Humanistic approach

key parts:

• free will

• self actualisation

• maslow’s hierarchy of needs

• focus on the self

• congruence

• role of conditions of worth

• influence of counselling

who was it made by

carl rogers and abraham maslow

what is it explain 

the ‘healthy’ growth in individuals 

what does it emphasise

• importance of subjective experience and each persons uniqueness and their capacity for self actualisation 

• importance of personal growth, fulfilment and personal responsibility. it achknowledges the concept of free will - humans can make choices and are not determined by internal biological factorsor external environmental forces 

what did maslow say motivates people and how did he present this

the heiracrchy of needs

what was the goal of the heirarchy of needs

self actualisation

how does the heirarchy fo needs work

one can only progress through the different levels as the current need in the level they are in are all met 

what are the levels? (use pnuemonic)

• self actualisation

• esteem needs

• belongingness and love needs

• saftey needs

• phsycological needs

super elephants build strong pyramids 

what is in pyscological needs

food water warmth rest

what is in saftey needs

security saftey

what is in belongingness and love needs

inimate relationship and friends and family

what is in esteem needs

prestige and feeling of accomplishment

self actualisation

achiving ones pull potential including creatuve activities

what is self actualisation

• personal growth is an essential part of being human

• it helps you develop and grow to be fulfilled, satisfied and goal-orientated

• he believed most ppl have an innate desire to achieve their full potential - to become the ebst they can and reach the uppermost level of self actualisation

what percentage of the population reaches self actualisation

1% because of pyscological barriers that prevent them from reaching this

what is incongruence

when your self image is different to your ideal self or there is only a tiny overlap - difficult to self actualise

what is congruence

when your self image is similar to ideal self and there is a larger overlap so they can self actualise

how can incongruence be reducesd

client centred therapy - councelling to help people cope w problems of everyday living - developed by rogers 

how can you help with issues e.g. worthlessness and low self esteem

• roots in childhood

• lack of unconditional positive regard/unconditional love from parents

• parents who set boundries or limits of love for child create pyscological problems for their children in the future 

what does it say about free will

• it emphasises free will - people have control over our own destiny + significant choices

• we are all unique

is it a positive or negative approach

• positive

• praised for bringing person back into psycology

• people re mostly good and free to work towards achieveing their potential

why is there cultural bias

• heigarchy of needs = western concept

• only applicable to individualistic cultures (focus on ones self + ambition)

• cross cultural evidence carried out in china - found belongingess needs more fundemental than pyscologyical needs + self actualisation defined more by contributions to community not individual development

why is it hollisitic

• reject any attempts to break behaviour into smaller components

• contradicts all other approaches

• not reductionist 

• want to look at whole person and their uniqueness - not generalised or narrow thinking

is it scientific?

• no 

• undermines scientific status of pyscology

• some concepts are vauge and not cleary operationalised 

• concepts e.g. self actualisation + congurence difficult to measyre and assess as an experiement - hard to draw causal conclusions 

• little evidence to support claims