Humanistic approach

• Humanistic psychology claims that human beings are essentially self-determining and have free will
• Humanistic psychologists reject scientific models that attempt to establish general principles and concern itself with the study of subjective experience

  • this is referred to as a person-centered approach
• MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS:

  1. self-actualisation
  2. self-esteem
  3. love and belongings
  4. safety and security
  5. Physiological needs
• self-actualisation

  the desire to grow psychologically and fulfil one's full potential

  • The highest level on Maslow's hierarchy of needs
  • all four levels of the hierarchy must be met before the individual can work towards SA
  • Personal growth is a key part of reaching self-actualisation
• Rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individual's concept of self must be broadly equivalent, or have congruence with their ideal self

  • if that gap is too big the person will experience a state of incongruence and self-actualisation will not be possible
• the self 


  the way one views themselves
• the ideal self 


  the person they want to be
• How do you reduce the gap between the self and the ideal self?

  client-centered therapy

  • helps people cope with the problems of everyday living
  • problems such as low self-esteem can be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard
• condtions of worth

  a parent who sets boundaries or limits to loving their child

  • stores psychological problems for that child in the future
• client-centred therapy

  Aims to increase the person's feelings of self-worth, and help the person become fully functioning

  • an effective therapist should provide the client with genuineness, empathy and unconditional positive regard
• 2 strengths of the humanistic approach:

  • not reductionist
  • Positive approach
• how is the humanistic approach not reductionist?

  Humanists reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components

  • avoiding holism - the idea that the subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person
  • therefor this approach may have more validity than its alternatives
• How is the humanistic approach positive?

  promotes a positive image of the human condition

  • freud saw humans as being a slave of their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between 'common unhappiness and absolute despair
  • humanistic approach sees all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives
• 2 limitations of the humanistic approach

  • Limited application
  • Cultural bias
• How does the humanistic approach have limited application?

  the humanistic approach lacks any evidence

  • therefore the approach has been discredited as a theory and instead just a loose set of abstract concepts
• How does the humanistic approach have a cultural bias?

  individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth would be much more associated with individualist cultures

  • and collectivist cultures which emphasise the needs of the group, community may not so easily identify with humanistic psychology