Humanistic approach AO3

• strength - holistic - rejects attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components, advocate holism through Maslow's hierarchy - explain how all levels affect the whole humans behaviour which gives a more detailed explanation of why people behave the way they do - more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful behaviour within its real life context
• strength - optimistic and positive approach - praised for promoting a positive image of the human condition. compare to negative approach - sees people as in control of their lives and having the freedom to change - refreshing and optimistic alternative compared to other approaches
• weakness - little real world application - Rogerian therapy has revolutionised counselling techniques and hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation - BUT lacks a sound evidence base because it is based on a set of loose abstract concepts rather than a comprehensive theory like the behaviourists - difficult to apply the concepts of this approach to the real world therefore it is not as good as explaining human behaviour