humanistic approach

Question 1

what are the main aspects of humanistic psychology

Answer 1

conscious experience
personal responsibility
free will
discussion of experience

Question 2

explain free will

Answer 2

• people have full conscious control over their destiny
• we are not free to do anything at all though as we are subject to other forces like biological and social influences.
• we are able to make significant personal choices within the constraints imposed by these other factors

Question 3

what was Maslow interested in

Answer 3

unlike the psychoanalysts, he was not interested in what went wrong with people, but rather he was interested in finding out what could go right with them.

Question 4

What did Maslow’s hierarchy of needs emphasis ?

Answer 4

the importance of personal growth and fulfilment. It opened the door for later movements in psychology, such as positive psychology and happiness.

Question 5

explain how the order of the hierarchy of needs works

Answer 5

• the most basic physiological needs are represented at the bottom of the pyramid and the most advance needs at the top.
• each level much be reached before a person can move up to a higher need.
• Maslow beloved that the more basic the need, the more powerfully it is experience and the more difficult it is to ignore.

Question 6

describe physiological (hierarchy of needs)

Answer 6

• 5th in pyramid

- breathing, food, water, sex, homeostasis and excretion.

Question 7

describe safety (hierarchy of needs)

Answer 7

• 4th

- security of body, of employment, of resources, or morality, of the family, of health and property.

Question 8

describe love/belonging (hierarchy of needs)

Answer 8

• 3rd

- friendship, family, sexual intimacy

Question 9

describe esteem (hierarchy of needs)

Answer 9

• 2nd

- self esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others and respect by others.

Question 10

describe self actualisation (hierarchy of needs)

Answer 10

• 1st
• morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts.
• people who reach this level are often creative, accepting of people and have a clear perception of the world (according to Maslow)
• such individuals would experience this level in the form of peak experiences. These are moments of extreme inspiration during which they could leave behind all doubts. (according to Maslow)

Question 11

what is the self

Answer 11

refers to how we perceive ourselves as a person

Question 12

what did Rogers claim on the focus on the self

Answer 12

we have two basic needs; positive regard from other people and self worth

Question 13

how do feelings of self worth develop?

Answer 13

• through childhood and are a result of the child’s interaction with parents.
• interactions with friends and other family members also

Question 14

when does a state of congruence exist?

Answer 14

when there is a similarity between a persons ideal self and how they perceive themselves to be in real life

Question 15

when does a state of incongruence exist

Answer 15

when there is a difference between the self and ideal self

Question 16

when may people use defence mechanisms

Answer 16

since most people prefer to see themselves in ways that are consistent with their self-image, they may use defence mechanisms in order to feel less threatened by inconsistencies between how they would like to be and how they really are.

Question 17

what is unconditional positive regard

Answer 17

when a person is accepted for who they are or what they do

Question 18

what is conditional positive regard

Answer 18

when they are accepted only if they do what others want them to do.

Question 19

what happens when people experience conditional positive regard and why ?

Answer 19

• they develop conditions of worth
• these are the conditions that they perceive significant others have put up them
• they belle they have to be in place if they are to be accepted by others and see themselves positively.

Question 20

Rogers claimed that an individual’s psychological problems were a direct result of what

Answer 20

their conditions of worth and the conditional positive regard they receive from other people.

Question 21

what do humanistic therapists regard themselves as

Answer 21

guides to help people understand themselves and to find ways to enable their potential for self actualisation instead of acting in a direct way

Question 22

explain how counselling psychology works

Answer 22

• therapist provides empathy and unconditional positive regard
• by doing this, the therapist is able to offer an appropriately supportive environment to help dissolve the clients conditions of worth.
• this results in the client being more able to behave in a way that is true to the person they are, rather than the person others want them to be.

Question 23

explain the strength that Maslow’s hierarchy is linked to economic depression

Answer 23

• Hagerty looked at the relationship between economic growth and measures of Maslow’s need levels.
• found that countries in the early stages of economic depression were characterised by lower level needs.
• only in the advanced stags of economic depression did self actualisation and esteem needs become Important.

Question 24

explain the research support for conditions of worth

Answer 24

• research with adolescents has shown evidence consistent with Rogers view.
• Harter discovered that teenagers who feel that they have to fulfil certain conditions in order to gain their parents approval frequently end up not liking themselves.
• these people are also more likely to develop depression and lose touch with their true self

Question 25

explain the limitation of the humanistic research methods

Answer 25

• evaluating the approach scientifically is difficult as the evidence used to support the approach fails to establish a casual relationship between variables.
• Rogers was an advocate of non experimental research methods, arguing that the requirements of experimental methods make it impossible to verify the results of counselling.

Question 26

explain why the humanistic approach is unrealistic

Answer 26

• it represent an overly idealised and unrealistic view of humans.
• critics argue that we are not as good and growth oriented as the theory suggests and it doesn’t recognise people’s ability for pessimism and self destructive behaviour.
• encouraging people to focus on their self development rather than on situational forces may be neither realistic not appropriate in modern society

Question 27

explain the cultural differences in the hierarchy of needs

Answer 27

• Maslow later realised that for some people the needs may appear in a different order or not at all.
• a study carried out in China found that belongingness needs were seen as more fundamental than physiological needs and the self actualisation was defined more in terms of contributions the community rather than individual differences.
• Europeans and Africans focus more on personal identity in defining their self concept , whereas Chinese and Japanese and Koreans define self concept more in terms of social relationships

Question 28

Key terms and key evaluation points

Answer 28

• Maslow
• hierarchy of needs
• self actualisation
• congruence
• unconditional positive regard
• conditions of worth
• idiographic
• drew will
• application - humanistic therapy
• cultural bias