Humanistic approach

• State the three assumptions of humanistic psychology

  1. Humans have free will and are active agents- they are able to control and determine their own development
  2. Humans strive towards achieving self-actualisation
  3. To be psychologically healthy the perceived self and ideal self must be congruent
• Who are the 2 main Humanist Psychologists?

   Maslow and Rogers
• Humanistic approach

  Assumes that everyone is unique, making it impossible to generalise findings from one person to another
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs

  • Physiological
  • Safety
  • Psychological
  • Esteem
  • Self-actualisation
• Self-actualisation


  The highest level of Maslow's hierarchy, representing self-fulfilment
• Achieving self-actualisation


  Individuals must first meet the other needs as a way to strive for self-fulfilment
• Conditions of worth


  It is when individuals feel their self-worth depends on meeting external expectations from various relationships or society.
• Conditions of worth


  Lead to incongruence between the ideal self and self-concept, which can result in negative feelings of self-worth
• Client-centred therapy

  Provision of unconditional positive regard enables individuals to self actualise
• AO3

  One strength of the humanistic approach is its real-world application in the field of counselling. For example, it has led to the successful development of psychotherapy, where counsellors provide a supportive and non-judgmental environment for clients to explore their thoughts and emotions. This means that individuals can reach their full potential, develop a more authentic sense of self. Therefore, the humanistic approach has immense value in improving the quality of life for individuals through therapy in the real world.
• AO3

  Another strength of the humanistic approach is that it has research support. For example, Harter et al. found that when teenagers feel pressured to meet certain conditions for parental approval, it increases the likelihood of developing depression. This supports the idea of conditions of worth in preventing individuals from self actualising. Therefore, research support for conditions of worth gives credibility to the humanistic approach in explaining human behaviour. 
• AO3

  One weakness of the humanistic approach is that it has untestable concepts. For example, it includes a number of concepts such as  ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘congruence’ that are abstract.  This means that there are subjective interpretations which makes it challenging to scientifically measure and validate the concepts. Consequently, the humanistic approach lacks objective support for its concepts, which reduces its scientific credibility.
• AO3

  Another weakness of the humanistic approach is that it is ethnocentric. For example, the humanistic approach, with its emphasis on individual freedom and personal growth, is rooted in the cultural values of Western individualistic societies. This means it does not account for collectivist cultures which emphasise community and interdependence. Therefore, the humanistic approach cannot be universally applied to all cultures as it takes an etic approach.
• Define self-actualisation


  A continual striving for personal growth and self-fulfilment.
• What are the deficiency needs?

  • Physiological (food, warmth, water

  • Safety

  • Psychological (love and belonging)

  • Esteem
• What is the growth need?

  Self-actualisation
• What is the self-concept, ideal self and the real self?

  • Self-concept: The way you see yourself

  • Ideal self: The person you want to be

  • The real self: The person you actually are
• What is incongruence?

  When there is a big difference between a person’s ideal self and their self-concept
• What is congruence?

  When there is a similarity between a person’s ideal self and their self-concept
• What could have happened in childhood that leads to incongruence?

  Parents show conditional positive regard by placing conditions of worth on child
• What is the aim of client-centred therapy?

  Increase person’s feelings of self-worth and reduce incongruence between ideal and perceived self