humanistic approach

• what is the humanism approach?

  • emphasises the importance of self-determination and free will
  • doesn’t believe you can generalise findings because every person is unique
• what is a criticism of humanism?

  it is too vague: subjective ideas are hard to objectify and an experience that is real for one person may not be for another
• what did Maslow and Rogers believe about human behaviour?

  ‘’One's only rival is one's own potentialities. One's only failure is failing to live up to one's own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king’’ (Maslow)

  The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination’’ (Rogers)
• what are. the main assumptions of the humanistic approach?

  • every person is unique - no general laws
  • we have free will - (contrasts bahvioural approach as skinner said ‘free will is an illusion‘)
  • people should be viewed holistically - both their past and present situations should be taken into account when studying a person
  • a scientific method to studying human behaviour is not appropriate because they’re objective
• what is maslow‘s hierarchy of needs?

  physiological, safety, love / belonging, esteem, self actualisation

  the bottom needs are referred to as ‘deficiency needs’ whereas the top ones are ‘growth needs’
• what is self actualisation in the humanistic approach?

  ultimate feeling of wellbeing and satisfaction
• what is the scale of self actualisation

  • self concept
  • real self
  • ideal self
• how is self actualisation achieved?

  • a person must be congruent
  • their ideal self and real self are the same or very similar
  • a person must have positive self regard
• what are the conditions of worth according to Rogers?

  • rogers believed conditional love can lead to a sense of worthlessness and low self esteem.
• what was Rogers’ counselling psychology?

  • client centred therapy
  • an effective therapist should provide the client with genuineness, empathy and unconditional positive regard
• what are the strengths of the humanistic approach?

  • it is anti-reductionist,believing that subjective experiences can only be understood by considering the whole person
  • it is a positive approach - promoting a positive image of the human condition
• what is the weakness of the humanistic approach?

  • it may have western culture bias as self actualising ideas would be more associated with individualistic cultures in the West whereas collectivist cultures such as india emphasise the needs of the group