humanistic psychology

Question 1

who are the humanistic psychologists?

Answer 1

Maslow, and Carl Rogers

Question 2

what do Maslow and Carl Rogers both reject?

Answer 2

scientific models

Question 3

does the humanistic approach have positive or negative view of humans?

Answer 3

positive

Question 4

is it holistic or reductionist?

Answer 4

holistic- as takes mind, body etc into account

Question 5

what does it mean by saying the view takes an idiographic approach?

Answer 5

it accepts humans are unique (no two people are the same)
this is opposite to nomothetic which groups people

Question 6

humanistic psychology we are all unique and psychology should study…

Answer 6

subjective experience over general laws

Question 7

what is free will?

Answer 7

• suggests humans are self-determining and have free will
• ppl= affected by internal + external influences but also are agents who can determine their own development
• this is different from other approaches which= determinist to some degree (even cognitive approach though it suggests we are free to choose our thoughts it argues choice as constrained by limits of cognitive system)

Question 8

what is maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 8

• main interest= what focuses people
• hierarchy of needs motivates our behaviour to achieve our goal (self-actualisation)

Question 9

what is the order of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 9

1. self actualisation
2. self esteem
3. love + belonging
4. safety + security
5. physiological needs (food + water)
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Question 10

what can you say about the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 10

• have to start at bottom and work up, you can’t skip a stage but can go back

Question 11

what is self-actualisation?

Answer 11

• people have innate desire to reach full potential and become the best they can be
• personal growth= essential part of being human

Question 12

explain personal growth.

Answer 12

• developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled, satisfied + goal orientated
• sometimes have psychological barriers which prevent someone from reaching full potential

Question 13

what was carl rogers about?

Answer 13

• he spoke about self, congruence and conditions of worth

Question 14

what did carl rogers say we must do to achieve personal growth?

Answer 14

• to achieve personal growth an individuals concept of self must have congruence with their ideal self

Question 15

what happens if gap between real and ideal self is too big?

Answer 15

• there will be incongruence meaning self-actualisation is not possible due to negative feelings of self worth.

Question 16

what is real and ideal self?

Answer 16

real self= who we are
ideal self= who we want to be

Question 17

what did Rogers create to reduce the gap between real and ideal self?

Answer 17

• Rogers developed client-centred therapy (counselling) to help people cope with problems as many issues in adults are due to low self-esteem + worthlessness

Question 18

how do adults develop problems?

Answer 18

• roots in childhood + can be explained by lack of unconditional positive regard from parents e.g. conditions of worth

Question 19

what is conditions of worth?

Answer 19

• ‘I will love you more if…’
• limits love of your child= stores psychological problems for child in future

Question 20

how do therapists help with people who have received conditions of worth?

Answer 20

• they provide the unconditional positive regard someone didn’t receive in childhood –> helps you receive congruence

Question 21

eval- point 1

Answer 21

Not reductionist (holistic)
- doesn’t try and break up behaviour + experience into smaller components
- subjective experience= only understood by considering person as a whole= more validity
BUT
- reductionist approaches= more scientific
- humanistic psychology has few concepts that can be broken down to single variables + measured
- its short on empirical evidence to support its claims

Question 22

eval- point 2

Answer 22

positive approach
- Freud saw humans as slaves to their past whereas humanist contrasts this and sees people as good + free to work to achievement of potential + in control of our lives

Question 23

eval- point 3

Answer 23

can be applied to business + education for exam success etc

Question 24

eval- point 4

Answer 24

client-centred therapy
improves peoples well-being + doesn’t dwell on past
BUT
- may not work for everyone
- relies on motivation + sometimes may be necessary to focus on past
- has less applications to real world than other approaches

Question 25

eval- point 5

Answer 25

Q-sort
- humanistic gathers subjective, qualitative data= hard to compare + personal
- Q-sort turns data into quantitative (objective), which is numerical= allows us to measure for congruence

Question 26

eval- point 6

Answer 26

• western cultural bias
• individualistic (western) cultures e.g. USA focus on themselves, individual freedom= autonomy + personal growth
• whereas collectivist (eastern) cultures e.g. India emphasise needs of the group, community + interdependence meaning they may not identify with humanist psychology e.g. self-actualisation
• therefore approach doesn’t apply universally (limits generalisability)