humanistic approach

what are the assumptions of the humanistic approach

- studying individuals as a whole rather than break them into parts

- uses a holistic approach to understanding individuals

- believes the subjective experiences of individuals is important

- everyone has free will over their development and behaviour

- aim should be to discover what it means to be human

in order to achieve the aim of the humanistic approach what do humanists focus on

- conscious experience rather than behaviour

- personal responsibility and free will rather than determinism

- discussion of experience rather than experimental methods

what is holism

the understanding of human behaviours and devlopment by looking at their whole experience

how does holism oppose reductionism

reductionism involves isolating and testing parts of the human experience/behaviour wheras humanism/holism looks at the whole person

what does humanism support

- personal growth self-actualisation, and well-being are best achieved when all parts of an individuals life are considered together

what does free will mean

people have control over and chose their own behaviours and actions

how does free will relate to the humanistic approach

takes into consideration that people are affected by internal and external influences but that they are also active agents who can determine their own development

what should psychology concern itself with in relation to humanistic psychology and free will

should concern itself with the study of the subjective rather than general laws

what did Maslow argue against Freud

freud supplied us with the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the healthy half

what did Maslow claim in 1943

humans require dfferent needs to be met to achieve self-actualisation

what does self-actualisation mean

achieving the most that we are capable of

how does self-actualisation take form

it takes form of peak experiences which are characterised by feelings of euphoria and seeing the world with awe and wonder without any fear or inhibitions

what did Maslow claim everyone had

deficiencies which need to be fulfilled to help personal growth

from the bottom up; what is included in Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

- physiological needs

- safety and security

- love and belonging

- self-esteem

- self-actualisatin

what is included as physiological needs

breathing, food, sex, sleep, homeostasis, and excretion

what is included in safety and security

security of body, resources, employment, morality, family, health, and property

what is included in love and belonging

friendship, family, sexual intimacy, and sense of connection

what is included in self-esteem

confidence, achievement, respect of others, and respect by others

what is included in self-actualisation

morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts

when deficiency needs are met at the bottom of the hierarchy, what is it design to do

reduce inadequacies or deficiencies

when needs are met toward the top of the hierarchy, what does it represent?

represents growth motivation and designed to produce personal growth

what does personal growth include

spirituality and creativity

why is personal growth considered an essential part of what it is to be human

because its concerned with developing and changinh to become fulfilled, satisfied, and goal oriented

what do most people have

an innate desire to achieve their full potential meaning they feel contented with their achievements and are satisfied that they have done their best

is self-actualisation the same as success as achievement

no

what did rogers concentrate on

the process of self-realisation

what is important to understanding the human personality

the concept of self

what is self concept

mainly conscious and is made up of thoughts and feelings about ourselves as individuals in relation to others

what are the three types of self-concept

- self worth

- self image

- ideal self

what does self worth mean

self-esteem and concerns what we think about ourselves

what does self-image mean

how we see ourselves

what does ideal self mean

self-concept an individual is most likely to have

what is Q-sort

where a person being assessed is presented with a pile of cards each containing a statement of personal relevance, and the person initially decides which statement best descrives their own self which statements are the next best in their descriptive power and so on right down to the last descriptive one, once they have done this it is repeated with respect to individuals ideal self finally the investigator calculates the discrepancy between two categorisations

what is congruence

the gap between self concept and ideal self

what happens when congruence is large

if the gap is big it is incongruent and can lead to low self esteem

what is rare in terms of congruence

a complete state of it as most people experience a degree of incongruence

what do people tend to use in order to feel less threatened by inconsistencies of how they are and what they want to be

defense mechanisms

what is essential to achieve self-actualisation

congruence

what are conditions of worth

an expectation whereby an individual feels that approval from others is dependent upon them meeting the standards of behaviours set by others

what do conditions of worth lead to

conditional positive regard or unconditional positive regard

what does a conditional positive regard mean

individuals will only feel accepted when they meet the expectations of others

what does an uncodnitional positive regard mean

if they experience this alongside acceptance and love at all times they will experience congryence and are more likely to achieve self-actualisation

what does unconditional positive regard refer to

the acceptance and valuing of someone precisely as they are without judgement, criticism, or evaluation

what happens when people offer unconditional positive regard

it plays a role in nurturing that idnividuals growth conveying to people that they will be granted grace and acceptance even in the face of their mistakes and faliures

what did rogers believe about uncodnitional positive regard

enable individuals to become their authentic selves and reveal their deepest fears or secrets whilst being met with acceptance

what does a conditional positive regard refer to

conditions which are imposed in order to be accepted

what does a conditional positive regard mean for people

individuals only experience happy relations with others and self-esteem if they are meeting the expectations put on by others

what does a conditional positive regard lead to

incongruence and will affect progression through Maslows hierarchy of needs

what care is humanistic psychology centered around

client/person-centred care

what are the strengths of humanistic psychology

- positive implications

- holism

how are positive implications strengths to humanistic psychology

contributed to the development of talking therapies whcih helps people fulfil some of the deficiency in the hierarchy of needs or offer unconditional positive regard to patients to help them achieve congruence

how is holism a strength to humanistic psychology

it takes the holistic view of behaviour and explaining human development this means it looks at the whole experience rather than breaking them apart into testable areas so they approach captures and understands the complexity of human experience

what are the limitations of humanistic psychology

- cultural bias

- scientific credibility

how is cultural bias a limitation of humanistic psychology

some cultured do not believe in self actualisation is the ultimate goal so cultural differences must be considered by the approach

what is an example of a culture that doesnt believe self-actualisation is the ultimate goal

the blackfoot tribe in north america as they believe cultural actualisation is the peak experience and self actualisation is the lowest level of their hierarchy of needs

how is scientific credibility a limitation of humanistic psychology

it is hard to test empirically so the approach is not compatible with the aims of science