humanistic eval Flashcards
S: practical applications
ID: a strength of the humanistic approach is that it has had practical applications
Q: humanistic psychology has had a major influence on psychological counselling.
EX: for example, many contemporary therapists use rogers’ ideas of unconditional positive regard to help clients work toward self-awareness.
evidence suggests that people who experience conditional positive regard display more ‘false-self’ behaviour, such as teenagers trying to fulfil certain conditions to gain their parents’ approval. researchers have found that those who create a false self are more likely to gain depression due to the effects of incongruence.
AN: therefore, this evidence supports the idea that unconditional positive regard is essential for developing self-worth and reaching self-actualisation. increasing credibility of roger’s theories
W: difficult to test scientifically
ID: however, it is hard to scientifically test the effectiveness of humanistic concepts as they can’t be done in an experimental context.
Q: the evidence for the existence of the hierarchy of needs is empirically thin, as would be expected from an approach that disputes the validity of empirical research.
EX: for example, some of the concepts within the hierarchy of needs (self-actualisation) are difficult to operationalise and therefore very difficult to test empirically. this means that studies may show personal growth as a result of humanistic counselling but these do not show that the therapy caused the changes in the patient. furthermore, as humanistic psychologists are typically against nomothetic methods of investigation, providing any research support for these abstract concepts becomes difficult.
AN: therefore, as research support isn’t provided for the majority of humanistic concepts, it makes the theories questionable and less reliable.
W: affected by cultural differences
ID: furthermore, a weakness of the humanistic approach is that it is affected by cultural differences
Q: evidence from cross cultural research suggests that maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not universal.
EX: for example, a study in china found that belonging took priority over physiological needs, and self-actualisation related to contributions to the community rather than individual development. many studies have confirmed this point by showing that people in western cultures focus more on personal identity, whereas chinese, japanese and koreans define self-concept in terms of social relationships.
AN: therefore, this is a weakness of the hierarchy of needs as it is not fixed for all and therefore cannot be successfully applied to all cultures.
