Approaches in Psychology - The Humanistic Approach Flashcards
When did the humanistic approach and where?
America in early 1960s
Why is the humanistic approach termed the ‘Third Force’?
Because it aimed to replace the 2 main approaches - Behaviourist and psychodynamic
What are humanistic theories concerned with?
Human experiences, uniqueness, meaning, freedom and choice
Determinism
All behaviour has a cause
Psychic determinism
Your mind is choosing the way in which you behave due to the environment you’ve grown up in
Environment
Surroundings, family, people around you
Free will
Our own free choice is the only thing that controls our behaviour
Covert observation
Observation where participants don’t know they’re being observed
Overt observation
Observation where participants know they’re being observed
Participant observation
The observer joins in with the participants
Non-participant observation
The observer just watches the participants
Structure interviewing
Planned questions
Unstructured interviewing
Questions being asked are determined by answers given
Self actualisation
A person’s motivation to reach their full potential
Congruence
A healthy sense of well-being is established if an individual maintains a reasonable consistency between ideal self and actual self
How does humanistic psychology differ from most other approaches in psychology?
By focusing on conscious experience rather than on behaviour
When was humanistic psychology developed? By who?
1950s by C. Rogers and A. Maslow
Assumptions of humanistic approach
-Each person can exercise free will
-Each person is a rational and conscious being and not dominated by unconscious instincts
-Each person is unique
What does unstructured interviewing allow?
Allows access to other people’s views and experiences without imposing on them the researcher’s ideas about what is important
Methodology of humanistic approach
-Unstructured interviewing
-Participant observation
-Diaries, letters and biographical material
Maslow’s interests
Maslow wasn’t interested in what went wrong with people, but rather in what could go right with them
What does Maslow’s hierarchy of needs emphasise?
Importance of personal growth and fulfilment
What did Maslow’s hierarchy of needs open the door to?
Later movements in psychology such as positive psychology and happiness
What is the hierarchy of needs represented by?
A pyramid. Most basic needs at the bottom, then psychological needs them self-fulfilment needs
Basic needs
Safety needs (security and safety)
Physiological needs (food, water, warmth, rest)
Psychological needs
Esteem needs (prestige and feeling accomplished)
Belongingness and love needs (intimate relationships, friends)
Self-fulfilment needs
Self-actualisation (achieving one’s full potential)
Argument regarding self-actualisation
A person will never be happy with the places they reach as they just want to achieve more
What is self-actualisation about?
Giving ourselves a purpose in life
What did C. Rogers focus on?
The concept of the self and self-acceptance. He moved away from traditional psychoanalysis and developed person-centred approach to therapy
C. Rogers opinion of Freud
He felt that Freud only focused on the ‘sick half’ of psychology
C. Rogers Self Theory
Humans are made up of two selves: real self and ideal self
Real self
How I am in the real world and how others see me
Ideal self
Who I wish I could be if I were the best ‘me’
Impact of focusing on ideal self
If you focus on your ideal self too much then you will lose touch with reality and could possibly become deluded
How my people experience a stage of incongruence?
If there is a difference between the self and ideal self
How do you get a high feeling of self worth?
If the self image and ideal self are very close to each other
What can stop the self from growing and changing?
Defence mechanisms
What must our ideal self be?
Realistic
What did Rogers believe?
That more often than not people change the process of self-actualisation
Basic needs for humans
Humans have basic need to feel nurtured and valued by significant people in their lives
How will people develop a healthy sense of self-worth?
If nurturing is given freely, without conditions
Conditioned love
When they are accepted only if they do what others want them to do
What do children who receive conditions of worth, such as criticism and blame develop?
Low self-esteem
What else will lead to low self-esteem?
Incongruence and negative feelings of self-worth
What did Roger believe therapists should provide clients with?
Unconditional positive regard to help resolve conditions of worth
What did Rogers’ person-centred theory emphasise?
The concept of self-actualisation
What did Rogers believe was necessary for self-actualisation?
Unconditional positive regard
What is the individuals centred motivation during counselling psychology?
To learn and to grow
Why did Rogers develop client-centred therapy?
In order to reduce the gap between the ideal self and the real self
Conditions of worth
A parent who sets boundaries or limits their love for their child is storing up psychological problems for that child in the future
Rogers’ list of characteristics of a good therapist
-Empathy
-Congruence
-Positive regard
What did Harter el al discover in 1996?
That teenagers who feel that they have to fulfil certain conditions in order to gain their parents approval frequently end up not liking themselves
False self behaviour
Doing things to meet other peoples expectations even when they clash with their own views
Words to remember hierarch of the needs
Please (physiological)
Stop (safety)
Liking (love/belongingness)
Stupid (self-esteem)
Shit (self-actualisation)
