Humanistic psychology

• Assumptions-

  • anti-scientific
  • believes humans are self-determining (freewill)
  • believes in studying the whole person using holistic methods
  • uses idiographic methods (case studies, individual focused)
• Free will-

  • Shaped behaviour by forces we have o control over- agreeing with the cognitive approach
  • humanistic approach is with self-determination, we have free will with effects of the environment
  • Rejected scientific models due to active agents being unique, and this approach is studies the subjective experiences not general laws (person-centred approach)
• Self-actualisation-

  • individuals have an innate tendency to achieve their full potential
  • each of the lower levels must be met to work our way up towards self-actualisation
  • humanists regard personal growth as important for humans (to be fulfilled, satisfied, goal orientated)
• The self, congruence and condition of worth-

  • Rodgers- focused on the concept of self and self-acceptance
  • believes that people have 2 basic needs- positive regard for others (unconditioned), feeling of self worth/esteem
  • self worth is developed through: interactions in childhood with parents, interactions with friends/spouses, self-concept/thoughts
  • for personal growth to be achieved an individuals self-concept must have congruence with their self ideal
  • gap too big makes self actualisation impossible
  • client-centred therapy helps reduce the gap between self-concept and the ideal self
• Evaluations-

  • CPS- Not reductionist- rejecting attempts to break up behaviour into smaller components (behaviourist explains behaviours through stimulus response links – holistic is subjective experiences that can only be understood by considering the whole person).
  • CPW- Reductionist approaches can be more scientific (reduced into independent variables), few concepts can be broken down – little empirical evidence.
• Evaluations-

  • S- Optimistic by promoting positive images of the human condition, seeing people as good and able to work to control their lives through their potential.
  • W- Culturally biased due to the central ideas (individual freedom, personal growth, autonomy) associated with countries having individualist tendencies (USA), collectivist tendencies in countries do more group work making humanistic psychology unimportant.
  • W- Limited impact on psychology.
  • W- Limited practical application due to it being loosely set abstract idea