Lesson 10 - Humanistic Approach

Question 1

Key assumptions

Answer 1

• Psychologists should study a patient as a unique case (idiographic) rather than comparing them to the performance of a group (nomothetic)
• Each person should be studied as a whole (holism) in their environmental context
• Humans have an innate drive to reach self-actualisation
• People have free will and personal agency to make their own decisions in life.
• The scientific method is too objective and reductionist and fails to take into account the unique and subjective parts of life for that individual

Question 2

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 2

People are motivated to achieve progression through the levels of this hierarchy and each level needs to be achieved before you can move up

The more fundamental the need, the more powerfully it is experienced and the harder it is to ignore

BASIC NEEDS

Physiological needs

Food
Water
Warmth
Rest

Safety needs

Security
Safety

Psychological needs

Belongingness and love needs

Intimate relationships
Friendships

Esteem needs

Prestige
Feeling of accomplishment

Self-fulfilment needs

Self-actualisation

Achieving one’s full potential, including creative activities

Question 3

Self actualisation

Answer 3

Occurs when a person reaches their full potential and is the best version of themselves. It concerns physiological and psychological growth, and fulfilment and satisfaction

Question 4

Rogers - what were his main concepts?

Answer 4

Rogers was another humanistic psychologist

• Self-actualisation could only be achieved if you had strong feelings of self worth which developed in childhood as a result of interactions with the parents, and if you had positive regard from other people
• Positive regard could be either conditional or unconditional: Unconditional positive regard is when people accept you for who you are, and conditional positive regard is only given when you do something to be accepted
• Conditional positive regard can be detrimental as the subject may only feel acceptance when they perform under these ‘conditions of worth’
• When there is a similarity between the person’s perceived view of themselves and their ideal self, there is congruence, meaning you currently view yourself as how you want to be
• If there is a gap between these two ideas, there is incongruence which could lead to feelings of inadequacy

Question 5

Counselling psychology

Answer 5

Also known as Rogerian Therapy

• Rogers believed that an individuals psychological problems came from conditional positive regard and this could be solved by counselling
• The psychologist would take a non-directive approach to help the patient understand themselves better and enable their potential for self-actualisation.
• The psychologist would provide unconditional positive regard for the patient and they would provide a non-interventionist supportive environment to eradicate the ‘conditions of worth’
• This results in the patient acting in a way that is true to their own will and not the conditions placed upon them by other people for acceptance

Question 6

Strengths of the humanistic approach

Answer 6

• Harter et al (1996) found that teenagers felt like there were certain conditions placed on them to achieve their parents’ approval, and they ended up not liking themselves as a result. There is evidence for the ‘conditions of worth’ and their effects
• It has an emphasis on self growth and development. This approach and counselling helps people achieve their aspirations and lead a meaningful life
• Gives a more holistic idea of behaviour as opposed to the reductionist ideas of science
• Has applications in treatment of psychological difficulties. Rogers’ Client-centred therapy has helped people overcome their difficulties in social, work and health fields and focuses on the present unlike psychoanalysis. It also is beneficial as it is based on the assumption that humans have free will and are able to change and control their behaviour, unlike the biological approach (bio. determ.)
• Holistic Approach. The humanistic approach is unique in that it adopts holism, therefore focussing on the individual’s subjective experiences as a whole, as a method of investigating behaviour. Contrasts with the cognitive approach (which sees the brain’s functions as analogous to a computer), the biological approach (which sees humans purely as biological organisms which are made up of physiological processes) and behaviourism (where all behaviour is seen as the product of past reinforcement contingencies). Therefore, humanism is a refreshing alternative, compared to other reductionist explanations of behaviour.

Question 7

Weaknesses of the humanistic approach

Answer 7

• It abandons empirical, scientific evidence in favour of unmeasurable subjective ideas like congruence and self actualisation which lack operationalisation.
• It is ethnocentric, as the ideas of humanism such as personal growth and autonomy over one’s actions may be more closely related to individualistic cultures of the west, like in the USA and Europe, whereas in collectivist cultures like China and India, they may not identify with the ideals of humanism. Collectivist cultures may identify more closely with communal interdependence.
• Rogerian Therapy may not work on patients with severe neurological disorders like schizophrenia due to the emphasis on client-led self reflection. They may struggle to articlukate themselves well.