Humanistic Approach Flashcards
Why is the humanistic approach subjective?
Because they simply reject all scientific approaches and prefer to focus on individual and subjective experiences
Why are human beings subjective?
Because they have demand characteristics therefore the scientific approach to study human thought and experience nay not always be desirable or possible
what is the humanistic approach
An approach that understand behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each persons capacity for self determination
What are the parts of the humanistic approach
Free will, maslows hierarchy of needs, self actualisation and conditions of worth
Define free will
The idea that humans can make heir own choices with their own judgment which aren’t determined by internals biological or external force
How is the humanistic approach different from all the other approaches
All the other approaches are determinist to a certain extent whereas the humanistic approaches suggest that humans are self determining and have free will
What do human psychologists believe in terms of free will
That although people are still affected by external and internal influences, they are still active agents who have the ability to determine their own development
Who are the main human psychologists we need to know about
Rogers and Maslow
What do human psychologists reject
They reject more scientific models that establish general principles of human behaviour
What do rogers and Maslow believe psychology should be
They believe that psychology should concern itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws
What is the humanistic approach also referred to as
Person-cantered approach
How did Maslow contribute to the humanistic approach
He developed the theory of humans ‘hierarchy of needs’
What was Maslows main interest and what did it lead to
His main interest was what motivated people and this lead to the hierarchy of needs to be developed
What is the hierarchy of needs
It is a sequence which identifies which psychological needs must be satisfied before higher psychological needs can be achieved
What is the aim for the hierarchy of needs
To show how a person is only able to progress and develop through the hierarchy f needs and this only happens once the current need in the sequence has been met
What is the sequence in the hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)
Biological needs —> safety and security —> love and belongingness —> self esteem —> self actualisation
What is self actualisation
It is the desire to grow psychologically and fulfils one’s potential by becoming what they are capable of
What level is self actualisation on, in the hierarchy of needs
It is at the highest level
How can selfactualisation be met
It can only be met if the 4 levels of needs below it (the deficiency needs) are met and fulfilled
What does self actualisation commonly apply to
The developments of babies and how they start to be focused on psychological needs and apply it throughout their life
What is a negative of the concept of self actualisation
Not everyone can reach this level of satisfaction and fulfilment and this can be due to the many psychological barriers that prevent a person from reaching their potential
What are the 3 parts of the concept of ‘worth’
Self, congruence and conditions
How did Rogers contribute to the humanistic approach
By studying the self, congruence and conditions of worth
What is self
The concept of how one sees themself
What is congruence
When self-concept and ideal self are seen to broadly accord or match
What is an ideal self
The type of person that they want to be
What happens of there is too big of a gap between the 2 selves
The person will experience a state of incongruence and self actualisation won’t be possible due to negative feelings of self worth
How can the gap between the self concept and ideal self be reduced
By client centred therapy aka counselling
What does rogers believe many of of our adult issues come from
He believes the adult problems that many experience are rooted from peoples childhood
How can the fact that the issues are rooted from our childhood be explained
It cab be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard or lack of unconditional love from parents
What is the conditions of love
When a parent places limits or boundaries on their love for their children
what are examples of the conditions of love
“I will only love you if….”
What is the issue with conditions of love
It stores up psychological problem s for the child in the future
How does rogers provide help for those with deep rooted psychological problems
By providing his clients with the unconditional positive regarded they failed to receive as children alongside genuineness and empathy and this is to increase their self worth and reduce their level of incongruence
What is the main strength of the humanistic approach
It isn’t reductionist as it rejects attempts to break up the behaviour and experience into smaller concepts.The humanistic approach advocates holism
What is the counterpoint of the strength of the humanistic approach not being reductionist
Because of the fact that it isn’t reductionist, it takes away the scientific aspect of psychology and the humanistic approach is short of empirical evidence to support its claims because only a few of the concepts are able to be broken down to single variables and measured
What is another strength of the humanistic approach
That it is a positive and optimistic approach. This allowed humanistic psychologists to be praised for bringing a positive image of psychology and of the human condition. This suggest that humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative to other approaches
What is a limitation of the humanistic approach
It could be culturally biased as many of the ideas and concepts in the humanistic approach are more readily associated to countries with more individualistic tendencies. In collective tendency countries that are more associated with groups and interdependence, human psychology may not be as important. This suggests the HA doesn’t apply universally
