Cards (4)

  • Not reductionist
    One strength of the humanistic approach is that it rejects attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components (reductionism):
    • Humanistic psychologists advocate holism; the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person
    • Other approaches don't do this and instead reduce human behaviour to its basics
    • Therefore, this approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering human behaviour within a real-world context
  • Counterpoint to 'Not reductionist'
    Reductionist approaches may be more scientific:
    • The ideal of science is the experiment, which reduces behaviour to dependent and independent variables.
    • One issue with humanistic psychology is that, unlike behaviourism, there are few concepts that can be broken down into variables and measured.
    • This means that humanistic psychology in general is short on empirical evidence to support its claims.
  • Positive approach

    One strength of the humanistic approach is that it is optimistic:
    • Humanistic psychologists have been praised for bringing the person back into psychology and promoting a positive image of the human condition
    • Freud claimed all humans existed somewhere between 'common unhappiness and absolute despair'
    • Humanistic psychologists see all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives
  • Cultural bias
    One limitation of the humanistic approach is that it may be culturally-biased:
    • Many of the central ideas, such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, are more closely associated with individualist countries (e.g. the US).
    • Countries with collectivist tendencies emphasise more the needs of the group and interdependence.
    • In these countries, the ideals of humanistic psychology may not be as important as others.
    • Therefore, this approach may not apply universally and is a product of the cultural context within which it was created