Humanistic approach

Humanistic approach

What is universal law?

absolute rules of human behaviour - suggests everyone acts the same

Humanistic approach

What is holism?

looks at the whole (eg: all experiences of the person), rather than the constituent parts

Humanistic approach

What does congruent mean?

when a person’s 'ideal self' is in line with their 'actual self’

Humanistic approach

What does incongruent mean?

when a persons 'ideal self' is not in line with their 'actual self', causing unpleasant feelings

Humanistic approach

What does free will mean?

you can decide what you do yourself (autonomy)

Humanist

What do humanistic psychologists believe?

• although external/internal factors influence us, humans beings are self-determining + have freewill

• emphasise the importance of subjective experience and each person's capacity for self-determination

• so psychology should consider/study subjective experiences → reject scientific models that establish general laws for behaviour

Humanist approach
Why do Maslow and Rogers reject scientific models?

Believe we are all unique so should have a 'person centred approach'

Humanistic approach

What are the ‘idea self’ and ‘real self’?

Ideal: internalised concept of the perfect image of ourselves, often used to compare w/ actual self’s behaviour w/

Real: internalised concept of how the person views themself

Humanistic approach

What are the stages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

1. physiological (Eg: food, water)

2. safety (eg: protection, security)

3. love/belonging (eg: affection, relationships)

4. self-esteem needs (eg: achievement, cofidence)

5. self actualisation (reaching your full potential - all lower levels need to be met to do this)

(developed 1950s)

Humanistic approach

what is a practical use of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

a way for employers to get the best out of their employees by understanding their needs

Humanist approach

What are some examples of self actualisation?

• morality

• creativity

• spontaneity

• lack of prejudice

Humanist approach

What is the effect of incongruence on self worth?

• to achieve personal growth the need to have congruence

• when incongruence exists, self-actualisation is not possible due to low feelings of self worth

Humanist approach

What are ‘conditions of worth’?

when parents place limits of criteria their child must meet to achieve worth

Humanist approach

Carl Rogers:

1. What did Roger’s say people strive to achieve?

2. What did Rogers feel about Freud?

3. Where does Roger’s claim worth issues stem from?

1. their ideal self as they are motivated by self improvement

2. that he delt with the ‘sick half’ of psychology (vs the humanistic approach which deals with explanations of healthy growth)

3. childhood where conditions of worth were applied

Humanist approach

what does this diagram show?

congruence

Humanist approach

what does this diagram show?

incongruence

Humanist approach

What creates low/high self worth?

• humans have a need to feel nurtured by significant people in their lives (Eg: parents) → if given freely (unconditional positive regard) people develop a healthy sense of self worth

• children who get negative regard (eg: criticism, blame) develop low self worth → to avoid, parent’s should blame the behaviour, not the child

Humanist approach

What is a method of measuring the self, congruence, and conditions of worth?

• Stevenson (1953)’s Q-sort assessment

• was adopted into Client Centred Therapy by Rogers

• it’s a measurement of (in)congruence by a series of cards containing personal statements (eg: ‘needs recognition from others’)

• the person sorts the cards to describe the real self, and ideal self

Humanist approach

How does Rogers deal with incongruence?

Developed client-centred therapy:

Provides: genuineness, empathy and unconditional positive regard to increase a patient's feelings of self-worth → reduce the level of incongruence

Humanist approach

Evaluation: promotes a positive image of the human condition

humanistic psychology offers a refreshing alternative vs eg: Freud viewed humans as being enslaved by their past → sees people as good, free to work for self-improvement, and in control of their life → Roberts et al (2000) showed that adolescents w/ strong belief in fatalism (their lives = decided by events outside of their control) = more at risk of depression → SO humanistic approach can improve quality of life

Humanist approach

Evaluation: holism

doesn’t isolate key variables, so may have more ecological validity than other theories because it considers meaningful behaviour in it’s real life context BUT could be seen as unscientific bcs if can’t isolate key variables, can’t establish cause/effect

Humanist approach

Evaluation: research to say outside factors can influence our psychological process

eg: acute stress can be explained by the sympathetic adrenal Medullary system (largely out of people’s control) → suggests that humans behaviour isn’t necessarily always ‘free’ like humanistic approach suggests

Humanist approach

Evaluation: relatively little impact on psych as a whole

although Roger’s theory revolutionised counselling, + Maslow’s HON used to explain motivation (esp. in the workplace → increasing productivity + economic benefits), has limited impact on pscyh as a whole → bcs it has v limited evidence + lots of abstract ideas

Humanist approach

Evaluation: cultural bias

freewill, + personal growth = v individualistic, whereas collectivistic cultures (eg: Japan and China) emphasise interdependence → so some cultures don’t identify easily with this theory, so it’s culturally bound + limits application