Humanistic approach

• who are the two theorists of the humanist approach?

  Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers
• what type of approach is the humanistic approach?

  a positive approach, concerned with uniqueness, meaning and freedom. The approach is holistic, studying the whole person.
• what are the assumptions of the humanistic approach?

  - we all have free will, are self determining. whilst is does not ignore external and internal influences, it says we are active agents to our development.

  - personal growth is the desirable goal for all people. - people are unique and should be studied as such

  - person centred (idiographic)
• what are the 5 stages of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

  physiological, safety, love / belonging, esteem, self-actualisation.
• What are the first 4 stages known as?

  deficiency needs
• what is the last stage known as?

  growth need
• what are Maslow's beliefs to his hierarchy?


  - humans are motivated by needs beyond basic biological survival.

  - self-actualisation, growing and developing is fundamental to human nature.

  - All deficiency needs must be met before an individual can reach growth need.

  - Maslow's theory emphasises uniquely human motivational factors - he believed that higher level needs are a later evolutionary development of the human species.
• what was Rogers' theory called?


  Rogers' theory of the self and his client-centred therapy.
• what did Rogers believe?

  - humans have a basic need to feel nurtured and valued by significant people in their life.

  - if this is given freely, without conditions ( unconditional positive regard.) then people will develop a healthy sense of self-worth.

  - children who receive negative regard or conditional positive regard, develop low self esteem.
• to avoid negative regard or conditional positive regard, what must parents do?

  parents should blame the behaviour not the child.
• what is congruence?


  A healthy sense of wellbeing is established if an individual maintains a reasonable consistency between their ideal self and perceived self.
• what is ideal self?


  who they want to be
• what is perceived self?

  who they believe they are
• The greater the gap between the ideal self and perceived self, the greater the what?

  incongruence
• what can incongruence lead to?

  low self-worth and maladjustment
• why is the perceived self not always the 'real' self?

  we may have an inaccurate view of who we really are, so mostly this will involve us thinking we are less than, less capable, or less likeable or potentially vice versa.
• what is congruence between self and ideal self needed for?


  for personal growth to be achieved.
• where a person lacks congruence, ...


  therapy can help a client to reach it
• what did Rogers believe about Freud?

  that Freud had focused only on the 'sick' side of psychology.

  Rogers wanted to take a more positive approach.
• What does the therapist provide in Rogers' client-centred therapy?


  - the therapist provided genuiness, empathy and unconditional positive regard that may have been missing in the client's childhood.
• What is the client encourage to do in Rogers' client-centred therapy?

  the client is encouraged to develop positive self-regard and reduce the gap between their perceived self and ideal self (achieve congruence) either by a more realistic view of their ideal self or perceived self.
• What are the positives of the humanistic approach?

  - emphasises choice (free will and responsibility)

  - holistic, studies the whole person in their wider social context.

  - has contributed to psychological theories and been shown to be effective in the treatment if some disorders such as depression and stress.

  - application to client-centred therapy

  - application to educational and occupational psychology
• Why is emphasising free will important in the humanistic approach important?

  it empowers the client, which is good for confidence and self-esteem. It is a helpful and positive approach. Being autonomous, things in childhood won't control them forever.
• Why is being holistic important in the humanistic approach?

  it is fuller, encompasses life experience, so it may be more valid.
• why is application to client-centred therapy important?

  - particularly useful for mild to moderate disease

  - Rogers' ideas revolutionised counselling

  - the client is empowered
• How does the humanistic approach apply to educational and occupational psychology?

  can improve a staff members feelings of safety or sense of belonging.
• what are limitations of the humanistic approach?

  - not scientific

  - has cultural bias
• why is the humanistic approach not being scientific a limitation?


  Validity is unknown because it can't be tested.

  Can't be used to draw up general rules / laws about behaviour, so can't predict or prevent behaviour (aim of psychology), so is less useful
• Why is cultural bias a limitation of the humanistic approach?

  developed in an individualistic society, so only be applied to those societies. Collectivists would not emphasise personal growth or self-actualisation, so can't be universally applied.