Humanistic Approach

Question 1

What is the humanistic approach?

Answer 1

A way of explaining behaviour, emphasising the importance of subjective experience and the capacity for self-determination

Question 2

What is free will?

Answer 2

Humans are free to make choices themselves, and are not determined by internal biological or external forces

Question 3

What is self-actualisation?

Answer 3

The desire to grow and fulfill one’s full potential

Question 4

What is the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 4

A five-tiered hierarchy, in which psychological needs must be met before self-actualisation can be achieved

Question 5

What is the ‘self’

Answer 5

The ideas and values that characterise ‘I’ and ‘me’

Question 6

What is congruence?

Answer 6

The aim of Rogerian therapy, when the self concept and the ideal self are equal

Question 7

What are conditions of worth?

Answer 7

When parents place limits or boundaries on the love of their children

Question 8

What are the five stages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 8

Self-actualisation
Self-esteem
Love and belonging
Safety and security
Physiological needs

Question 9

What is the purpose of the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 9

It motivates our behaviour, encourages us to achieve self-actualisation

Question 10

How can self-actualisation be achieved?

Answer 10

One needs to achieve all four other stages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs before achieving self-actualisation

Question 11

What is client centered therapy?

Answer 11

Helps people cope with their problems- Carl Rogers. Increase feelings of self worth, reduce incongruence

Question 12

What is holism?

Answer 12

Subjective experience can only be understood by considering the WHOLE person

Question 13

What are some strengths of the humanistic approach?

Answer 13

• Rejects ‘reductionism’
• Advocates holism
• Optimistic alternative (sees good in people)
• Applied in therapy (client centered), education and work

Question 14

What are some limitations of the humanistic approach?

Answer 14

• Culturally biased
• Little real world application
• Unrealistic and overly idealistic
• Short on empirical evidence (reductionism more scientific)

Question 15

What are some examples of real-world applications?

Answer 15

Education-learners are ‘whole’ and inherently good
Businesses- follows Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to motivate the workplace
Client-centered therapy- focus on the person

Question 16

What is Roger’s therapy?

Answer 16

Therapy used to reduce the gap between the perceived and ideal self

Question 17

What is counselling psychology?

Answer 17

Client-centred therapy, aims to increase feelings of self-worth,. reduce incongruence

Question 18

Who were the humanistic approach psychologists?

Answer 18

Maslow
Rogers

Question 19

What did Rogers say about the ‘self’?

Answer 19

The concept of the self should be in congruence with the ideal self. Low self-esteem may stem from experiencing conditions of worth in childhood

Question 20

Strength-
I= Rejects reductionism (attempts to break up behaviour into smaller pieces)

Answer 20

D= Behaviourists explain learning in terms of simple-stimulus response connections. Supporters of cognitive approach see humans as little more than information-processing machines. Biological approach reduces behaviour to physiological processes. Freud describes personality as a conflict between 3 things. But humanistic psychologists advocate holism
E= Provides validity by considering meaningful behaviour in real-world contexts

Question 21

Limitation-
I= Lacks scientific value, as reductionism may be more scientific

Answer 21

D= The ideal of science is the experiment, which reduces behaviour to independent and dependant variables. The issue with humanistic psychology is that there are relatively few concepts that can be broken down and measured (unlike behaviourism)
E= Means humanistic approach is short on empirical evidence to support its claims

Question 22

Strength-
I= Optimistic approach

Answer 22

D= Praised for bringing the person back into psychology and promoting a positive image of the human condition. Freud say humans as prisoners of their past and claimed we exist between ‘common unhappiness and human despair’. Humanistic psychologists see everyone as good and free to work towards achievement
E= Suggests this approach offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative to other approaches

Question 23

Limitation-
I= Culturally-biased

Answer 23

D= Many central ideas (e.g: individual freedom, autonomy, personal growth) are associated more with countries with more individualist tendencies. Countries with collectivist tendencies emphasise the needs of the group and interdependence- ideals like self-actualisation may not be as important
E= Possible this approach does not universally apply and is a product of the cultural context it was developed within

Question 24

Limited application

Answer 24

Strength-
- Associated with Rogerian therapy which has revolutionised modern day counselling techniques and person-centred therapies. Hierarchy of needs has been applied to aspects of human motivation (workplace)

Limitation-
- Lacks significant real-world application, such as: behaviourist= brought science into psychology, psychodynamic, cognitive, biological= applied to psychopathology, gender development, forensic psychology