Humanism

• Self-actualisation

  the highest level of psychological development. It involves an individual realising one's full potential and deeply understanding themselves, their values and their purpose in life
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs

  Self-actualisation

  Self-esteem: accomplishment, recognition

  Love and belonging: intimate relationships, friends, family

  Safety and security: financially stable, health, wellbeing

  Physiological needs: food, water, rest, warmth, sleep
• What did Carl Rogers argue?

  that congruence is essential for achieving self-actualisation
• What is congruence?

  the alignment between one's perceived self and ideal self
• What is incongruence?


  a significant gap between the perceived self and ideal self
• What can someone with incongruence not achieve?

  self-actualisation
• What does Roger's believe about incongruence?

  that reducing the gap between the perceived and ideal self is crucial for personal development and wellbeing
• Method 1

  Adopting a more realistic ideal self

  conditions of worth can lead to an unreflective ideal self, so it is important to set more attainable goals
• Conditions of worth

  expectations from others that one must meet to earn their love and approval
• Method 2

  Improving self concept

  helps by receiving unconditional positive regard

  help acknowledges strengths and weaknesses without undue self-criticism
• What is client-centred therapy?

  • emphasises the importance of the present and future over the past
  • aims to assist clients in achieving congruence
• Why is client-centred therapy important?

  clients are the best experts on their own lives. Therapists offer support, facilitating the client's journey towards self-discovery.

  Therapists give unconditional positive regard
• What do humanists argue about human behaviour?

  it is complex so is unsuitable for studying through traditional scientific methods, which test simple cause and effect relationships objectively
• What do humanists believe in?

  free will: acting with personal agency, the ability of individuals to shape their own lives through conscious decision-making
• Does the humanistic approach believe in holism or reductionism?

  Holism: criticises approaches for reductionism. It considers all factors and their interactions
• What does humanism focus on?


  • case studies
  • mental health- explores personal growth and high potential
• Limitations of humanism

  • non-scientific: reliance on non-experimental qualitative methods. lack of empirical evidence and operationalisation
  • may be culturally bias towards Western individualism: implies people in collectivist societies are less capable of achieving self-actualisation
• Strengths of humanism

  • holistic: captures the complexity of human experience
  • free will has face validity: people have a subjective experience of autonomy and like to believe their actions are based on their own free choices, not driven by unconscious impulses
  • real-life application: client-centred therapy, Maslow's hierarchy of needs