humanism Flashcards
what is humanistic psychology?
an approach to understanding behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each person’s capacity for self-determination.
outline the humanistic approach.
Humanism was intended to offer a less deterministic and artificial approach, as previous approaches were deterministic in some degree in their suggesting that behaviour is entirely, or at least partly, shaped by forces we do not control.
Humanistic psychology is quite different from the other approaches by claiming that human beings are self-determining and have free will.
they view individuals as unique, and believe psychology should concern itself with the study of subject experience rather than general laws.
what is meant by free will?
This is the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.
outline Maslow’s theory (self-actualisation).
Maslow believes humans are motivated by needs beyond those of basic biological survival.
Fundamental to human nature is the desire to grow and develop to achieve our full potential - referred to as ‘self-actualisation’.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ranges from basic needs to higher level psychological and actualisation needs.
All four levels of the hierarchy must be met before an individual can work towards self actualisation and fulfil their potential.
what is meant by self-actualisation?
the desire to grow psychologically and fulfil ones potential.
describe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
- physiological needs such as food and water.
- safety and security.
- love and belongingness.
- self-esteem.
person can only progress through once the current need in the sequence has been met.
top - self-actualisation.
name the key assumptions of the humanistic approach.
free will.
hierarchy of needs.
conditions of worth.
congruence.
outline the key assumption - congruence.
A healthy sense of wellbeing is established if an individual maintains a reasonable consistency between ideal self and actual behaviour.
The greater the gap between the ideal self and the actual self, the greater the incongruence - can lead to low self-worth and maladjustment.
in order to reduce the gap, Rogers developed client centered therapy.
outline the key assumption - conditions of worth.
Humans have a basic need to feel nurtured and valued by significant people in their lives, such as parents (love, praise and acceptance).
If this is given freely, without conditions (unconditional positive regard), then people will develop a healthy sense of self-worth, recognising their abilities and difficulties.
Rogers claimed that children who receive a lack of unconditional positive regard, develop low self-esteem. A parent who sets boundaries or limits on their love for a child (conditions of worth) by claiming ‘I will only love you if…’ stores up psychological problems (low self esteem) for their child in the future.
discuss practical application of the humanistic approach.
The humanistic approach’s primary application has been to therapeutic treatment.
Client-centred therapy (CCT), whereby the client is encouraged to develop positive self-regard and overcome the mismatch between their perceived self, true self and ideal self.
counselling for stressful life events such a divorce or marriage counselling allows clients insight and control. has been shown also to be effective in the treatment of some disorders such as depression and stress.
thus the humanistic approach has revolutionised counselling techniques and has a positive widespread application.
CCT is however non-directive, so would be less effective in treating more serious mental disorders like schizophrenia. many of the symptoms of schizophrenia, like paranoia, mean those with the disorder have lost their grip on reality so cannot engage in the way required for CCT.
this suggests that its application may not apply to all mental disorders, so is limited in its practical application and contribution.
additionally,
compared to other approaches, such as behaviourism and the biological approach, humanism has made very little impact on mainstream psychology.
discuss lack of reductionism as a strength of the humanistic approach.
one strength of the humanistic approach is that it rejects attempts to break up behaviour into smaller components (reductionism).
other approaches are criticised for their reductionism. behaviourists explain learning as simple stimulus-response connections, and the cognitive approach see human beings as more ‘information-processing machines’. Freud described the entire personality as made up of three parts - id, ego and superego.
in contrast, humanism advocates for holism, the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person, and all individuals as unique.
this approach therefore may have more validity than alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-world context.
however, reductionist approaches may be more scientific. one issue with humanistic psychology is that there are relatively few concepts that can be broken down to single variables and be empirically tested.
also, principles in humanism such as self-actualisation cannot be empirically tested, as the variable of self-actualisation cannot be operationalised because it is subjective to individuals.
this suggests that humanistic psychology lacks empirical evidence to support its claims, so its validity is greatly limited.
discuss culture bias as a limitation of the humanistic approach.
one limitation of the approach is that it may be culturally biased.
many of the ideas central to the approach, such as free will and autonomy, would be more associated with individualist cultures e.g. the US.
collectivist cultures emphasise more the needs of the group and interdependence, so the ideals of humanistic psychology may not be as important (e.g. self actualisation).
therefore, it is possible that this approach doesn’t apply universally and is a product of the western cultural context within which it was developed.
outline other issues and debates in humanism.
Ideographic - we are all individual and so research has to be case studies on individuals. only approach that suggests humans control their own environment and are capable of change.
both nature and nurture - argues humans have an innate drive to self actualise, but the environment and our experience shape this.
Free Will - Free will is the idea that we are able to have some choice in how we act and assumes that we are free to choose our behaviour, in other words we are self-determined.
