Humanistic approach Flashcards
Why does the humanistic approach have no research
Everyone is unique so there can be no general rules
What approach/es did humanism aim to replace and as such what is it also known as
aimed to replace - behaviourism and psychodynamic
It is dubbed the ‘third force’ because of this
Explain why humanistic theories follow the idiographic approach
Humanistic theories are concerned with human experiences, uniqueness, meaning, freedom and choice
What are the key features of the humanistic approach
- Free will
- Self-actualisation/ hierarchy of needs
- congruence
- conditions of worth
How many key features are in the humanistic approach
4/5
Give the assumptions of the humanistic approach
- Humanists believe everyone is unique, so psychologists should focus on the subjective experiences, feelings and thoughts of a person.
- Humanism is idiographic - we must study humans’ uniqueness rather than look for laws
- Humanism is the closest to a free will approach in psychology.
- Personal growth is a key concept
define free will
free will is the notion that humans can make choices and their behaviour/ thoughts are not determined by internal (biological) or external forces.
What key feature is Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs connected to
self-actualisation
define self-actualisation
self-actualisation is the desire to grow psychologically and fufil one’s potential
What is Mazlow’s heirarchy
Mazlow’s hierarchy is a hierarchy of needs.
It is a 5-levelled hierarchial sequence in which basic physiological needs must be satisfied before higher psychological needs can be achieved
State the levels of Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs
with examples
- Base = largest = physiological needs = air, water, food, sleep
- 2nd level = safety needs = health, employment, personal security
- 3rd level = love and belonging = friendship, family, sense of connection
- 4th level = esteem needs = respect, freedom, self-esteem
- 5th level = Top = self actualisation = desire to fufil potential
How does Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs work
- As each need is satisfied, the person may go up the hierarchy and attempt to satisfy the next need.
- The first 4 levels are called deficiency needs and the 5th is called a growth need
- Self-actualisation therefore can only take place if the lower needs are satisfied.
what ways does Rogers say self-actualisation can be achieved
- practicing acceptance
- practicing religion
- some kind of art or poetry
What are the preconditions to self-actualise
- No restraints imposed by others on what you can do
- Little or no distractions from deficiency needs
- An ability to know yourself well
List characteristics of a self-actualised person
- self-accepting
- enjoy solitude and privicy
- realistic
- autonomous
- open and spontaneous
define peak experience
The experience of self-actualisation is described as having a peak experience, which is an experience of great significance.
It is feelings of ecstacy, which are strongly felt and transcend the reality of time.
How many people self-actualise on average
Most never achieve self-actualisation
Why is regard important for Rogers
Humans have a basic need to feel nurtured and valued by significant people in their lives
Define unconditional positive regard
unconditional positive regard is where the basic need to feel nurtured and valued by significant people in our lives is fufilled. It is given freely without conditions
What will happen if a person recieves unconditional positive regard
They will develop a healthy sense of self-worth, recognising their abilities and difficulties
What is negative regard
critism and blame
What is the result for the children who recieve negative regard
they develop low self esteem
How do you avoid negative regard when telling off a child
parents should blame the behaviour not the child
How is a healthy sense of wellbeing established
A healthy sense of wellbeing is established if an individual maintains a reasonable consistency between ideal self and actual behaviour
define congruence
Congruence is the aim of Rogerian therapy, when the self-concept and the ideal self are seen to broadly match
What can incongruence lead to
low self-worth and maladjustment
What happens when the gap between the ideal self and the actual self widens
The greater the gap between the. ideal self and the actual self, the greater the incongruence
define self
The ‘self’ is the ideas and values that characterise ‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and valuing of ‘what i am’ and ‘what i can do’
How does Rogers suggest the gap between the ideal self and the actual self can be narrowed
through client-centered therapy (CCT)
define conditions of worth
When a parent places limits or boundaries on their love of their children. e.g ‘i will only love you if you study medicine’
what does an effective therapist in CCT do
provide the client with the unconditional positive regard they had failed to recieve as children.
How has the humanistic approach contributed to society
its primary application has been to theraputic treatments
- CCT
- Gestalt therapy
what happens in client-centred therapy
the client is encouraged to develop positive self-regard and overcome the mismatch between their perceived self, actual self and ideal self.
what is the aim of gestalt therapy
the aim is to help the client become a ‘whole’ (gestalt) person by getting them to accept every aspect of themselves
What techniques are used in gestalt therapy
- confrontation
- dream analysis
- role-playing
list the characteristics of a humanistic therapist
- show unconditional positive regard
- be congruent with the client
- show empathy and genuineness
What are the strengths of the humanistic approach
- It emphasises choice (free will and responsibility) which is largely ignored by other approaches
- It considers subjective conscious experiences
- It values personal ideals and self-fufilment
- It has enabled psychologists to explore human existance with more sensitivity than the more scientific methods
What are the weaknesses of the humanistic approach
- this approach has less impact on mainstream psychology than the other approaches
- the use of qualitative techniques has been questioned
- As the subject matter is individual experience it is not possible to formulate general laws of behaviour and as such it is not a comprehensive theory but rather a loose set of abstract ideas
- Little empirical research can be carried out on these untestable concepts due to the vagueness of terms like self-actualisation and ‘fully-functioning person’.
- Not all cultures share the assumption that individual achievement brings fufilment.
give the linking statments for the assumption: Personal growth is a key feature of the humanistic approach
- Assumption: Personal growth is a key feature
- Key feature: Maslow’s hierarchy
- No research
- Strength: It emphasises free will/ simplifies the process of reaching self-actualisation
- Weakness: Due to vagueness of such term as ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘fully-functioning person’, little empirical research has been carried out – untestable concepts. /Not all cultures share the assumption that individual achievement brings fulfilment. / can’t be generalised
give the linking statments for the assumption: Humanism is the closest to a free will approach in psychology
- Assumption: Humanism is the closest to a free will approach in psychology. A free will approach believes that people are not determined to be the way they are due to a specific cause, but they freely choose the way they live their life: they choose the kind of person they are.
- Key feature: Free will vs determinism
- No research
- Strength: emphasises choice unlike other approaches
- Weakness: by focusing on free will humanism has less impact on mainstream psychology than other approaches
give the linking statments for the assumption: Humanism is ideographic
- Assumption: Humanism is ideographic - we must study humans’ uniqueness rather than look for laws that apply to all people (called a nomothetic approach).
- Key feature: congruence
- No research
- Strength: values personal ideals and self-fulfilment
- Weakness: not all cultures share the assumption that individual achievement brings fulfilment.
