humanism SCODA

supporting evidence

p - there is evidence to support Roger’s claims about the negative implications of conditional positive regard

e - Harter discovered that teenagers who feel that they have to fulfil certain conditions in order to gain parents’ approval frequently end up not liking themselves

e - these adolescents were also more likely to develop depression and lose touch with their own true self

l - this research is therefore consistent with Rogers’ view

critique

p - one strength of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that it acknowledges why individuals experience different *levels of personal growth*

E ***–*** It has also been linked to economic development,  countries at earlier stages of economic development were characterised be lower needs e.g. access to food and safety, while more advanced countries were focused on self-actualisation

E- However not every person’s motivation operates in the strict trajectory, for example Van Gogh painted when poor and starving so when basic needs were not being met

L – Furthermore humanist concepts, such as self-actualisation, are problematic to assess under experimental conditions due to their subjective nature

opposing research

p - there is opposing research for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in cross-cultural studies

e - e.g. Nevis found that in China belongingness needs were seen are more fundamental than psychological needs

e - self-actualisation was also defined more in terms of contributions to the community than individual development

l - however, in later development to his theory, Maslow did acknowledge that for some people, needs may appear in a different order or may be absent altogether

debates

p - one strength of the humanist approach is that it adopts a free will perspective on behaviour, they see the individual as capable of rejecting causal factors

e - the value of this is that it is consistent with the way our legal system operates

e - however it is not consistent with the aims of science, causal conclusions can’t be drawn

l - a better explanation is the cognitive approach as it adopts a soft determinism perspective; our ability to form schemas and the experiences we take in are determined, however we think before we act

real-life applications

p - one strength of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that it is applied in real life to increase employees’ motivation

e - e.g. in order to meet physiological needs, employers provide employees with water fountains, lunch breaks, even free lunch in some companies

e - employers also provide safe working conditions in order to meet employees’ safety needs

l - this illustrates the importance of meeting deficiency needs IRL