Approaches: The Humanistic Approach

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the humanistic approach?

Answer 1

• emphasizes the study of the whole person - it is a person-centred approach
• views every individual as unique
• regards personal growth and fulfilment in life as a basic human motive

Question 2

What is determinism?

Answer 2

the idea that our behaviour is entirely, or partly, shaped by forces over which we no control

Question 3

What does the humanistic approach say about free will?

Answer 3

• rejects determinism
• claims that we are self-determining and have free will
• although we are still affected by external and internal influences
• claims we are active agents who have the ability to determine our own development

Question 4

Does the humanistic approach reject scientific models? Why?

Answer 4

• yes
• believes that since we are all unique, psychology should only be concerned with the study of subjective behaviour instead of generalised principles
• therefore it is a person-centred approach

Question 5

What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Answer 5

1. self actualisation (e.g. morality, creativity)
2. self-esteem (e.g. confidence, achievement)
3. love and belonging - (e.g. friendship and family, intimacy)
4. safety and security - (e.g. health, employment)
5. physiological needs - (e.g. food and water, shelter)

Question 6

What is self-actualisation?

Answer 6

• the idea that every person has an innate tendency to achieve their full potential (to become the best they could possibly be)
• the highest level on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• all four levels below self-actualisation must be met before an individual can work towards self-actualisation

Question 7

What is personal growth? How do humanists regard personal growth?

Answer 7

• personal growth = the development and change of a person to become fulfilled, satisfied, and goal orientated
• personal growth is an essential part of what it is to be human
• not everyone can achieve this, as there are psychological barriers that may prevent people from achieving their full potential

Question 8

What is congruence in terms of self?

Answer 8

when an individual’s concept of self (the way they see themselves) is congruent (the same/similar) to their ideal self (the person they want to be)

Question 9

Why is congruence important?

Answer 9

for personal growth to be achieved, an individual must have conguence between their concept of self and their ideal self

Question 10

What is incongruence in terms of self?

Answer 10

• if there is too big of a gap between one’s concept of self and one’s ideal self, they are in a state of incongruence
• this means it is not possible to achieve self-actualisation due to negative feelings of self-worth

Question 11

What is the Q sort test?

Answer 11

• a test used to measure the congruence of one’s concept of self (how one views themselves) and one’s ideal self
• at involves choosing 10 adjectives that one believes best describes themself and ranking them from most accurate to least accurate
• then choosing another 10 adjectives that one believes best describes who they wish to be again ranking from most accurate to least accurate
• the comparison of the rankings from the two lists indicates how congruent one is

Question 12

What is client-centred therapy? Who was it developed by?

Answer 12

• developed by rogers
• helps people cope with the problems of everyday living
• reduces the gap between one’s concept of self and their ideal self
• provides unconditional positive regard (unconditional love)

Question 13

What are Roger’s conditions of worth?

Answer 13

• the idea that many issues we experience as adults, such as worthlessness and low self-esteem, stem from childhood
• this happens when there is a lack of unconditional positive regard (unconditional love) from parents
• this affects a child’s self esteem and self worth, which stores up into adulthood

Question 14

Strength of humanism: holism

Answer 14

• humanists view the human psyche holistically
• this means they believe that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the person as a whole
• this is in contrast with the other more reductionist approaches, such as behaviourism, which reduces all human behaviour to stimulus-response links
• because reductionism reduces all behaviour to simple cause and effect links, it fails to take into account the complexity of human behaviour and experience
• therefore, the humanist approach may have more validity than its alternatives, as it considers the human experience as a whole, taking into account the subjectiveness of each individual’s experience in a real life context

Question 15

Strength of humanism: practical applications

Answer 15

• client-centred therapy, developed by Rogers, is a practical application this approach
• it involves helping people cope with the problems of everyday living, with the help tailored to and centred on the individual
• Rogers also believed client-centred therapy could give people the unconditional positive regard that was missing in their childhoods, helping to build self-worth and self-esteem, as well as to achieve congruence between one’s concept of self and ideal self
• all of this is designed to help clients overcome barriers in order to achieve self actualisation (to achieve their full potential)
• this is a strength because the point of psychology is to benefit society
• whereas many other approaches focus on identifying generalisable principles to all behaviour, the humanistic approach focuses on the individual, which is beneficial, as all humans are different and respond to help differently.

Question 16

Weakness of humanism: untestable concepts

Answer 16

• humanistic psychology involves many vague and abstract concepts, such as self actualisation and congruence
• these concepts, although somewhat useful as therapeutic tools, cannot be tested under experimental conditions
• therefore, due to the lack of empirical evidence, it is difficult to conclude whether or not these concepts are true, as we cannot test them
• however, Rogers developed the Q sort test, which is relatively more objective, as it involves the comparison of quantitative data from a questionnaire

Question 17

Weakness of humanism: cultural bias

Answer 17

• many of the concepts in humanistic psychology, stem from western culture
• because western culture is individualistic, there is a large focus on a person as an individual in humanistic psychology, and less focus on a person as part of a society
• humanistic psychology also puts emphasis on concepts such as personal growth and individual freedom, even claiming personal growth is an essential part of the human experience
• these concepts are less emphasised in collectivist cultures, as they focus more on people as part of society and less so on individual freedom and growth
• therefore such concepts cannot be generalised to all cultures, and so humanistic psychology cannot be applied to people of those cultures