Humanistic Psychology — Maslow & Rogers

Emphasizes the innate potential for good in all humans.
Developed as a response against:
- Psychoanalytic focus on unconscious drives.
- Behaviorist focus on observable behavior and environmental control.
Core tenets:
- People are inherently oriented toward growth, fulfillment, and meaning-making.
- Focus on subjective experience and the “whole person.”

American psychologist ( $1908-1970$ ).
Best known for the Hierarchy of Human Needs as a motivational model.
- Organizes human motives from basic survival to higher psychological growth.
- Concept represented as a pyramid (Figure $3$ in the text).
- Levels (bottom → top):
1. Physiological needs (e.g., food, water, shelter).
2. Safety needs (security, stability).
3. Social / Belongingness needs (friendship, intimacy, family).
4. Esteem needs (achievement, respect, self-esteem).
5. Self-actualization — process of realizing one’s full potential.
Key assertions:
- Lower-level needs must be at least partially satisfied before higher-level needs motivate behavior.
- When basic survival requirements are met, social/psychological needs become primary motivators.
Significance:
- Shifted psychology’s gaze toward positive human capacities rather than pathology alone.
- Prefigured later positive-psychology research on well-being and happiness.

American psychologist (born $1902$ ; lifespan not fully specified in transcript).
Pioneered Client-Centered (Person-Centered) Therapy.
- Reverses traditional psychoanalytic hierarchy: client, not therapist, leads exploration.
- Therapist’s role is to foster a facilitative climate for self-discovery rather than interpret unconscious conflicts.
Three core therapist attributes for effective therapy:
1. Unconditional Positive Regard – complete acceptance of the client, regardless of feelings, thoughts, or actions.
2. Genuineness (Congruence) – therapist is authentic and transparent.
3. Empathy – deep, accurate understanding of the client’s internal frame of reference.
Belief: Given the right relational conditions, clients are capable of resolving their own problems and moving toward growth.

Humanistic psychologists rejected reductionist, lab-based experimentation typical of physical/biological sciences.
Preferred qualitative approaches (e.g., phenomenological interviews, case studies) to capture subjective experience.
Nonetheless, notable quantitative strands exist, including studies of:
- Happiness and subjective well-being.
- Self-concept and self-esteem.
- Meditation and mindfulness practices.
- Outcomes of humanistic psychotherapy.
References in transcript: Thorn & Henley ( $02/??$ ), Friedman ( $2008$ ), O’Hara & Dee (date not specified).

Maslow and Rogers remain "household" names in introductory psychology curricula.
Concepts such as self-actualization and unconditional positive regard continue to:
- Influence modern counseling practices.
- Inform workplace motivation programs and educational models.
Rogers’ client-centered therapy is still widely practiced and forms the foundation for many integrative and humanistic counseling approaches.
Humanistic emphasis on positivity, agency, and meaning anticipated and shaped the Positive Psychology movement.