Humanisitc Psychology

Question 1

What does humanistic psychology focus on, making it quite a different approach?

Answer 1

. Conscious experiences rather than behaviour
. Personal responsibility
. Free will rather than determinism
. Discussion of experience rather than on the use of experimental method
(It is a more personal approach to studying the way people think)

Question 2

Why do humanistic theories focus on free will?

Answer 2

Human beings as selves are able to make significant choices despite the forces of biological and societal influences. People have full conscious control over their destiny

Question 3

How did Maslow’s theory differ from psychoanalysts?

Answer 3

Psychoanalyst focus: what went wrong with people (failure of psychosexual stages for example)
Maslow’s focus: what could go right with people

Question 4

How is the hierarchy of needs achieved?

Answer 4

. Each level of ‘need’ must be filled up before a person can move up to a higher need, with the basic needs at the beginning
. Maslow believed the more basic needs are experienced more strongly, making them more difficult to ignore

Question 5

What is the structure of the hierarchy of needs, from most basic to self-actualisation?

Answer 5

1. Physiological needs: Breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion (needed to keep body functioning)
2. Safety needs: security of: body, employment, resources, family, health, property (having a secure life such as a roof under your head)
3. Love/belonging needs: friendships, families, sexual intimacy
4. Esteem: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect for others , respect by others
5. Self-actualisation: peak experiences, extremely inspired and reached goals, able to leave behind doubts, fears and inhibitions

Question 6

What characteristics are present in people who have self-actualised?

Answer 6

. Creative, accurate view of world around them, accepting of other people (no prejudice)

Question 7

What is the problem with generalising the hierarchy of needs universally?

Answer 7

It is subjective to individual experiences and the ‘basic’ needs of people will vary greatly depending on how positive a persons experiences are at a base level due to their financial/property situations.(doesn’t factor in phenomena around the world)

Question 8

What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 8

An explanation to the motivation of humans based on their desire to reach different levels of personal needs e.g some simply want a bed, but some want to rule the world

Question 9

What is the implicative problem with esteem being so high on the hierarchy of needs in society?

Answer 9

As higher levels of needs are easier to ignore after more ‘important’ needs, many in society lack confidence and respect for people that is needed to reach self actualisation, making it difficult to ever reach that level

Question 10

Is self-actualisation realistic?

Answer 10

No, as the definition of your personal goals are subjective, it will never be enough to be completely perfect as your level of needs will become higher and higher. Are humans really ever satisfied and reach a peak?!

Question 11

What is the self/self-concept in humanistic psychology?

Answer 11

How we perceive ourselves

Question 12

What did Rogers (1951) believe were the basic needs of a person?

Answer 12

1. Positive regard from other people
2. A feeling of self-worth

Question 13

How did Roger’s explain the developments of self-worth as a basic need?

Answer 13

. Feelings of self-worth are formed as a result of a child’s interactions with parents. These feelings develop in childhood and further interactions with significant others such as friends strengthen this self-worth (depends whether it is positive or not)

Question 14

How did Carl Roger’s determine psychological health?

Answer 14

Based on how we think about ourselves, how strong our feelings of self-worth are. If you believe you have no worth, your psychological health will deteriorate and you will not have the motivation to achieve needs beyond the basic level

Question 15

What is congruence?

Answer 15

When there is a similarity between a person’s ideal self (who we would like to be) and our true self perception.

Question 16

How is congruence and self-worth related?

Answer 16

A higher level of congruence allows for higher feelings of self-worth, as you are not too harsh on yourself in feeling the need to be so much better than you are, but also not too soft that you don’t have many aspirations

Question 17

What are the implications of the humanistic approach on the economy?

Answer 17

The hierarchy of needs may be relevant on much larger stage than individual growth:
. Hagerty (1999) - researched relationship between economic growth and place in Maslow’s hierarchy in 88 countries over 34 years.
Findings: countries in earlier stages of economic development were characterised by lower-level needs
Conclusion: only in advanced stages of economic development does self-actualisation actually become important, it isn’t universally the same hierarchy

Question 18

What are the metholodical issues of humanistic research methods?

Answer 18

They don’t establish causality:
Roger’s was an advocate for non-experimental methods
- evaluating a therapy becomes very difficult without experimental evidence
E.g although some studies show personal growth increased with humanity counselling, it is hard to tell whether the counselling caused the growth.

Question 19

How is the humanistic approach unrealistic?

Answer 19

Humans aren’t all the ideal ‘growth orientated’ type of person, some are very pessimistic and self-destructive
- linking personality development and motivation to an innate potential for growth is oversimplification
- encouraging people to focus on their own self-development rather than the situational forces at play may not be realistic or appropriate in modern society as although all humans have free will, you cannot ignore the world around you to try and boost development

Question 20

How do some people lie to themselves when evaluating their ‘self’?

Answer 20

Everyone wants to see themselves in ways that are consistent with their self-image, so they may use defence mechanisms to minimise the feeling of danger against the inconsistencies of how they want to be and how they really are

Question 21

What are conditions of worth?

Answer 21

Conditions imposed on an individual’s behaviour and development that are considered to earn positive regard from significant others

Question 22

How can positive regard vary?

Answer 22

It can be conditional or unconditional
Unconditional: love and acceptance is shown by others simply for what they do naturally
Conditional: love and acceptance is only shown when the individual does what others want them to do

Question 23

How do conditions of worth develop?

Answer 23

When an individual mainly receives conditional positive regard,
- to the individual these conditions have to be shown to be accepted by others and to see themselves positively
- an individual only accepts themselves if they meet their set conditions of acceptance

This can very much hinder the process of self-actualisation

Question 24

What did Roger believe many psychological problems came from?

Answer 24

A direct result of their conditions of worth and the conditional positive regard they receive from others

Question 25

How did Roger’s influence counselling psychology?

Answer 25

. Believed that people could see their problems in more constructive ways by having the therapists act as ‘guides’ to help people discover their potential and allow the client to move away from their conditions of worth and become more true to their self, behaving in a way that is true to their self rather than how others want them to behave

Question 26

What is the role of the therapist in humanistic counselling?

Answer 26

. Provide empathy and unconditional positive regard to express acceptance and understanding to the client, creating an environment to dissolve their conditions of worth