Humanism approach

• What is a main assumption of the humanistic approach regarding individuals?

  Every person is unique, so humanistic psychologists do not make general laws to explain behavior.
• What does the humanistic approach say about free will?

  We have free will, but there are limitations such as social rules, laws, and morals.
• How does the humanistic approach suggest we should view individuals?

  People should be viewed holistically, considering both their past and present situations.
• Why is a scientific method considered inappropriate for studying human behavior in the humanistic approach?

  A scientific method is objective, while humans are subjective beings with unique experiences.
• What are the main assumptions of the humanistic approach to psychology?

  • Every person is unique; no general laws for behavior.
  • We have free will, limited by social rules, laws, and morals.
  • Individuals should be viewed holistically, considering past and present.
  • Scientific methods are inappropriate due to the subjective nature of human experiences.
• What does Maslows hierarchy of needs mean? 


  • Needs at the bottom are known as ‘deficiency needs’ they are designed to reduce inadequacies and the top levels are ‘growthneeds’ as they are designed to promote personal growth.
  • These needs are like vitamins. We can never be healthy without them and a long-term ‘deficiency’ can encourage mental health problems.
  • You need to satisfy lower level needs to move upwards.
• What does Maslows hierarchy of needs mean? (part 2)


  • Maslow suggests that moments of achievement, ecstasy or elation were when all needs were met. These are ‘peak experiences’.
  • Negative life experiences such as job loss, or divorce can cause fluctuations between the levels.
• What is self actualization?


  • The uppermost level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
  • All the other needs must be met before self actualisation is possible
  • An ultimate feeling of well being and satisfaction, a feeling of ‘completeness’
  • Everyone has an innate drive to self-actualise and achieve this in our individual ways
  • There is a positive correlation between an individuals level of self actualisation and their psychological health
• Self actualization and Rogers 


  • Rogers said in order to achieve self-actualisation a person must first be congruent.
  • This means that their ideal self and real self are the same/very similar.
  • This then allows a person to have high feelings of self worth.
• Self actualization and Rogers (part 2)

  • To achieve congruence, a person must have positive self regard.
  • If the gap between a persons self concept (real self) and ideal self is too big, the person experiences incongruence and self actualisation isn’t possible (due to low self esteem/negative feelings about one’s self).
• Conditions of worth- Rogers

  • Rogers believed that conditional love (when you are not accepted for who you are + doing what others want you to do/be) leads to conditions of worth.
  • ’I will only love you if….’’ can lead to a sense of worthlessness and low self esteem ( therefore a person is unable to reach self actualisation).
  • Unconditional positive regard (being accepted for who you are) is needed for positive mental health, and the ability to self-actualise.
• Evaluation - one strength

  • The humanistic approach is anti-reductionist (holistic)
  • Humanistic psychologists reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components
  • They advocate holism – the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person (their relationships, past, present and future and more.)
  • Considers meaningful human behaviour within its real-world context so has more validity than its alternatives
• Evaluation- one weakness 


  • Humanistic psychology has few concepts that can be reduced to single variables and measured, unlike behaviourism
  • This means that humanistic psychology in general is short on empirical evidence to support its claims.
• Evaluation - Stengths 


  • Humanistic psychologists have been praised for promoting a positive image of the human condition – seeing people as in control of their lives and having freedom to change
  • Freud saw human beings as slaves to their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’
  • Therefore humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative.
• Evaluation - Weaknesses 


  • May have a Western culture bias
  • Many humanistic ideas (such as self-actualisation) would be more associated with individualistic cultures in the West
  • Collectivist cultures (such as India, which emphasise the needs of the group) may not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology
  • It is possible that the approach does not apply universally and is a product of the cultural context in which it was developed.