humanistic

• assumption 1: every human is unique
• assumption 2: humans have free will
• assumption 3: to understand humans we must be holistic
• assumption 4: scientific methods are not considered to be appropriate in psychology
• humanistic psychology is a person-centred approach
• maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a sequence which basic physiological needs (such as food) must be satisfied before higher psychological needs (such as self-esteem and self-actualisation) can be achieved
• maslow’s hierarchy suggests that we are driven towards self-actualisation
• self-actualisation is the desire to reach our full potential
• self-actualisation is not permanent and if all of the 5 needs do not remain then we can move out of the state of self-actualisation
• sheffield et al (1995): found a positive correlation between an individuals level of self-actualisation and their psychological health
• humanistic psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of what it is to be a human
• carl rogers built on maslow’s concepts of self-actualisation by describing how a person might become more like the ideal version of themselves
• the self concept is the organised, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself
• the real self is who we consider ourselves to be
• the ideal self is the self we wish ourselves to become
• congruence is the aim of rogerian therapy and is when the self-concept and ideal self are seen to broadly accord or match
• congruence is very difficult to achieve
• only with a high level of self worth we can reach congruence
• to have high levels of self worth we need to be in receipt of unconditional positive regard of others