Humanism

what is a key assumption of humanism

One key assumption is that humans have free will. This sees people as active agents with choice and freedom in how to behave (though within a moral and legal code) and is in direct contrast to determinism

Another key assumption also states that we must view people holistically (considering all aspects of a person) and not reduce behaviours to smaller component parts (compared with reductionist approaches such as the biological approach).

Another key assumption is that were all trying to work are way up and progress through the hierarchy of needs According to humanists, we progress through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and strive towards self-actualisation (reaching one’s full potential

talk through mallows hierarchy of needs

what is incongruence

this is when there are large gaps/ small overlap between ideal and real self.

what is congruence

this is when ideal and real self perfectly or almost perfectly align

self actualisation

This is an innate desire to become the best version of your self through personal growth

what can cause in congruences

When there are conditions of worth and conditional positive regard, psychological problems may develop as they cause incongruence between the actual self (how the person is) and the ideal self (how they think they should be). The person tries to close the gap between the actual and ideal self but most people do this in unhelpful ways e.g. by chasing achievements that won’t actually make them content or by distorting their view of themselves or the world

what can help to immunises incongruence

unconditional positive regard

where does this approach stand on nature and nature

In the nature-nurture debate, humanists favour nurture, because of the influence of experiences on a person’s ways of perceiving and understanding the world, but also acknowledge the influence of biological drives and needs eg the physiological needs on the bottom of the pyramid

One strength is that this approach is holistic not reductionist

It emphasises autonomy and free will in our choice of behaviour as well as taking a more holistic approach. This is an advantage because it avoids viewing human behaviour in a deterministic and reductionist way, instead seeing people as being in control of their lives, experiences and relationships with other people. Humanism can therefore be praised for incorporating human emotions.

What is a real world application

It has real world applications. One such area is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which has been widely applied outside of humanistic psychology e.g. to business. For example, the motives of a person to work have been investigated according to the different needs in the hierarchy as well as helping to understand and predict what gives people job satisfaction and why some people are driven to be successful in their career.

also another real world application related to therapy

Rogers developed client centred therapy which focuses upon the present problems without dwelling on the past and has shown effectiveness for ‘mild’ psychological problems such as anxiety and low self-worth. This aims to increase a person’s self-worth and reduce the level of incongruence between their actual self and ideal self. As such, they will become a fully functioning person. This form of counselling therapy has shown application to education, health, social work and industry.

It has a non scientific approach

It is based upon non-scientific research methods. For example, many have a small sample size which prevents generalisation to the wider public and they are highly subjective which means that they are prone to researcher bias. Behaviourists and biological psychologists would therefore argue that psychology should adopt a scientific approach when studying behaviour and mental processes as it will provide greater understanding and knowledge at a theoretical level. Evidence and facts gathered through scientific procedures such as experiments are objective and can be used to support a theory or hypothetical statement.

One limitation is that they instinctually believe that people are good

Ultimately, the approach believes that people are intrinsically good but in practice, this isn’t always the case as people don’t always choose the correct paths in life nor do they always choose positive outcomes. The topic of crime shows that people don’t always operate within a legal and moral code, yet the humanistic theory provides no explanation for this and simply states that people are basically good, and have an innate need to strive for self-actualisation to make themselves and the world better. This is therefore a rather idealistic view and we perhaps need to look towards other approaches for more adequate explanations of crime

One limitation is that CCT has limited use

Some have argued that Client Centred Therapy is of limited use. Whilst Rogers’ theory was reasonably effective with less severe disorders, it has been found to be ineffective with severe mental disorders e.g. schizophrenia. This would suggest that perhaps cognitive behavioural therapy, where individuals work in groups to role play situations in which they have a mental disorders, may be preferred as it can be used to treat people with a wide range of mental health problems e.g. phobias and OCD.

who came up with the idea of incongruence

Rogers

how can incongruence be fixed

adopt a more realistic ideal self and enhance self concept / perceived self

adopt a more realistic ideal self

often peoples idea selves are shaped by conditions of worth these are expectations from others that one must meet in order to gain there love or approval. Conditions of worth can lead to an ideal self that is unattainably perfect or not a true reflection of some ones genuine desires and values. By recognising theses unrealistic values and standards individuals can set more stainable goals that are in harmony with their true selves

Enhance self concept/perceived self

improving self concept/ perceived self is helped by receiving unconditional positive regard from others acceptance and love without conditions or expectations. when individuals experience this support they are more likely to develop a positive and realistic self image acknowledging there strengths and weaknesses without undue self criticism

who developed client centred therapy

Rogers

how does client centre therapy work

the therapist does not assume the role of an expert who directs the client instead the approach is founded on the belief that clients are the best expert on their own lives and experiences. The therapist role is to offer support facilitating the client journey toward self discovery and resolutions of their issues