Evaluation on the humanistic approach

What are the 3 strengths of the humanistic approach?

3 strengths of the humanistic approach=

• Maslow’s hierarchy may have relevance on a much larger stage than individual growth

• reductionism

• it is optimistic

Why is Maslow’s hierarchy may have relevance on a much larger stage than individual growth?

Maslow’s hierarchy may have much relevance on a larger stage than individual growth a strength of the humanistic approach=

• Hagerty (1999) looked at the relationship between economic growth and measures of Maslow’s levels in 88 countries over a 34 year old period

• Countries in early stages of economic developmenbt were characterised by lower- level needs e.g. physiological needs such as food 

Predicted by Maslow’s model, it was only in the advanced stages of economic development that self- actualisation became important (e.g. using levels of educational enrolment as a measure of people’s desire to better themselves)

Why is the humanistic approach being reductionist a strength?

Humanistic approach being reductionist a strength=

• Behaviourists explain human and animal learning in terms of simple stimulus- response connections

• (Cognitive approach see human as little more than info-processing ‘machines’ )

• Biological psychologists reduce behaviour as to its physiological processes

• Freud described the whole of personality as a conflict between the Id, Ego and Superego

• HOWEVER, humanistic psychologists advocate holism, the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person

This approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-world context- psychology should be a science

Why is the humanistic approach being optimistic a strength?

Humanistic approach being optimistic a strength=

• Humanistic psychologists have been praised for bringing the person back into psychology and promoting a positive image of the human condition

• Freud saw human beings as prisoners of their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’

• In contrast, humanistic psychologists see all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives

This suggests that humanistic psychology offers an optimistic alternative to other approaches

What are the two weaknesses of the humanistic approach?

2 weaknesses of the humanistic approach=

• represents an idealised and unrealistic view of the human nature

• reductionist approaches may be more scientific 

Why is representing an idealised and unrealistic view of the human nature a weakness of the humanistic approach?

Representing an idealised and unrealistic view of the human nature a weakness of the humanistic approach=

• Critics argue that people are not as inherently good and ‘growth oriented’ as humanistic theorists suggest, and doesn’t recognise people’s capacity for pessimism and self-destructive behaviour

• The view that personality development is directed only by an innate potential for growth is an oversimplification, as in the humanistic assumption that all problems arise from blocked self-actualisation.

This suggests that encouraging people to focus on their own-self development rather than on situational forces may be neither realistic nor appropiate in modern society

Why is a reductionist approach, which may be more scientific, a weakness?

Reductionist approaches may be more scientific a weakness=

• Ideal of science is the experiment and experiments reduce behaviour to independent and dependent variables

• One issue with humanistic psychology is that, unlike behaviourism, there are relatively few concepts that can be broken down to single and measurable variables

This means that humanistic approach in general is short on empirical evidence to support its claims- interpretative and not based on proofs