humanistic approach Flashcards
what is different about humanistic psychology compared to the other approaches
they reject the scientific method
what are the assumptions of the humanistic approach
- they focus on conscious experience and free will
- they focus on what could go right instead of what could go wrong
- they discuss unique subjective experiences and reject the scientific method
what did humanistic psychology focus on
focus on the self and how we personally grow in order to live our best life
what was Abraham Maslow interested in
human motivation
what did Maslow propose
a route towards self actualisation
what is self actualisation
the innate desire to achieve or fulfil one’s potential (becoming what you are capable of becoming)
where is self actualisation present
in everyone
what are our actions motivated by
humans are always in “want” of something so our actions are motivated by certain needs
what is Maslows hierarchy needs about
the emphasis in the importance of personal growth and fulfilment which is an essential part of what is means to be human
what is personal growth
developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled, satisfied and goal orientated
what are the lower needs that need to be met before a person can self actualise called
deficiency needs
state Maslows hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)
- physiological (food, water, sleep)
- safety (safe from danger, home, employment, good health)
- love and belonging (friendship, intimacy, acceptance by others)
- self esteem (confidence, achievement, respect by others)
- SELF ACTUALISATION
describe a person who self actualises
people who self actualise experience purpose and meaning in their life. they are characterised by an acceptance of they and others are. they are independant and dont go along with other peoples ideas of happiness. they live in the moment and are open and spontaneous to new experiences, not confined by people’s expectation
before Maslow died, what did he do to his hierarchy of needs
he added another level to the top
what is the 6th level of the hierarchy of need
self transcendance
what is self transcendance
the need to connect to something beyond and higher than ourselves.
when does self transcendance occur
if someone is already self actualising, intrinsic values such as truth, goodness, elegant, beauty, simplicity, excellence and perfection motivate that person. it goes beyond self interest
what was Carl Rogers interested in
interested in personal growth from the point of view of your sense of self
what is self concept broken down into
self image/actual self
ideal self
self esteem
what is self image
how you see yourself right now
what is ideal self
who you want to be or who you feel you should be
what is self esteem
how much you like and accept who you are
what can influence a persons self esteem
by how others see you and how you think about yourself in comparison to others
what can cause problems in our self concept
when what we think we should be or want to be does not match up with who we see ourselves to be right now
our self image doesn’t match our ideal self
what is congruence
when the self image and the ideal self overlap (in agreement)
what is incongruence
when the self image and ideal self don’t overlap (dont match)
is self actualisation more likely to occur if there is congruence of incongruence
congruence - the closer the self image and the ideal self are to eachother the greater the congruence and therefore the greater the feelings of self worth
what is self worth
the internal sense of being good enough and worthy of love and belonging from others.
what can a person with high self worth do
- accepts challenges and failures
- can self actualise
what does a person with low self esteem do
- doesnt accept challenges
- intimacy problems
- can’t self actualise
what plays a key role in having a healthy concept
through what a person has experienced in that life with a childs relationship with their parents playing a key role
what is unconditional positive regard
when parents love and accept their children regardless of their behaviour - there are no conditions the child has to meet in order to be positively viewed
what are conditions of worth
when standards are placed on the child by a parent in which they believe they must meet if they are to be accepted
when may a person feel a sense of self acceptance
if they meet the expectations that have been imposed on them as conditions of acceptance
what can happen if a parents love is conditional
they can develop low self esteem and cannot self actualise. they are in a state of incongruence
how can people decrease the incongruence in their life
it requires deep reflection on hoq you see yourself as well as your own motivations.
what is the problem with attempting to decrease incongruence in your life
doing it by yourself is difficult often requiring help from others
what did Carl Rogers counselling therapy influence
modern day therapy
what is Carl Rogers counselling therapy called
client centred therapy
what is client centred therapy
the client is not the “patient” so they are not sick. instead they are the expert to their own condition
what is the “client” encouraged to do
to discover their own solution of their problems within a warm, supportive and non judgemental atmosphere
how does client centred therapy contrast with Freud’s psychoanalysis
the therapists guides the individual to their own answers rather than being the “expert” to fix them
give three qualities of an effective therapist
- genuineness
- empathy
- unconditional positive regard
what are the aims of therapy
- increase the persons feelings of self worth
- decrease the levels of incongruence between self image and ideal self
- help the person become a more fully functioning person
what is free will
human beings are able to make significant personal choices within the constraints imposed by other internal and external forces. they see people as active agents and having personal agency with the ability to make their own choices
what does free will emphasise
people have full concious control over their own destiny whilst still being subject to other forces (biological and social influences)
what is the ability to make free choices necessary for
a person to self actualise
what research methods does the humanistic approach use and give examples
qualitative methods such as case studies, diary accounts, open ended questionaires and unstructured interviews
what does the research methods of humanistic psychology base their ideas on
a persons subjective unique experience - a greater way to understand a person
what did Maslow base his ideas of self actualisation on
his research of individual historical figures
what did Rogers base his ideas of “the self” on
unstructured interviews with his clients
what makes self actualisation subjective
its difficult to define and study objectively
why can the use of qualitative methods be useful
for detailed study of an individual allowing us to gain more insight into human behaviour than lab experiments. its more valid as research methods value the subjective experience of people
why is HP criticised for being unscientific
its unfalsifiable
what is falsifiability
in order for a theory to be scientific it has to have the possibility of being shown to be incorrect
why is HP unfalsifiable
many of its concepts are subjective and difficult to test. in order to test and measure something, it needs to be clearly defined
what is operationalised
turning abstract concepts into measurable observations. the HP is not operationalised
how does self actualisation and congruence contrast with the other approaches and give examples
self actualisation and congruence are rather vague and difficult to define making it untestable in any scientific way. this contrasts with the highly scientific methodology of the behaviourist approach with the falsifiable research methods of BF Skinner into operant conditioning for e.g
criticism of research methods (concluding sentence)
the HP is undermined in its explanation of human behaviour due to its lack of scientific evidence
in terms of the free will v.s determinism debate, how does the HA differ
the HA emphasises free will - the other approaches are deterministic
which approaches are deterministic and explain why
behaviourism suggest behaviour is caused by external environmental factors in terms of how our behaviour is conditioned
the biological approach sugggests our behaviour is casued by the genetic makeup in our DNA or the specific chemicals or biological structures in our brain
how does free will offer a more optimistic view of human behaviour
humans are seen as active agents who are able to make their own choices that can shape their futures
how is the idea of “free will” and “personal growth” linked to client centred therapy
the person can discover their own solutions to their problems
how does the HA offer an alternative view of human behaviour
the other approaches are negative due to their deterministic view of behaviour
what is the holism v.s reductionism debate
holism - should we see human behaviour as a whole
reductionism - should we see human behaviour by breaking it down to its simplest component parts
is humanistic psychology holistic or reductionist
holistic - they see human beings as being more than the sum of their parts
which approaches are reductionist and explain how
behaviourism breaks human behaviour down to simple stimulus and response associations
biological approach breaks it down to neurotransmitter levels
cognitive approach breaks it down to computer processes
why is breaking down human behaviour to single component a bad thing
you lose what it means to be human and lose the richness and meaning behind behaviour that comes from exploring it within its real life context
give an example of where reductionism is a bad thing
reducing depression to an imbalance of neurochemicals loses the context in which the depression is being experienced.
what would humanistic psychologists focus on with a person suffering from depression
how its developed in context of a troubled childhood such as the patients relationship towards them and how its led them to struggle to maintain relationships with others
holistic view of behaviour (concluding sentence)
the humanistic approach offers a valid explanation due to its holistic approach of behaviour
how does HP have real world applications
in counselling therapy
where is counselling therapy conducted
in schools, social work and formal clinical settings
what does counselling therapy aim to do
puts focus on a persons present problems as opposed to dwelling on the past. it guides the person on a journey of self discovery. it is seen as more positive as its opposed to relying on a person to “fix” them
what does counselling therapy work for
anxiety, low self esteem and not extreme conditions like schizophrenia
how has Maslow’s hierarchy of needs helped businesses
it has informed them on understanding the needs of their employees and how to motivate them to do their best work
describe the hierarchy of needs in context of a business
physiological - employee needs their lower needs to be met first such as food and somewhere to live
safety - a safe working environment, long job security and pension
love and belonging - they need to feel belonged and socially accepted in order to progress
self esteem - they want to feel like their work is making a significant contribution and their work is valued such as a promotion
self actualisation - when an employee feels these needs are being met they can strive to be the best they can be and produce their most excellent work
what is individualistic culture
the focus is on the individual self and expressing individuality rather than the group. the individual is the most important and a higher priority than the group. it is seen in westernised cultures
what is a collectivist culture
the focus is on the group identity. the group is a higher priority than individuality and is seen in eastern cultures
how is the humanistic approach culturally biased
concepts of self actualisation and self esteem are a product of western society and can’t be applied to all cultures
what is valued more highly in collectivist cultures and why can this be a problem
achievements of a group are valued more highly than individual achievement so terms like self esteem aren’t applicable
why can’t maslow’s hierarchy of needs be used in collectivist cultures
this idea was developed in the US and applied to US businesses so this theory of motivation may not work well in a completely different culture
what did Gambrel and Cianci do in 2003
they wrote a literature report on businesses in China (a collectivist culture)
what did G&C write in their report
they concluded that in a collectivist culture, the basic need is belonging - self esteem is eliminated. self actualisation can be achieved through a completely different set of needs which are attained in terms of meeting societal developmental needs. in terms of a company the focus is on the collective rather than on an individual’s growth
what is ethnocentric
evaluating other cultures using ideas and standards of ones own culture
humanistic psychology’s cultural bias (concluding sentence)
therefore, the humanistic approach can be criticised for being ethnocentric and limited in how far it can be applied to other cultures
