The Humanistic Approach

how does humanistic psychology view behaviour

optimistically and holistically, highlighting conscious experience and capacity for personal change

compared to the other deterministic approaches, humanistic approach claims humans are...

self-determining and have free will

assumptions of the humanistic approach

1. each individual is unique

2. humans have free will

3. science should not be used to explain behaviour

4. humans should be viewed holistically and not reduced to their parts

free will

- humans are self determining and make conscious choices of how they act and develop

- behaviour seen as actively chosen and shaped

- affected by external/internal factors but we are active agents who determine own development

how does Maslow's hierarchy of needs explain behaviour

being motivated by a series of innate needs arranged in a hierarchy

- driven to satisfy lower level needs before higher level psychological growth

- each stage needs to be fulfilled to reach self actualisation

what is Maslow's hierarchy

1) Physiological - food and water

2) Safety - personal security, employment, health

3) Love and belonging - family and friends

4) Esteem - feeling of accomplishment, self esteem

5) Self actualization - achieving full potential/ best version

Maslow deficiency needs

first 4 (physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem) are deficiency needs

must be satisfied to avoid discomfort, if not met = anxiety

what does self actualisation take the form of

peak experiences, characterised by feelings of euphoria and no fear

what is self actualisation

the process of realising and fulfilling one's full potential, and explains behaviour as being driven by a desire for psychological growth

unique to each individual

what do humanistic psychologists argue in terms of self actualisation

all individuals have innate drive to reach full potential

means behaviour is growth orientated and guided by free will

What is congruence?

the alignment between a person's self concept (how they see themselves) and their ideal self (who they want to be)

who developed idea of congruence

Carl Rogers

what does it mean if a person is congruent

behaviour is consistent with their true feelings and experiences, leading to healthy functioning and progress towards self actualisation

what does it mean if a person is incongruent

when there is a wide gap between the self-concept and ideal self, leading to individuals distorting/ denying true feelings -> anxiety, maladaptive behaviour

what did Rogers suggest behaviour is motivated by

the need to reduce the gap between self-concept and ideal self

we use free will to become more authentic

what are conditions of worth

the conditions we think we must meet in order for other people to accept us as worthy of their love or positive regard

when do conditions of worth develop

when significant others provide conditional positive regard

what is conditional positive regard

Acceptance and love that are dependent upon the child's behaving in certain ways and on fulling certain conditions.

what did Rogers claim that issues in adulthood stem from

lack of unconditional positive regard in childhood

how do conditions of worth explain behaviour

as being motivated to gain approval, rather than acting in line with their true self.

can lead to incongruence- individual supresess true feelings to meet expectations

Rogers- Client Centered

- developed to reduce gap between self-concept and ideal self

- non-directive, encourages clients to explore own problems and solutions

- assumes client is the expert on themselves- people discover solutions for own problems when given right supportive, non judgemental environment

how do therapists provide a supportive environment in counselling

unconditional regard

empathy

genuineness

real life application of client centred therapies

used in clinical, educational and health settings

effective for mild conditions, e.g. anxiety

strength of the humanistic approach- holistic

- considers whole person- subjective experiences, emotions, free will > reducing behaviour to single factors (bio/ unconscious drives)

- more in-depth + meaningful understanding of behaviour- reflects complexity of real human experience

- increases validty of approach compared to reductionist explanations- considers meaningful human behaviour with its real world context

counterpoint of holism- lack of scientific evidence

- explains behaviour in terms of subjective experiences- cannot study objectively

- key concepts difficult to measure- unfalsifiable as unable to test

- explanations become circular- weakens explanatory power

- reduces scientific credibility/ overall validity as an explanation of human behaviour

strength of the humanistic approach- practical applications to counselling

- Rogers' client-centred therapy uses unconditional positive regard, empathy and genuineness to create a supportive environment to reduce incongruence/ move to self-actualisation

- techniques used in modern counselling- improve well being

- approach has high practical value- supports effective treatment of psychological issues -> reduced abseentism, oncreased productivity, lower NHS costs, benefitting individuals + economy

weakness of the humanistic approach- cultural bias

- core concepts, e.g. free will, self-actualisation reflect values of individualistic western cultures- emphasise personal achievement and independence e.g. US, UK

- collectivist cultures , e.g. India, prioritise group harmony > individual goals

- limited ability to explain behaviour across diff cultures, reduces generalisability