The Humanistic Approach

• What does 'free will' mean in the context of the Humanistic Approach?

  • Full conscious control over your destiny
  • We are able to make significant personal choices without other factors interfering
  • Humanistic Approach still considers effects of environmental + biological factors though!
• Who came up with the Hierarchy of Needs?

  Abraham Maslow

  • He initially called Theory of Motivation (1943) -> it was amended to Hierarchy of Needs in 1987
• What is the Hierarchy of Needs?

  • Focuses on people's tendency to move towards being the best versions of themselves -> Maslow says we all strive towards 'self-actualisation'
• What is self-actualisation?

  • The state in which we finally achieve fulfilment + satisfaction through having autonomously determined + goal-oriented approach to seeking personal growth
• What is the hierarchy in the Hierarchy of Needs?

  (From most fundamental/bottom to least/top)

  • Physiological needs (food, water, sleep)
  • Safety needs (security of body, enjoyment, resources, the family, morality, etc)
  • Love/belonging needs (friendship, family, sexual intimacy)
  • Esteem needs (confidence, respect for and from others, achievement)
  • Self-actualisation (morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving, etc)

  
• What are the physiological, safety, love/belonging and esteem needs grouped as?

  Deficiency needs
• What is the self-actualisation level classed as?

  Growth need
• What is the 'self'?

  • Rogers (1951)
  • It is our 'self-concept'
  • Large role in mental health + personal growth
• What did Rogers argue about the self?

  • A person constructs the self based on childhood experiences with parents/guardians
  • They add to their view of the self in later life through experiences with other significant people in their lives, e.g. spouses, close friends
• What is 'positive regard from others'?

  How others encourage, support + accept us
• What is a feeling of 'self-worth'?

  How good we feel about ourselves/how positively we regard ourselves
• What did Rogers say is needed for self-actualisation?

  A suitable level of congruence

  • Not 100%!! Very rare for someone to have 100% congruence
• What is the 'ideal self'?

  The ideal self describes what people desire to achieve
• What is the 'self image'?

  How you perceive yourself, e.g. low self-esteem = poor self-image
• What is meant by 'conditions of worth'?

  • Conditions that are perceived to be necessary to receive a significant other's love
  • Potential self-acceptance if conditions met
• What is 'conditional regard'?

  • Love only being given when someone meets certain expectations -> person realises that these expectations need to be met to receive love
• What is 'unconditional positive regard'?

  • No expectations/conditions need to be met to receive love
  • Person doesn't feel pressured to act a certain way untrue to themselves to receive love
• Which of the two types of love are more likely to react in congruence?


  Unconditional love
• What has humanistic psychology influenced that has helped people?

  Counselling
• What is 'person-centred counselling'?

  • Non-directive -> individual = best expert on themselves = should be helped to find their own solution
  • Counsellor encourages client to talk openly then reflect on what client says
  • Counsellor accepts clients' feelings with unconditional positive regard = client can accept their own feelings (no expectation)
  • Counsellor = facilitator/guide
• What must the therapist be for person-centred counselling to work?

  Congruent with the client

  • In touch with own feelings = authenticity towards client
  • No false front -> truthful with client
• Humanistic approach A&E point 1: holistic approach to understanding people = strength of humanistic psychology

  • Holistic = looking at whole person = impact of free will
  • Humanism avoids reductionism of other models
  • Pavlov + Skinner; can't explain romantic relationships, schizophrenia, or learning beyond immediate experience
  • Behaviourism = overly simplistic -> doesn't account for Dolan et al.'s (2001)/Nestadt et al.'s (2000) findings about biology affecting behaviour
  • Greater insight into people
• Humanistic approach A&E point 2: excellent real-life applications as a result of Rogers' research

  • Person-centred therapy -> enabled people with a range of disorders to show significant improvement
  • Gibbard + Hanley (2008) -> 70% of depression/anxiety patients helped through person-centred therapy
  • Suggests that PCT has the positive effects of unconditional positive regard because it helps people + that there must be something true in its underlying ideas
• Humanistic approach A&E point 3: it's possible that the humanistic approach as outlined by Maslow + Rogers suffers from considerable cultural bias = huge weakness

  • All research conducted by Maslow + Rogers = done in USA
  • Ethnocentric -> some cultures value different things to WEIRD societies (Henrich et al. 2010)
  • Hofstede -> collectivist cultures (e.g. China) value congruence between ideal self + perceived community image
  • They want to contribute to community's wellbeing rather than personal goals
  • Reflexivity should be utilised!