Humanistic

• What does the humanistic approach assume about individuals?

  Each person is unique and has their own way of seeing the world (idiographic approach).
• Why does the humanistic approach reject breaking down behaviour into elements?

  Because it leads to the loss of understanding the whole person.
• What is meant by congruence in the humanistic approach?

  It is when a person's ideal self matches their actual self.
• What is incongruence?

  When there is a mismatch between a person's ideal self and actual self.
• What is self-actualisation?

  The desire to grow psychologically and fulfill one's potential to become what one is capable of.
• What are the five stages in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (from bottom to top)?

  Physiological needs, Safety needs, Love and Belonging, Self-esteem, and Self-actualisation.
• What are conditions of worth?

  They are requirements or expectations from parents for love, which can cause low self-esteem and block self-actualisation.
• What is Rogerian therapy also known as?

  Client-centred therapy.
• In Rogerian therapy, why are people called clients and not patients?

  Because the client is seen as the expert in their own condition.
• What is the focus of Rogerian therapy?

  Solving present problems rather than focusing on the past.
• The strength is that the humanistic approach is holistic. They reject any attempt to break up behavior and experience into smaller components. They advocate holism through Maslow's hierarchy. This explains how all levels affect the whole human's behaviour, which gives us a more detailed explanation of why people behave the way they do. It has more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful behavior within its real-life context.
• A strength is that it is an optimistic and positive approach. The humanistic approach is praised for promoting a positive image of the human condition. The others are more negative as it focuses on conflict and the negative consequences from childhood. It sees people as being in control of their own lives and having the freedom to change, showing how it is a refreshing and optimistic alternative compared to other approaches.
• A limitation is that it has little real-world application. Whilst Rogerian therapy has revolutionized counselling techniques and Maslow's hierarchy of needs have been used to explain motivation, it lacks a sound evidence base because the approach is based on a set of loose abstract concepts rather than a comprehensive theory. This means it is difficult to apply the concepts of the humanistic approach to the real world, therefore it is not as good as explaining human behaviour.
• A limitation is that the humanistic approach is culture-biased. Many of the ideas central to humanistic psychology, such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, do not apply to all cultures. Collectivist cultures such as in South Asia emphasize the needs of the group. Therefore, the people in South Asia may not identify so easily with the ideals. This suggests that it is not good at explaining human behaviour universally, which is a key feature of science.