Humanistic Approach Flashcards
What are the basic assumptions of this approach?
Every individual is unique
Free will
People should be viewed holistically
The scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour
When and where did humanistic psychology emergy?
USA in 1950s largely as a result of work of Carol Rogers and Abraham Maslow
Describe ‘every individual is unique’ as a basic assumption
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
Describe ‘free will’ as a basic assumption
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)
Describe the application of constraints on free will
Social rules, laws and morals
But if we want to do something we have ability to choose to do it
Describe the ‘people should be viewed holistically’ basic assumption
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
Describe the ‘scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour’ basic assumption
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
What is self-actualisation?
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
What is Maslow’s theory of motivation?
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
Illustrate Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
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)
Which of Maslow’s hierarchy are self-fulfilment needs?
Self actualisation
Which of Maslow’s hierachy are psychological needs?
Esteem and love/belonging
Which of Maslow’s hierarchy are basic needs?
Safety and physiological
Describe self-actualised people
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
What is the attitude needed to reach self actualisation?
More outward and positive = more attainable
Negative event and adopts negative attitude about it = affects self-concept and prevent personal growth
READ THROUGH ARONOFF 1967 CASE STUDY
BECOME ONE WITH THE STUDY PLS X
What is the self actualisation flow theory?
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
Describe Carl Roger’s theory of person centred therapy (1959)
Work focuses on self, or ‘selves’ of individual
Suggested we have 3 selves which need to integrate to achieve self-actualisation
What are the 3 selves Roger suggests are needed to be integrated to achieve self-actualisation?
Self-concept
Ideal self
Real self
Describe Roger’s ‘self concept’
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
Describe Roger’s ‘ideal self’
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
Describe Roger’s ‘real self’
Person you actually are
Not who you think you are or who you wish you were
Describe Carl Roger’s take on self actualisation
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
What happens when Roger’s ‘selves’ don’t match up?
Anxiety
Defence mechanisms
Depression
Lack of self-worth
Incongruence (not feeling/being suitable) - Rogers said to achieve self-actualisation need to be congruent
Illustrate the importance of congruence
Incongruence
-Ideal self
-Self image
-True self
Separate entities
Congruence
Ideal self, self-image, true self as one entity
How do you achieve congruence?
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
What is the role of conditions of worth?
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
What is client/person-centred therapy
Form of psychotherapy
‘Clients’ not ‘patients’ = expert of their own condition
Non-directive
Warm, supportive and non-judgmental
What does a therapist provide in client-centred therapy?
Genuineness
Empathy
Unconditional positive regard
What does client-centred therapy do to the client?
Increases self-worth
Reduces incongruence
Becomes a fully functioning person
What did Gibbard and Hanley study in 2008?
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
What were the results of Gibbard and Hanley’s study on person-centred therapy (2008)?
70% showed a significant improvement in their mental health
Give a positive evaluation of the humanistic approach
Not reductionist
Advocates holism - must consider whole person
Validity as it considers meaningful human behaviour within a real life context
Give a negative evaluation on this approach
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
Give another negative evaluation of this approach
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?
How is this approach a positive one?
‘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
How is cultural bias a negative evaluation of this approach?
Individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth are associated with individualist cultures
Collectivist cultures emphasise the need for group, community and interdependence
