humanistic approach

Question 1

humanistic approach

Answer 1

approach to understanding behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each persons capacity for self determination

Question 2

free will

Answer 2

claims that humans are essentially self determining and have free will

Question 3

rogers and maslow

Answer 3

reject scientific models that attempt to establish general principles of human behaviour, as active angers we are all unique, and psychology should condemn itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws

Question 4

self actualisation

Answer 4

every person has an innate tendency to achieve their full potential

• it is the upper most level of maslows hierarchy of needs
• humanistic psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of what it is to be human, developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled, satisfied and goal orientated

Question 5

the self and congruence

Answer 5

rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individuals concept of self (the way they see themselves) must be broadly equivalent to or have congruence to their ideal self (who they want to be)
the ideas and values that characterise ‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and valuing of what i am and what i can do
if the gap between the two selves is too big the person will experience a state of incongruence and self actualisation will not be possible due to the negative feelings of self worth

Question 6

conditions of worth

Answer 6

to reduce the gap between the selves, rogers developed client centred therapy to help people cope with the problems of everyday living
-rogers claimed many issues we experience as adults such as low self esteem can be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard in childhood (lack of unconditional love), such as i will only love you if…

Question 7

not reductionist

Answer 7

reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components

• holism- idea that subjective experience can only be understood be considering the whole person
• may have more validity by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real life context

Question 8

limited application

Answer 8

although rogerian therapy has revolutionised counselling techniques and maslows hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation, the approach has had limited impact within the discipline of psychology as a whole
-lacks sound evidence base and has been described as a loose set of rather abstract concepts

Question 9

positive approach

Answer 9

• ‘bringing the person back into psychology’ promoting a positive image of the human condition
• freud saw human beings as slaves to their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’
• offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative; sees all people as basically good, free to work towards our full potential and in control of our lives

Question 10

untestable concepts

Answer 10

includes a number of vague ideas that are abstract and difficult to test
-self actualisation and congruence may be useful therapeutic tools but would prove problematic to assess under experimental conditions

Question 11

cultural bias

Answer 11

associated with individualist cultures in the Western world such as US, collectivist cultures such as India may not identify with humanistic approach