a01 humanistic psychology

What id humanistic psychology come as a result of whose work

Carl rogers

Abraham Maslow

How does humanistic psychology relate to psychodynamic and behavioursst

It became the ‘third force’

It represented as a challenge to both approaches

Freud dealt with the ‘sick’ part of psychology and Roger’s death with the ‘healthy’ growth in individuals

What are the 3 assumptions of humanistic psychology

People are self determining - make choices beyond genes or backrounds

Should study individuals (idiographic) - cant understand people by using the average of the group

Research should be focused on whole person (holistic) as you can miss emergening properties with reductionism’s - the emergent properties can only be measured when studying the whole person

What is the definition of humanism

Humanism is the belief that human beings are born with the desire to grow,create and love

We have power to direct our own lives.

Why was it designed to be a positive approach

The theorist rejected the negative way that some other approaches examined behaviour and the reasons behind their behaviour

What is the approach designed to do

The approach is designed to help people better themselves and it contrasts to the biological appproach where they focus on the phsyical/neural issue of behaviour (It makes people feel they cant change and thus could lead to depression)

What does humanistic approach think of free will

It claims humans as self determining

People are still affected by external and internal infleucne but are also active agents who can determine their own development

Why did rogers and Maslow reject scientific methods that attempted to form general principles of behaviour

Active agents are unique so psychology should focus on subjective experience rather than general laws

It focuse on a person centred approach

Active agents decide their own choosing it is not all determined by external factors or internal factors but both alongside free will

Is the approach holistic and hwy?

The approach is holistic

It believes the scientific method is flawed when applied to human behaviour

We can instead work towards self actualisation

What dos Maslows hierarchy of needs tell us

Which factors are important in different situations

What is one type of experience the approach emphasise itself on and give an example as to why this is important

The approach emphasis on the conscious experience and the ability to choose our own futures

The ability to choose how we behave without the influence of external factors is an essential concept

It’s important when applied to a person experiencing a mental illness such as depression - they can choose to take steps to change and work towards not feeling depressed

Who emphasises the importance of free will and what was he devloping at the time

Roger’s emphasise the importance of free will when developing counselling therapy

What was Abrahams maslows key interest when creating the hierarchy of needs

He wanted to find what motivates people

He created the model to show what motivates our behaviour

What must be done to achieve the primary goal of self actualisation

Deficient needs must be met first

What do humanistic psychologists regard as essential part of what it is to be human

Personal growth is an essential part of what it is to be human

What is personal growth

It is about developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled, satisfied and goal orientated.

Most people have an innate desire to acheive their full potential

What did Maslow characterise life as

Maslow characterised life as a series of peak experiences

Moments of great achievement, ecstasy or elation when all deficiency needs are satisfied.

What type of people did Maslow research on

He did research on a number of self actualisers

People who were fulfilled in life and has used their abilities to the fullest

Describe maslows hierarchy of needs

Starts with physiological needs - food + water (E.g homeless people)

Then moves onto safety needs - security

In England majority have met these needs

Then moves to belonging and love needs - friends and relationships

Esteem needs - feeling they’ve accomplished something worthwhile

A small number then get onto self actualisation - achieving ones full potential.

What is the idea of congruence and who came up with it

Rogers used concept of self actualisation to describe the balance where a persons real self is congruent to their ideal self.

This congruence was the person becoming fully functioning.

Ideal self = what we wish to be

Real self = what we really are

Complete congruence betwee the ideal self and real self is rare.

What happens when there is a failure to reach congruence and what is this similar to

People may use defence mechanisms to protect themselves from harm if they fail to reach congruence

This is a similar concept to Psychoynamic theory and you can see how Freud influenced the work of later theorists.

What did Carl Roger’s argue about personal growth

He argues personal growth depends on congruence between an individuals self concept and their ideal self. If there is too big of a gap that exists between the 2 selves the person will experience a state of incongruence and self actualisation will not be possible because the incogrunce leads to low self worth.

What is conditions of worth

Roger’s introduced this concept when claiming many of our issues we exepereicne as adults have thei roots in childhood.

They are requirements that we think we need to meet to have worth

What are conditions of worth often guided by and what happens if we fail to meet conditions of worth

Those who are significant in out lives

If we fail to meet these conditions we fail to have congruence and would therefore feel bad about ourselves.

What dos conditional love reduce

Conditional love reduces an individuals sense of worth leading to psychological problems in the future

Give an example of conditions of worth

Your teacher may expect a grades but u get d grades

To protect u feeling bad u decide you dont like the teacher or subject

What did rogers develop

Client centred therapy (counselling) to help people reduce the gap between their self concept and their ideal self - producing a state of congruence.

What did rogers believe therapists shoul try to acheive with counselling

Effective therapists should provide clients with the unconditional positive regard they may not have received as children

The therapists spends so much time listening and responding to the patient

Counsellor attempts to help the patient to solve their own problems and to bring their ideal self in line with their real self

Reach state of congruence when they are close or the same

Counsellor provides a caring supportive environment where the individuals can remove current conditions of worth with more realistic ones - helping patient move towards greater congruence.