4

What’s self-actualisation?

Answer 4

• fulfilment of the true potential of the self
• everyone has the drive to achieve self-actualisation, but we don’t all achieve it

Question 5

Focus on the Self

Answer 5

• Carl Rogers suggested we have three selves that need to be integrated to achieve self-actualisation
• the self-concept, the ideal self, the real self

Question 6

What’s the self-concept?

Answer 6

• the way you see yourself

Question 7

What’s the ideal self?

Answer 7

• the self you wish to be

Question 8

What’s the real self?

Answer 8

• the person you actually are

Question 9

What’s congruence?

Answer 9

• to achieve self-actualisation, Rogers believed that there should be a small gap between the self-concept and the ideal self
• negative feelings of self-worth arise from incongruence
• self esteem will be lowered

Question 10

What are conditions of worth?

Answer 10

• requirements that an individual feels they need to meet to be loved
• if an individual feels these conditions of worth, they do NOT experience unconditional positive regard
• makes self-actualisation harder to achieve
• through therapy, rogers tried to give his clients the unconditional positive regard they hadn’t received as a child

Question 11

Counselling Psychology / client-centred therapy

Answer 11

• aims to increase feelings of self-worth and reduce the gap between the self-concept and the ideal self
• therapist gives client unconditional positive regard, making them more honest
• when they’re honest, they can recognise the barriers to making their three selves congruent
• self esteem will be increased and self actualisation is more likely to be achieved
• therapy also helps to improve the client’s attitude

Question 12

strength of humanistic approach - not reductionist

Answer 12

• humanistic psychologists advocate holism, the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the person as a whole
• increases validity
• makes it different to other reductionist approaches

Question 13

strength of humanistic approach - positive approach

Answer 13

• promotes a positive image of the human condition
• Freud saw humans as slaves to their past which was pessimistic (psychodynamic)
• humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative
• not deterministic like the other approaches
• allows for personal development and change

Question 14

strength of humanistic approach - counselling psychology / client-centred therapy

Answer 14

• referred to as ‘clients’ rather than ‘patients’ - positive
• transformed psychotherapy
• focuses on present problems rather than dwelling on the past like Freud’s psychoanalysis
• however, it’s only appropriate for mild psychological conditions
• research by Elliot (2002) - reviewed 86 studies and found that humanistic therapies prompted a significant improvement in clients

Question 15

weakness of humanistic approach - untestable concepts

Answer 15

• includes vague ideas that aren’t observable or measurable, and therefore difficult to test
• concepts such as self-actualisation and congruence can’t be assessed
• lacks scientific credibility and empirical evidence

Question 16

weakness of the humanistic approach - culture bias

Answer 16

• ideas such as personal growth would be more associated with individualist cultures e.g. US
• collectivist cultures e.g. India, which emphasise the need of community and interdependence, may not identify with the ideas and values of the humanistic approach
• an incomplete explanation of behaviour