humanistic approach

Question 1

what are the 4 main assumptions?

Answer 1

• emphasises the importance of holism, studying the whole person
• everyone is unique and has free will to change
• humans have an innate capacity for self actualisation, a desire to reach our highest potential
• rejects scientific methods as a way of studying behaviour

Question 2

maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 2

• a model to describe human needs
  1. physiological needs: air, food, water, clothing
  2. safety needs: resources, employment, family, health
  3. belongingness needs: love from friends, family + sexual partner
  4. esteem needs: self esteem and respect from others
  5. self actualisation: spirituality, creativity and acceptance of the world
• people can move to self actualisation when ‘deficiency needs’ are met, it takes the form of peak experiences characterised by euphoria

Question 3

focus on the self

Answer 3

• rogers focused on the need for self worth and the need for unconditional positive regard from others
• these come from good relationships with supportive parents then with friends and partners

Question 4

conditions of worth

Answer 4

• some parents will provide their children with unconditional positive regard, but others will place conditions of worth on their children, so they must behave a certain way to receive this now conditional positive regard
• these conditions are expectations a person believes they must meet for others to approve and see them favourably

Question 5

congruence

Answer 5

• dissatisfaction comes from a gap between self concept and the ideal self, when these are incongruent defence mechanism must be used to prevent feeling negative
• when these agree, a person is in a state of congruence
• people can experience congruence, but it isn’t permanent

Question 6

counselling therapy

Answer 6

• therapy aims to close the gap of incongruence
• client centered therapy allows the patient to make positive steps and eventually achieve self actualisation
• the therapist provides unconditional positive regard so the clients conditions of worth fade and they can move towards their ideal self

Question 7

give a strength of the humanistic approach
1/3

Answer 7

real life applications in its major influence on psychological counselling. the development of client centered therapy has allowed modern therapists to provide unconditional positive regard and allow patients to work towards self awareness, and take a central role in their recovery to gain self actualisation

Question 8

give a strength of the humanistic approach
2/3

Answer 8

the theory takes a holistic and idiographic approach, allowing psychologist to create individual laws of behaviour and look at the person as a whole. by not breaking behaviour down into its component parts, this allows the psychologist to gain a wider understanding of behaviour and look into different aspects of a person that psychologists with a reductionist approach may ignore

Question 9

give a strength of the humanistic approach
3/3

Answer 9

the approach suggests that as humans we have free will, and therefore we can control our own behaviour and make our own choices. this therefore allows people to take personal responsibility for their behaviour and actions, and ensures that people won’t feel confined by the idea that their behaviour is determined by external uncontrollable forces

Question 10

give a limitation of the humanistic approach
1/2

Answer 10

the approach as a whole rejects scientific methods, resolving around subjective concepts such as self actualisation that cannot be empirically tested or measured to assess reliability. this level of subjectivity lessens the approaches validity as it relies on subjective interpretations that cant be supported by scientific data

Question 11

give a limitation of the humanistic approach
2/2

Answer 11

the concepts of individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth are culturally biased as they are more associated with western individualist society, where traits likes these are welcomed and accepted. collectivist societies however such as india value community and interdependence, meaning that this approach and its central concepts wont be applicable to them. therefore this approach cannot explain the behaviours of societies that hold alternative viewpoints