Humanistic approach

Question 1

why was the humanistic approach to psychology created

Answer 1

created in the 1960s after other psychological approaches focused on negative aspects of human behaviour

Question 2

what is the focus of humanistic psychology

Answer 2

personal growth

Question 3

what is free will (in relation to the psychological approach)

Answer 3

whilst there are laws and constraints on our behaviour, our actions are not determined by cause and effect relationships and we ultimately choose our behaviours freely

Question 4

What is self-actualization?

Answer 4

the point at which an individual has achieved their potential. Humanists think everyone has the capability and motivation to work towards this

Question 5

what is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 5

before satisfying the need for self actualisation, an individual must meet more basic needs before progressively progressing on to higher needs

Question 6

describe the layers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)

Answer 6

1. physical (survival) needs e.g food and water
2. safety/shelter
3. love/belonging
4. esteem/respect needs
5. self actualisation

Question 7

what is focus on the self

Answer 7

Rodgers suggested that each person has a self concept (how they see themselves) and an ideal self (how you wish to be)

Question 8

what is congruence

Answer 8

how close the self concept and ideal selves are

Question 9

what is incongruence

Answer 9

when there is a big difference between self concept and ideal self. this means that self actualisation cannot be achieved and can often lead to negative feelings such as doubt

Question 10

what are conditions of love

Answer 10

the requirements an individual feels they need to meet in order to be loved, whether they be real or imaginary

Question 11

give an example of conditions of worth

Answer 11

‘i’ll only love you if you do well in your science test’

Question 12

what happens because of conditions of worth

Answer 12

self actualisation is stopped

Question 13

what is client centered therapy

Answer 13

made by Rodgers and attempts to help a client achieve congruence and provides unconditional positive regard (the opposite of conditions of worth). The client is the ‘expert’ responsible for solving their own problems

Question 14

evaluate the humanistic approach (defined)

Answer 14

concepts such as ‘self actualisation’ are not clearly defined and so are not measurable nor open to scientific study which reduces the scientific validity of psychology

Question 15

evaluate the humanistic approach (whole)

Answer 15

the humanistic approach takes a holisitc view of studying humans, considering all factors when attempting to understand individuals (good as it does not pre define individuals as something due to one or more facotrs)

Question 16

evaluate the humanistic approach (culture)

Answer 16

the humanistic approach could be seen to suffer from cultural bias: individualistic cultures prioritise individual success and achievement whereas collectivist cultures value group success more highly. Therefore, humanistic psychologists may see individuals from collectivist cultures as less likely to self actualise and consequently somewhat inferior