Humanistic

• Humanism, free will & science

  Humanistic psychology arose as

  a criticism of behaviorism and 

  psychodynamic approaches 

  They say that to truly 

  understand a person, we must

  look at every aspect of them.

  This flies in the face of what we

  believe and practice in the 

  sciences.

  Humanists HATE science
• Abraham Maslow 

  An American Psychologist who in 1940-1950 

  developed the Hierarchy as a way for 

  employers to get the best out of their 

  employees by understanding their needs. 

  But it has been adapted to explain needs in general terms. 

  The original Hierarchy has 5 stages but has been adapted by others and we often use the 7 stage approach
• One potential issue…

  Self actualisation is very hard to get to…it means ALL your needs have to have been met
• Carl Rogers

  Carl Rogers built on the concept of self

  actualisation and personal growth and stated

  that for both to be achieved, ones’ real self 

  (who they actually are) and their ideal self 

  (who they want to be) must be somewhat 

  similar - they must be congruent. 

  If too big a gap exists between the real and ideal selves then the person will experience incongruence and self actualisation is not possible. Rogers stated that congruence is the bedrock for good mental health
• Rogers believed that incongruence leads to feelings of worthlessness and low self esteem. He stated that these feelings have their roots in childhood and develop as a result of parents who do not give their child unconditional positive regard and place conditions of worth on their love/care
• AO3 - Evaluations (of the approach)

  Strengths

  It is an anti-reductionist making it more meaningful:  They see the person as a whole rather than break down the behaviour. This is a positive as humanistic people don’t believe in scientific purposes for behaviour. It is also more valid.

  The approach portrays a positive image of the human condition: They see people as having control of their own life and having the freedom to change. Humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic view point.
• AO3 - Evaluations (of the approach)

  Weaknesses

  Limited application in the real world:  as there is limited evidence to support the approach it isn't considered to be a comprehensive theory but a loose set of abstract concepts.
• Limitations

  The approach includes untestable concepts: there are many vague ideas that are hard to test such as self actualization. Rogers attempted to make the theory more rigid by developing the Q-sort which is an objective measurement used in therapy. This lack of evidence by the anti scientific attitude the humanistic approach has. 

  It has a western cultural bias: ideas such as individual freedom are associated with individualist cultures,. Whereas collectivist cultures do not identify with the values of humanistic psychology.