Humanistic approach

What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

A motivational theory comprising a five tier model of human needs - depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid

What are the three assumptions of humanistic psychology?

1. Humans have free will and are active agents - they are able to control and determine their own development

2. Humans strive towards achieving self actualisation

3. To be psychologically healthy the perceived self and ideal self must be congruent

What is self actualisation?

A continual strive for personal growth and self-fulfilment

What are the five stages of Maslow’s hierarchy?

1. Physiological

2. Safety

3. Belongingness and love

4. Esteem

5. Self actualisation

What is the perceived and ideal self?

Perceived self = how we see ourselves in real life

Ideal self = the person we want to be

What is congruence?

When there is similarity (small gap) between a person’s ideal self and their perceived self

What is incongruence?

When there is a big difference (large gap) between a person’s ideal self and their perceived self.

What is unconditional positive regard?

A parent loving a child no matter what

What are conditions of worth?

Parents placing limits or boundaries on their love of their child - e.g ‘I’ll only love you if you do medicine’

What leads to incongruence?

Experiencing conditional positive regard as a child and the parents placing conditions of worth on the child.

What is the aim of client centred therapy?

Increase persons feeling of self-worth and reduce incongruence between ideal and perceived self

What are the three traits a Rogerian therapist must show?

1. Empathy

2. Genuiness

3. Unconditional positive regard

What is meant by client centres therapy being non-directive?

People views as ‘clients’ and experts of own condition, whilst therapist acts as a guide.

What are the strengths of the humanistic approach?

It’s a positive approach: this is as humanistic psychologists ‘bring the person back into psychology’ and promote a positive image of the human condition. Freud saw humans as slaves to their unconscious but this offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative; sees all people as good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives .

Counter argument: some critics argue that humanistic psychology represents an overly idealised and unrealistic view of human nature - the view that personality development is directed only by an innate potential for growth is seen as an oversimplification. Encouraging people to focus on their own self-development rather than on situational forces may be neither realistic nor appropriate in modern society.

It also has research support for conditions of worth: Individuals who experience conditional positive regard are likely to display more ‘false self-behaviour’ - doing things to meet other’s expectations even when they clash with their own values.

For example Harter et al. (1996) found teenagers who created a ‘false self and pretended to be the kind of person their parents would love, were more likely to develop depression and a tendency to lose touch with their true self. These results are consistent with Rige

What are the limitations of the humanistic approach?

It is culture-biased: The ideas central to the approach would be more associated with individualist cultures in the western world. Rather than collectivist cultures such as China and India, which emphasise the needs of the groups, community and interdependence. So many not identify easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology.

E.g Maslow’s hierarchy doesn’t apply easily to collectivist cultures. Nevis (1983) found belongingness needs in China were seen as more fundamental than physiological needs and that self-actualisation was defined more in terms of contributions to the community than in terms of individual development.

It’s untestable concepts: Humanistic psychology includes a number of vague ideas that are abstract and difficult to test. Concepts such as self-actualisation and congruence may be useful therapeutic tools but would prove problematic to assess under experimental conditions.

Counter argument: Rogers did attempt to introduce more rigour into his work by developing the Q-sort - an objective measure of progress in therapy.

Name strengths and limitations of the humanistic approach:

Stengths:

• Positive approach

• Research to support for conditions of worth

Limitations:

• Culture-biased

• Untestable concepts