Approaches : Humanistic Approach Flashcards
Humanistic approach
Focused on discovering what it means to be fully human.
Emphasises the study of the whole person. holism.
Rejects rigorous scientific approach as they see it as dehumanising and unable to capture the richness of conscious experience.
Free will
The idea humans have a choice in how they behave
Mallows hierarchy of needs (model of psychological development)
morality, creativity, acceptance of facts → self-actualisation
self esteem, confidence, respect → esteem
friendship, family, intimacy → love, belonging
security of body, resources, morality → safety
breathing, sleep, food → physiological
Maslow suggests individuals are intrinsically motivated to move up the levels, Beijing more psychological as you move up and harder to satisfy.
Self actualisation
A person becomes the best version of themselves they could possibly be (rare- only Einstein)
Disadvs to Maslow and Roger’s work
• limited empirical evidence: Maslow didn’t use operationalised or standardised procedures so his results arent classified as scientific (must be generalised to populations with caution)
• ethnocentric (based on westernised cultures) : ideas central to humanistic psychology (individual freedom, autonomy, personal growth) are associated with individualistic cultures. Collectivist cultures emphasise the need for groups and interdependence and don’t fit as easily with the values of humonistic psychology.
Advs of Maslow and Roger’s work
• rejects reductionist methods of studying human behaviour (focuses on the whole person) → holistic approach gains better insight.
• major influence on psychological counselling: Roger’s ideas of unconditional positive regard help clients work towards self-awareness and move their actual self coser to their ideal self.
• real world application (useful in clinical settings): Rogers
Carl Rogers
He believed in the same assumptions as Maslow but his main focus was on ‘the self’. He’s known for developing person centred therapy which has three features:
• positive regard
• congruence
• conditions of worth
Rogers argued self worth emerges from good relationships with supportive parents in childhood, and later with friends and partners - directly impacts on psychological wellbeing.
Unconditional positive regard
Love and acceptance is unconditional and it isn’t withdrawn if the person does something wrong or makes a mistake.
People able to self-actualise are more likely to have recieved positive regard from others.
Conditions of worth
Individuals feel they must behave in certain ways to recieve positive regard (if they have conditions of worth they recieve conditional positive regard)
Congruence
Being similar/ in agreement to something.
Describes a state where a persons self and idea self are consistent/ very similar.
The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive regard.
Self-worth is the outcome of a psychological gap between the self and the ideal self.
Congruent
• self image similar to ideal self
• more overlap
• easy to self actualise
Incongruent
• self image different to ideal self
• little overlap
• hard to self actualise
Rogers influence of counselling
He believed through taking a person-centred approach to counselling where the therapist provides unconditional positive regard by expressing acceptance, empathy and understanding - helping to close the gap between perceived and ideal sef. The gap can be reduced by developing a more heathy view of oneself or having a more achievable + realistic ideal self.
