Humanistic Approach

Question 1

Conditions of worth

Answer 1

Conditions imposed on an individual’s behaviour and development that are considered necessary to earn positive regard from significant others.

Question 2

Congruence

Answer 2

If there is similarity between a person’s ideal self and self-image, a state of congruence exists. A difference represents a state of incongruence.

Question 3

Hierarchy of need

Answer 3

A hierarchy of our personal needs, each need must be fulfilled to move onto the higher need and eventually reach self-actualisation

Question 4

Self-actualisation

Answer 4

The innate tendency to grow psychologically and fulfill one’s potential by becoming what you are capable of

Question 5

Holism

Answer 5

Understanding the individual as a whole rather than component parts.

Question 6

Free will

Answer 6

Behaviour is not determined and is decided by the individual

Question 7

Abraham Maslow beliefs

Answer 7

He believes humans are motivated by needs beyond those of basic biological survival.
It is human nature to want to grow, develop and reach self actualization.
His theory emphasises unique human motivational factors as higher level needs are a later evolutionary development of the human species.

Question 8

Carl Rogers beliefs

Answer 8

Individuals strive to achieve their ideal selves.
Everybody is capable of understanding themselves, the way they are and how they behave.
Everybody can change themselves and make themselves better but they need people around them to enable to do what they want to do.

Question 9

Self

Answer 9

The ideas and values that characterise ‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and valuing of ‘what i am’ and ‘what i can do’

Question 10

Ideal self

Answer 10

The person you would like to be

Question 11

Actual self

Answer 11

The person who you really are

Question 12

What can stop the self from growing and developing?

Answer 12

Defence mechanisms such as distortion, denial and blocking.

Question 13

Unconditional positive regard

Answer 13

A child will be accepted no matter how they behave.

Question 14

How can incongruence be reduced?

Answer 14

Rogers developed client centres therapy to reduce incongruence.
Issues we experience such as worthlessness come from childhood.
Humans have a basic need to feel nurtured and valued from significant people such as parents.
If unconditional positive regard is given then people will develop a healthy sense of self worth, recognising their abilities and difficulties.
Children who receive negative regard such as criticism, develop low self esteem.
To avoid this, the parent should blame the behaviour not the child.

Question 15

Ideographic

Answer 15

Studying the individual case and taking into account their environmental context.

Question 16

Name the stages in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, starting from the bottom

Answer 16

Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualisation

Question 17

Incongruence

Answer 17

Great gap between the ideal self and the real self

Question 18

The influence of counselling psychology

Answer 18

Rogers developed client centered therapy, which revolutionized counselling techniques, e.g. therapists being able to provide patients with unconditional positive regard when they experience conditions of worth

Question 19

Strengths of the humanistic approach

Answer 19

• Emphasis on choice (free will) which is largely ignored by other approaches
• Holds an optimistic view of people and their potential for growth
• Enabled psychologists to explore human experiences with more sensitivity than the more scientific methods
• Client-centered therapy has been shown to be effective in disorders such as depression and stress

Question 20

Limitations of humanistic approach

Answer 20

Has had less of an impact on mainstream psychology than other approaches

• Not possible to formulate general laws of behaviour considering the subject matter is individual experience, so is more of a set of abstract ideas than a theory
• Unstable concepts as the idea of ‘self-actualization’ is vague and little empirical research has been carried out on it
• Cultural bias as not all cultures share the assumption that individual achievement brings fulfillment

Question 21

Humanistic approach

Answer 21

emphasises the study of the whole person and sees people as being active in their own development. It is a person-centred approach, which views every individual as unique and regards personal growth and fulfilment in life as a basic human motive.

Question 21

Key assumptions

Answer 21

To be psychologically healthy, the real self and ideal self must be congruent

Humans strive towards achieving self-actualisation

Humans are active agents - able to control and determine their own development

Humans should be viewed as a whole and not reduced to component parts