Humanistic

• Causes of behaviour - free will

  • humans are self driven and self determined
• causes of behaviour - self actualisation and the hierarchy of needs (Maslow)

  • humans are fundamentally driven towards self actualisation
  • we all want to be the best person we can be
  • self-actualisation is a growth need that we all strive for but can't be achieved until we achieve deficiency needs
  • physiological needs (food, breathing etc)
  • safety needs (security)
  • love and belonging needs
  • esteem
  • can mean different things to different people
• Causes of behaviour - the role of self-perception (Rogers)

  • getting positive regard from other helps to develop self worth
  • placing limits on acceptance/love causes growth of conditions of worth (we only feel good if we receive love and acceptance from other people)
  • negative feelings of self worth arise from lack of congruence (ideal self not being equal to self concept)
  • measurement of attitudes
• Scientific method?

  • reject scientific methods as human experiences are subjective and unique
  • takes a holistic approach
• Real world application

  • application to counselling
  • called patients clients - person centered therapy - encourages empathy and congruence
  • people could unlock solutions and he was just there to provide support in the process
  • reduces gap between ideal self and self concept
  • remove conditions and worth
  • applications may not be effective as they seem to only happen on those with mild conditions
• Rejection of reductionism

  • holistic approach which captures subjectivity, depth, detail and meaning of behaviour
  • not reductionist enough - over complicated as it may become impossible to apply or study
• Not scientific

  • lack of control, objectivity, replication and falsification
  • untestable nature of self and self esteem
  • science doesn't offer a valid understanding of human behaviour