Humanistic Psychology

Question 1

Focuses on….

Answer 1

• Conscious experience, rather than on behaviour;
• Personal responsibility and free will, rather than on determinism;
• Discussion of experience, rather than on use of the experimental method;
• Striving towards personal growth and fulfilment.

Question 2

Humanistic Psychology: Key Assumptions

Answer 2

1) Every individual is unique and should be treated as such.

2) Humans have free will
‘Free will’ means we have choice and are in control of our own behaviour, in terms of how we develop and progress through life.

3) People should be viewed holistically
By looking at just one aspect of an individual, much of what might be affecting them could be missed.

4) The scientific method is not an appropriate measure of behaviour
Humanistic psychology does not describe itself as scientific.

Question 3

what is free will

Answer 3

Free will = We can decide and choose our course of action.

Question 4

How does this set the Humanistic Approach apart from the other approaches in psychology?

Answer 4

The other key approaches believe that thought and behaviour is determined i.e. that we have no choice/free will.
e.g. the biological approach assumes that behaviour is determined by physical factors, such as genes and biochemistry – it is considered deterministic.

Question 5

Why is free will a difficult concept to prove?

Answer 5

It is not directly observable – it is therefore difficult to test empirically.

Question 6

What do humanists rely on as evidence of its existence?

Answer 6

Proof is not important to humanists.
Humanists believe that we should consider the subjective experience of the individual, therefore it is evidence enough if a person feels they have chosen a course of action.

Question 7

What are the implications of free will from a legal perspective?

Answer 7

In terms of the legal system, this places responsibility with the individual – individuals should be held accountable for their actions.

Question 8

Self-Actualisation

Answer 8

Both Rogers and Maslow believed that individuals self-actualise in a way that is unique to them.

When self-actualisation is achieved, it can be described as the ultimate feeling of well-being, satisfaction and ‘completeness’.
The feeling is described as ecstasy, peak experience, religious or spiritual experience.
Theorists argue it is a drive we all have, but we do not all achieve it.

Question 9

what is Self-actualisation

Answer 9

Self-actualisation is achieving one‘s full potential

Question 10

what did Maslow consider

Answer 10

Maslow considered that self-actualisation could be achieved in a series of stages called the hierarchy of needs.

Question 11

The 5 needs a person has to meet are:

Answer 11

Physiological
Safety
Love/Belonging
Esteem
Self-actualisation

Question 12

The drive to achieve full potential means that….

Answer 12

….we are working through these needs in an attempt to self-actualise.
Our physiological needs are considered our most basic needs and must be met before advancing to higher needs.

Question 13

is self-actualisation permanent

Answer 13

Self-actualisation is not permanent and if all five needs do not remain in place, an individual can move out of the state until all the needs have been fulfilled. For example, being hungry/tired, even temporarily, will mean that the person is not meeting their physiological needs.

Question 14

Focus on the Self

Answer 14

Carl Rogers’ work focuses on the self, or rather the ‘selves’, of the individual.
He suggested that we have three selves which need to integrate to achieve self-actualisation.

Question 15

The two main selves are as follows:

Answer 15

The Self-Concept/Perceived Self: the self you feel you are.
- Affected by self-esteem (low self-esteem  poor self-concept

The Ideal Self: the self you wish to be

Question 16

Congruence

Answer 16

Congruence is necessary to achieve self-actualisation
NB. It is rare for a complete state of congruence to exist, with most people experiencing some degree of incongruence.

An important part of achieving congruence is unconditional positive regard…
…..whereby an individual has to be loved for who they are and accepted without proviso by someone else.

Question 17

what is congruence

Answer 17

Congruence is where the ideal self and self-concept/perceived self are the same or very similar.

Question 18

Conditions of Worth

Answer 18

Rogers (1959) believed that other people may hinder the process of self-actualisation….
Conditions of Worth is when an individual experiences conditional positive regard from significant others (e.g. parents or a spouse).
These are the requirements/conditions that the individual feels they need to meet to be loved and accepted.
These can be either real or perceived.

Consequently, an individual might only experience self-acceptance if they meet the expectations that others have set as conditions of worth.
This therefore makes it more difficult for individuals to self-actualise.

Question 19

Rogers (1959) claimed that…

Answer 19

Rogers (1959) claimed that an individual’s psychological problems were a direct result of their conditions of worth and the conditional positive regard they receive from others.

Question 20

what did Rogers develop

Answer 20

Carl Rogers developed client-centred therapy, based on the humanistic approach

Question 21

The client-therapist relationship is important

Answer 21

The therapist should treat the client as an individual.
The therapist should take a holistic approach e.g. not focusing purely on childhood influences, but all aspects of their life.
Clients should feel comfortable and accepted to ensure feelings of unconditional positive regard  leads to honesty and eventual congruence

Question 22

Therapists should act in a non-directive way

Answer 22

this means they should act as ‘facilitators’ to help people understand themselves and solve their own problems constructively, to find ways to enable their potential for self-actualisation.
Rogers believed that the client should focus on the present and future than on the past; therapists should not be judgemental or make decisions for the client.

Question 23

P:Maslow’s hierarchy is linked to economic development

Answer 23

E:A longitudinal study of 88 countries (Hagerty, 1999) found that countries in the early stages of economic development were characterised by lower level needs (e.g. physiological needs, such as access to food and safety needs, demonstrated by higher murder rates).
Esteem needs and self-actualisation were important in those countries in the advanced stages of economic development.

C:This supports the notion that higher level needs (and eventual self-actualisation) can only be met once an individual has achieved their most basic needs.

Question 24

P:There is research support for the role of conditions of worth in mental well-being.

Answer 24

E:Harter et al. (1996) 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.
- Adolescents who create a ‘false self’, pretending to be the kind of person his or her parents would love, were also found to be more likely to develop depression and a tendency to lose touch with their own true self.

C:This has implications for parents and significant others to show unconditional positive regard, which can help the process of self-actualisation

Question 25

P:The ideas of the approach are hard to test scientifically (some of the concepts are vague e.g. self-actualisation) and support with empirical evidence, because experimental research methods are rejected in favour of non-experimental methods.

Answer 25

E:For example, Rogers advocated the use of non-experimental research methods, arguing that the requirements of experimental methods make it impossible to verify the results of counselling.
Other concepts like ‘free will’, ‘perceived self’ and ‘ideal self’ are also difficult to test in an objective way, as they rely on subjective reports.

C:Most of the evidence used to support this approach therefore fails to establish a causal relationship between variables. For example, some studies have shown personal growth as a result of receiving humanistic counselling (Elliott, 2002) but these do not show that the therapy caused the changes

Question 26

P:Cultural differences exist in the hierarchy of needs; it has been criticised for being culture-specific.

Answer 26

E:Maslow later acknowledged that for some people needs may appear in a different order, which appears to be the case cross-culturally….
Nevis (1983) found that in China, belongingness needs were seen as more fundamental than physiological needs and that self-actualisation was defined more in terms of contributions to the community than in terms of individual development.
Self-actualisation seems to relate well in individualist cultures (where the focus is on the self), but not so well in collectivist cultures (where the focus is on the well-being of others).

C:Therefore, the hierarchy of needs is difficult to generalise across cultures.

Question 27

P:The humanistic approach is overly idealised

Answer 27

E:Critics argue that people are not as inherently good and ‘growth-oriented’ as humanistic theorists suggest and that the approach does not recognise people’s capacity for pessimism and self-destructive behaviour.

The view that personality development is directed only by an innate potential for growth is seen as an oversimplification, as is the assumption that all problems arise from blocked self-actualisation.

C:Encouraging people to focus on their own self-development rather than on situational forces may be neither realistic nor appropriate in modern society