Humanistic Approach

Question 1

What are the basic assumptions of this approach?

Answer 1

Every individual is unique
Free will
People should be viewed holistically
The scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour

Question 2

When and where did humanistic psychology emergy?

Answer 2

USA in 1950s largely as a result of work of Carol Rogers and Abraham Maslow

Question 3

Describe ‘every individual is unique’ as a basic assumption

Answer 3

Humanists believe we are all different and we should be treated as such
Therefore approach unlikely to try and generalise to groups of people and subdivide the population into clusters which all share a characteristic such as age/gender
This way of viewing people as unique individuals is called idiographic

Question 4

Describe ‘free will’ as a basic assumption

Answer 4

We all have free will
Ability to choose what we do
We are in control of our behaviour
Humans are self-determining - we are not affected by external or internal influences (“active agents”)
In charge of how we develop and progress through life
Person is responsible for their own behaviour (social or anti-social); legal system = responsibility placed with individual (their fault)

Question 5

Describe the application of constraints on free will

Answer 5

Social rules, laws and morals
But if we want to do something we have ability to choose to do it

Question 6

Describe the ‘people should be viewed holistically’ basic assumption

Answer 6

No point looking at just one aspect of individual
If only one part is considered - much of what could be affecting them might be missed
Do not believe in focusing on childhood during therapy - whole life should be considered

Question 7

Describe the ‘scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour’ basic assumption

Answer 7

Approach does not describe itself as scientific
Argues that scientific method tries to be too objective and yet humans are subjective in way they think and behave
Free will is difficult concept to determine, but does not bother humanists

Question 8

What is self-actualisation?

Answer 8

Innate drive to achieve their full potential
Achievement of full potential
Makes you fulfilled, satisfied and goal-orientated
‘A growth need’ - personal growth is essential part of being human

Question 9

What is Maslow’s theory of motivation?

Answer 9

We are motivated to use free will to reach our fullest potential
Some needs are shared and some are individual
Human needs are categorised and prioiritsed

Question 10

Illustrate Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 10

Spend our lives trying to get to top
Until lower levels are met, cannot attempt to satisfy higher level needs

SELF ACTUALISATION - realised full potential (become best you’re capable of being)
ESTEEM - focused on achievement and gaining respect from others
LOVE/BELONGING - consider affection, acceptance, and belonging to be important
SAFETY - strive to feel safe physically, psychologically and economically
PHYSIOLOGICAL - source the food, water, shelter and sleep you need to survive (and sex)

Question 11

Which of Maslow’s hierarchy are self-fulfilment needs?

Answer 11

Self actualisation

Question 12

Which of Maslow’s hierachy are psychological needs?

Answer 12

Esteem and love/belonging

Question 13

Which of Maslow’s hierarchy are basic needs?

Answer 13

Safety and physiological

Question 14

Describe self-actualised people

Answer 14

Strong sense of self-awareness
Fully accepting view of themselves and others for who they are
Ability to deal with uncertainty/unknown
Strong sense of creativity

Question 15

What is the attitude needed to reach self actualisation?

Answer 15

More outward and positive = more attainable
Negative event and adopts negative attitude about it = affects self-concept and prevent personal growth

Question 16

READ THROUGH ARONOFF 1967 CASE STUDY

Answer 16

BECOME ONE WITH THE STUDY PLS X

Question 17

What is the self actualisation flow theory?

Answer 17

By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1990
Discusses ‘flow’ being a state when someone is completely caught up in a task/sport/activity so that are completely focused on performance and not on thinking about other everyday matters
Daniel (1988) - Seems to increase personal growth because person is driven to improve their performance

Question 18

Describe Carl Roger’s theory of person centred therapy (1959)

Answer 18

Work focuses on self, or ‘selves’ of individual
Suggested we have 3 selves which need to integrate to achieve self-actualisation

Question 19

What are the 3 selves Roger suggests are needed to be integrated to achieve self-actualisation?

Answer 19

Self-concept
Ideal self
Real self

Question 20

Describe Roger’s ‘self concept’

Answer 20

Self you feel you are
Similar to self-esteem and is affected by it
Low self-esteem = self-concept will be poor and distorted view of how capable they are

Question 21

Describe Roger’s ‘ideal self’

Answer 21

Self you wish to be
Who you are aiming towards becoming or possibly already there
Typical way of knowing if someone is working towards this is “I wish I was more…” or “I wish I was able to…”
Differs from self-concept in that not who you think you are, but who you wish you were

Question 22

Describe Roger’s ‘real self’

Answer 22

Person you actually are
Not who you think you are or who you wish you were

Question 23

Describe Carl Roger’s take on self actualisation

Answer 23

Felt that to be able to reach this state it is important for the person to be fully functioning
Meaning have opportunity to strive for self-actualisation and are actually doing so

Question 24

What happens when Roger’s ‘selves’ don’t match up?

Answer 24

Anxiety
Defence mechanisms
Depression
Lack of self-worth
Incongruence (not feeling/being suitable) - Rogers said to achieve self-actualisation need to be congruent

Question 25

Illustrate the importance of congruence

Answer 25

Incongruence
-Ideal self
-Self image
-True self
Separate entities

Congruence
Ideal self, self-image, true self as one entity

Question 26

How do you achieve congruence?

Answer 26

Important part = ‘unconditional positive regard’
Meaning at some point in life someone has to be loved for who they are by someone else
Need to be accepted unconditonally

Question 27

What is the role of conditions of worth?

Answer 27

Are requirements that individual feels need to meet to be loved
Also called conditional positive regard
Can either be real or perceived by individual
Parent who limits love of child to set of boundaries such as “I will only love you if…” causes psychological problems for that child

Question 28

What is client/person-centred therapy

Answer 28

Form of psychotherapy
‘Clients’ not ‘patients’ = expert of their own condition
Non-directive
Warm, supportive and non-judgmental

Question 29

What does a therapist provide in client-centred therapy?

Answer 29

Genuineness
Empathy
Unconditional positive regard

Question 30

What does client-centred therapy do to the client?

Answer 30

Increases self-worth
Reduces incongruence
Becomes a fully functioning person

Question 31

What did Gibbard and Hanley study in 2008?

Answer 31

Impact of person-centred therapy on group of patients suffering from anxiety and depression
700 people over 5 years
Questionnaire was used to measure extent of their condition before and after therapy

Question 32

What were the results of Gibbard and Hanley’s study on person-centred therapy (2008)?

Answer 32

70% showed a significant improvement in their mental health

Question 33

Give a positive evaluation of the humanistic approach

Answer 33

Not reductionist
Advocates holism - must consider whole person
Validity as it considers meaningful human behaviour within a real life context

Question 34

Give a negative evaluation on this approach

Answer 34

Limited real world application
Person-centred therapy did revolutionise counselling techniques and hierarchy of needs which does explain motivation in the work place
HOWEVER
Little impact in psychology
Lacks scientific evidence
Abstract concepts

Question 35

Give another negative evaluation of this approach

Answer 35

Can we test self-actualisation and congruence in an experiment?
Roger’s ‘Q-sort technique’ - given to clients before and after therpay to see if situations have improved through psychotherapy, but is anti-scientific and lacks empirical evidence
Genes?

Question 36

How is this approach a positive one?

Answer 36

‘Bringing the person back into psychology’
Optimistic alternative to Freud - people are basically good, free to work towards achievement of their potential and in control of their lives

Question 37

How is cultural bias a negative evaluation of this approach?

Answer 37

Individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth are associated with individualist cultures
Collectivist cultures emphasise the need for group, community and interdependence