Humanistic Approach Flashcards
When was the humanistic approach developed?
1950s
Why was it termed the ‘third force’?
Aimed to replace the 2 main approaches
What was the humanistic approach intended to do?
Offer less deterministic approach
What are humanistic theories concerned with?
Human experiences Uniqueness Meaning Freedom Choice
Free will
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces
What does the humanistic approach claim?
Human beings are self determining and have free will
What does humans being self determining mean?
We are active agents who have the ability to determine our own development
What does Maslow believe?
Humans are motivated by needs beyond those of basic biological survival
What is fundamental to human nature?
The desire to grow and develop to achieve our full potential
Mallows heirachy of needs
Ranges from basic needs to higher level psychological and actualisation needs
What must happen before you can work towards self actualisation?
All four levels must be met
What does mallows theory emphasise?
Human motivational factors
Physiological stage
Breathing Food Water Sex Sleep Homeostasis Excreation
Safety stage
Security of body, employment, health,property, family
Love/Belonging stage
Friendship
Family
Sexual intimacy
Esteem stage
Self esteem
Confidence
Achievement
Respect of/by others
Self actualisation
Morality
Creativity
Acceptance of facts
Problem solving
What does Carl Rogers point out?
Individuals strive to achieve their ideal selves because they are motivated towards self improvements
What did Rogers feel?
Freud dealt with sick half of psychology
An assumption of the humanistic approach?
Humans have basic needs to feel nurtured and valued by significant people
Another assumption of the humanistic approach?
If given freely, people will develop a healthy sense of self worth, recognising abilities and difficulties
How is a healthy sense of well being established?
If individual maintains a reasonable consistency between ideal self and actual behaviour
What is a healthy sense of well-being known as?
Congruence
When is incongruence greatest?
Greater gap between ideal self and actual self
What can incongruence lead to?
Low self worth and make adjustment
What can stop the self from growing?
Defence mechanisms
What is a method of investigation for the humanistic approach?
Q-sort assessment
Who was the Q-sort assessment developed by?
Stephenson
What did Rogers adopt Q-sort assessment into?
Client centred therapy
What is the Q-sort?
Series of cards, each containing a personal statement
What does the Q-sort measure?
Measurement of a persons congruence/incongruence
An example of Q sort
“Needs recognition”
Statement is sorted into forced distribution under two sets of conditions
- describe real self
- describe ideal self
Why did Rogers develop client centred therapy?
Reduce gap between the self concept and ideal self
Conditions of worth
Parent who sets boundaries or limits on their love for their child is storing up psychological problems for future,
What is an effective therapist able to provide clients with?
Unconditional positive regard they failed to receive as a child
What is the humanistic approach’s primary application?
Therapeutic treatment
Client centred therapy
Lindy encouraged to develop positive self regard and overcome mismatch between perceived self, true self and ideal self
Gestalt therapy
Aim is to help client become a whole person by getting them to accept every aspect of themselves
What do techniques of gestalt therapy include?
Confrontation
Dream analysis
Role playing
cultural bias evaluation
many of the ideas that are central to humanistic psychology such as individual freedom and personal growth would be much more readily associated with individualist cultures in the western world. collectivists cultures which empathises the needs of the group may not identify easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psych. therefore it it possible that this approach would not travel well and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed.
IDA evaluation
it is holistic as it does not try to break down behaviour in simper components. This means that the approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real life context. the approach also recognises both the influence of nature and nurture. nurture - the influence of experiences on a persons ways of perceiving and understanding the world and nature - through the influence of biological drives and needs
limited application evaluation
humanistic psych has relatively little real world application. While maslows heirachy of needs has been used to explain motivation particularly in the workplace but it remains the case that the approach has had limited impact within the discipline of psych as a whole. this may be due to the fact that the approach has been described as a loose set of abstract concepts
