Humanistic Approach Flashcards
(16 cards)
1
Q
What’s the humanistic approach?
A
- claims that humans have free will
- self-determined
- we’re all unique
- people should be viewed holistically
- rejects scientific models
2
Q
What’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
A
- Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
- developed hierarchy as a way for employers to get the best out of their employees by understanding their needs
- pyramid shape
- basic needs at the bottom, complex needs at the top
- have to fulfil basic needs before you can achieve the top
3
Q
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
A
- Self-actualisation
- Esteem
- Love/belonging
- Safety
- Physiological
4
Q
What’s self-actualisation?
A
- fulfilment of the true potential of the self
- everyone has the drive to achieve self-actualisation, but we don’t all achieve it
5
Q
Focus on the Self
A
- Carl Rogers suggested we have three selves that need to be integrated to achieve self-actualisation
- the self-concept, the ideal self, the real self
6
Q
What’s the self-concept?
A
- the way you see yourself
7
Q
What’s the ideal self?
A
- the self you wish to be
8
Q
What’s the real self?
A
- the person you actually are
9
Q
What’s congruence?
A
- to achieve self-actualisation, Rogers believed that there should be a small gap between the self-concept and the ideal self
- negative feelings of self-worth arise from incongruence
- self esteem will be lowered
10
Q
What are conditions of worth?
A
- requirements that an individual feels they need to meet to be loved
- if an individual feels these conditions of worth, they do NOT experience unconditional positive regard
- makes self-actualisation harder to achieve
- through therapy, rogers tried to give his clients the unconditional positive regard they hadn’t received as a child
11
Q
Counselling Psychology / client-centred therapy
A
- aims to increase feelings of self-worth and reduce the gap between the self-concept and the ideal self
- therapist gives client unconditional positive regard, making them more honest
- when they’re honest, they can recognise the barriers to making their three selves congruent
- self esteem will be increased and self actualisation is more likely to be achieved
- therapy also helps to improve the client’s attitude
12
Q
strength of humanistic approach - not reductionist
A
- humanistic psychologists advocate holism, the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the person as a whole
- increases validity
- makes it different to other reductionist approaches
13
Q
strength of humanistic approach - positive approach
A
- promotes a positive image of the human condition
- Freud saw humans as slaves to their past which was pessimistic (psychodynamic)
- humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative
- not deterministic like the other approaches
- allows for personal development and change
14
Q
strength of humanistic approach - counselling psychology / client-centred therapy
A
- referred to as ‘clients’ rather than ‘patients’ - positive
- transformed psychotherapy
- focuses on present problems rather than dwelling on the past like Freud’s psychoanalysis
- however, it’s only appropriate for mild psychological conditions
- research by Elliot (2002) - reviewed 86 studies and found that humanistic therapies prompted a significant improvement in clients
15
Q
weakness of humanistic approach - untestable concepts
A
- includes vague ideas that aren’t observable or measurable, and therefore difficult to test
- concepts such as self-actualisation and congruence can’t be assessed
- lacks scientific credibility and empirical evidence
16
Q
weakness of the humanistic approach - culture bias
A
- ideas such as personal growth would be more associated with individualist cultures e.g. US
- collectivist cultures e.g. India, which emphasise the need of community and interdependence, may not identify with the ideas and values of the humanistic approach
- an incomplete explanation of behaviour
