Humanistic Approach Flashcards
4 assumptions
- Everyone is unique
- Free will
- People should be viewed holistically
- Scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour, as human behaviour is subjective (individualistic)
What’s free will
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces
What’s self-actualisation
The desire to grow and fulfil ones full potential
What’s congruence
When the self-concept and ideal self match/are the same
What’s conditions of worth
Requirements an individual feels they need to meet to be loved
What’s hierarchy of needs
A five-levelled hierarchal sequence in which basic needs (hunger) must be satisfied before higher psychological needs (self-actualisation) can be achieved
The order of Maslow hierarchy of needs
1) Physiological needs (bottom)
2) Safety needs
3) Love and belonging
4) Esteem
5) Self-actualisation (Top)
What’s self-concept
The self you feel you are
What’s ideal self
The self you wish to be
What’s the real self
The person you actually are
What are the 3 selves Carl Rogers suggested needed to integrate to achieve self-actualisation
1) The self-concept
2) The ideal self
3) The real self
What’s unconditional positive regard
Where there are no requirements to be loved by an individual
Unconditional positive regard is an important part of achieving what
Congruence
Then congruence is important to reach self-actualisation
What issues does client-centred therapy address, and what’s their explanation for them
- Aims to address issues with worthlessness and low self-esteem
- These issues can be explained by lack of unconditional positive regard by parents. Parents place conditions of worth on the child, leading to incongruence of the selves
What does client-centres therapy provide
- Aims to provide client with genuineness, empathy and unconditional positive regard
- Its non-directive as clients are seen as experts in their own condition
- Therapist acts as a mirror, reflecting back the clients subjective thoughts
Referring to features of humanistic psychology, explain how Joyce’s situation may affect her personal growth (4)
According to Rogers, Joyce is incongruent with her selves. Incongruence is where your ideal self and self concept don’t match. Self concept is the self you feel you are and ideal self is the self you wish to be. Joyce cannot achieve congruence as she is harbouring under ‘conditions of worth‘. This is where requirements that the person feels needs to be met to be loved
Evaluation of humanistic approach
- Advocate holism. Strength, easier to study subjective experiences as a whole as it won’t miss anything out
- Holism can be difficult to measure scientifically, lacking causal explanations of behaviour.
- Cannot apply humanistic approach to real life. For example client-centred therapy is limited to mild mental health conditions, therefore can’t treat schizophrenics for example
- Humanists praised for ‘bringing the person back into psychology’, promoting the positive image of human condition. However, Freud had more of a negative approach, as he saw humans as a product of childhood experiences