humanistic

• rejects attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components (reductionism)
• advocate holism, the idea that subjective experiences can only be understood by considering the whole person
• may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real world context
• however reductionist approaches may be more scientific
• the ideal of science is the experiment and experiments reduce behaviour to independent and dependent variables
• one issue with humanistic psychology is that unlike behaviourism there are relatively few concepts that can be broken down to single variables and measured
• short on empirical evidence
• humanistic psychologists have been praised for bringing the person back into psychology and promoting a positive image of the human condition
• see all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives
• many ideas that are central to humanistic psychology such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth would be more associated with individualistic cultures
• countries with collectivist tendencies emphasise more the needs of the group and interdependence
• possible that this approach does not apply universally
• little practical application in the real world. it has been described as a loose set of abstract ideas