Humanistic Approach

Question 1

What does the humanist approach focus on?

Answer 1

The importance of individuals striving towards personal growth
Personal responsibility – we are self-determining.
Conscious experience rather than behaviour (i.e., how we feel)
Discussion of personal experience rather than experimentation

Question 2

What are the main principles of the humanist approach?

Answer 2

Every Individual is Unique.
We are all different and there is no point in trying to generalise to groups as there are so many differences within each group.
This way of viewing people as individuals is called idiographic.

Question 3

What is holism within behaviour?

Answer 3

There is no point in looking at just one aspect of an individual. If we only consider one part of them then we might miss what is affecting them. Humanists do not agree with focusing on childhood in therapy, they think the whole life should be looked at.

Question 4

What is free will within behaviour?

Answer 4

We can choose what we do, and we are in control of our behaviour. Our choices are not constrained by biology or by external forces. The only constraints on our free will are social/cultural rules and laws. An implication of this is that a person is responsible for their own behaviour, social or anti-social (so if a person commits a crime, it is their fault).

Question 5

What did Maslow do?

Answer 5

Argued that some human needs are more basic than others.
Organised these ideas/needs into a hierarchy structured in order to reach our main priority self-actualisation.

Question 6

What is self-actualisation?

Answer 6

The desire to grow psychologically and fulfil one’s potential – achieving and becoming what you are ultimately capable of, i.e., becoming the best person you can possibly be.

Question 7

What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 7

A person can only progress through the hierarchy once the current need is met.
Goal to reach self-actualisation by satisfying the deficiency needs. But not everyone will manage this – sometimes there are psychological barriers that may prevent someone from reaching their potential.

Question 8

What’s our ideal self?

Answer 8

The person we want to be.

Question 8

What are the parts to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 8

Self-actualisation
Esteem
Love/Belongings
Safety
Physiological

Question 9

What did Carl Rogers focus on?

Answer 9

The idea of personal growth.

Question 10

What’s our self-concept?

Answer 10

The way in which a person sees themselves, i.e. what I am, what I can do.

Question 11

What is congruence?

Answer 11

How close your self-concept and ideal self are. This is important as it shows us how close we are to self-actualisation.

Question 12

What’s the difference between incongruence and congruence?

Answer 12

Incongruence
The self-image is different to the ideal self.
There is only a little overlap.
Here self-actualisation will be difficult.
Mentally unhealthy.

Congruence
The self-image is similar to the ideal self
There is a more overlap.
This person can self-actualise.
Mentally healthy.

Question 13

What did Rogers claim?

Answer 13

Rogers claimed that many of the psychological issues we experience as adults such as worthlessness and low self-esteem have their roots in childhood. They can often be explained by a lack of unconditional love from our parents.
Boundaries/limits are placed on love and built up over time, resulting in the child developing psychological problems in the future effecting their ‘personal growth’ (another work for developing psychologically i.e., wanting to self-actualise).
Can be treated using person centred therapy.

Question 14

What is conditional positive regard?

Answer 14

When a parent places conditions on their love for their children e.g. “I will only love you if you get all A’s”.

Question 14

What are conditions of worth?

Answer 14

When parents set ‘boundaries’ or ‘limits’ on their love for their child or you self-impose ‘imaginary’ boundaries on yourself (e.g., if I do this then my parents won’t love me).

Question 15

What is unconditional positive regard?

Answer 15

When a parent places no conditions on their love for their children, e.g. “I will love you regardless of the grades you get”.

Question 16

What is person centred therapy (PCT)?

Answer 16

Form of talking therapy.
Client is encouraged to talk about problems – work through them with therapist and overcome the mismatch between their self-concept and ideal self.
Rogers believed clients’ problems stemmed from the fact that they were incongruent possibly due to conditions of worth being placed on them and aimed to alter this.
Aid them towards self-actualisation by helping the client become a ‘whole’ person by getting them to accept every aspect of themselves.
Focus = Patient is the expert and will discover their own solution by examining present problems and how to move forward, rather than other therapies that dwell on the past.

Question 17

What are the three things a therapist needs to do during PCT?

Answer 17

Show unconditional positive regard, show empathy and show genuineness.

Question 18

What is culture bias?

Answer 18

Cultural bias is when the principles from one culture are utilised to form a theory but doesn’t take into consideration other cultures, therefore that theory cannot be generalised to all cultures.

Question 19

What are the strengths of the humanist approach?

Answer 19

Not determinist so it’s holistic. For example, in assumption one, the humanistic approach states that all behaviour is because of choices and not because it has been pre- determined for us and the only limitations to choices are the laws of the country we live in. This is a strength because it allows the individual to take full responsibility for their actions as they make all choices in regards to their behaviour. This means that it is easier to convict criminals as they can’t say that their behaviour was out of their control.

Useful. For example PCT has revolutionised psychotherapy and counselling techniques, changing how it is used not only in clinical settings but also in education, health and social work. Maslow’s hierarchy has also been heavily influential in the business sector. This is a strength because it allows individuals to have specialised counselling sessions in regards to their individual issues, meaning the treatment may be more efficient. This means that absenteeism at work will be reduced as the treatments are more effective.

Question 20

What are the limitations of the humanist approach?

Answer 20

Unscientific. For example, the humanistic approach focuses on the individual in front of them and argue that behaviour is incredibly subjective, this means they do not carry out objective research. This is a weakness because it does not follow scientific methods, meaning the research is not valid. Standardised procedures are not followed meaning that replicability and generalisability of the research is questionable.

Culturally biased. For example, many of the principles proposed in Maslows hierarchy of needs such as self-esteem and self achievement are based on concepts associated with western and individualistic cultures and therefore may not apply to non-western collectivist cultures which have an emphasis on groups rather than individuals. This is a weakness because it cannot be applied to every individual therefore it has very limited application. If the application is not relevant to the wider population then future funding in the area will not be allocated.