Humanistic Flashcards
Basic Assumptions
A person-centred approach.
1) All humans are unique (idiographic approach - concerned with one individual.)
2) Identifies importance of subjective experience - human behaviour is best understood from the perspective of the individual.
3) Humans have free will - we can make our own choices & these are driven by the need to self-actualise.
Maslow’s Theory
Aim: Developed hierarchy so employers could get the best of their employees by understanding their needs.
1) Unlike psychoanalysis, he wasn’t interested in what was ‘wrong’ with ppl, only what could go ‘right’ with them.
2) His hierarchy of needs emphasised the importance of personal growth & fulfilment.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
1) Self-fulfilment needs:
- Self-actualisation - achieving one’s full potential.
2) Basic needs:
- Esteem needs
- Love & Belonging needs
- Safety needs
3) Physiological needs:
- Food, water, warmth, rest.
Self-Actualisation
1) Each level of the hierarchy of needs must be fulfilled before moving up.
2) The more basic the need the more powerfully it is experienced & the more difficult to ignore.
Congruence
Aim of therapy is to establish congruence.
1) Rogers argued personal growth requires an individual’s concept of self to be congruent with their ideal self.
2) If too big a gap, the person will experience a state of incongruence and self-actualisation isn’t possible.
Conditions of Worth
1) People are rewarded for behaving in a specific way.
E.g. A child is rewarded with an allowance for doing chores.
2) At times, conditions of worth can negatively impact a person’s self-concept.
E.g. Trying to please their parents/teachers/family could stunt the development of their own personality.
Rogers - Counselling Therapy
1) In Rogers’ client-centred therapy (counselling) an effective therapist should provide the client with three things:
* Genuineness
* Empathy
* Unconditional positive regard
2) The aim is to increase feelings of self-worth and reduce incongruence between the self-concept and the ideal self.
3) Rogers work transformed psychotherapy. ‘Non-directive’ counselling techniques are practised in clinical settings, but also throughout education, health etc.
Unconditional Positive Regard
1) A person receives love and support no matter how they behave –> develops a positive self-concept.
E.g. person-centred therapy; this is when a therapist does not judge their patient. They only give genuine support and empathy.
Strength
IRL APPLICATION
1) Rogers client-centred therapy techniques are widely used.
2) His work transformed psychotherapy. ‘Non-directive’ counselling techniques are practised in clinical settings, but also throughout education, health etc.
–> This increases the value of the humanistic approach.
Strength
HUMANISTIC PSYCH IS ANTI-REDUCTIONIST
1) Humanistic psychs reject any attempt to break up behaviour & experience into smaller components —> advocate holism - the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person.
—> Could have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-world context.
Strength
A POSITIVE APPROACH
1) Promote a positive image of the human condition - having free will.
2) Freud saw humans as prisoners of their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’.
—> SO humanistic psych offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative.
Limitation
CULTURAL BIAS
1) Many humanistic ideas (e.g. self-actualisation) would be more associated with individualist cultures e.g. the U.S.
2) Collectivist cultures e.g. India, which emphasise the needs of the group, may not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology.
—> SO, its possible that the approach doesn’t apply universally and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed.
