Lesson 12: Humanistic Approach (Focus On The self)

Question 1

Rogers (1951)

Answer 1

• claimed that people have two basic needs, positive regard from other people and feelings of self-worth.
• feelings of self-worth develop in childhood as a result of the child’s interactions with parents
• further interactions with significant others in adulthood also have an induce.

Question 2

Idea of self

Answer 2

• When there is a similarity between a persons’ perceived self (how they view themselves) and their ideal self (how they would like to be) a state of congruence exists. However, if there is a difference between the perceived state and ideal self, the person experiences a state of incongruence. The closer the perceived self is to the ideal self, the higher our feelings of self-worth. It is rare for a complete state of congruence to exist, most people experience some degree of incongruence. However, most people see themselves in ways that are largely consistent with their ideal self.

Question 3

Positive regard

Answer 3

• The positive regard given by other people may be unconditional when a person is accepted for who they are, or conditional. When people experience conditional positive regard, they develop conditions of worth. These are conditions which they believe have to be met, if they are to be accepted by others. An individual will only experience a self of self-acceptance if they meet the expectations that others have set as conditions for acceptance.

Question 4

Counselling psychology

Answer 4

• Rogers claimed that an individual’s psychological problems were a direct result of the conditional positive regard they receive from other people. He believed that, with counselling, people would be able to solve their own problems in constructive ways and move towards being a more functioning person. Instead of acting in a directive way, humanistic psychologists, regard themselves as guides to help people understand themselves and find ways to enable their potential for self-actualisation.
• Therapists provide unconditional positive regard, expressing their acceptance and understanding. They are therefore able to provide a supportive environment to help dissolve the clients conditions of worth. These results in the client moving towards being more true to their self.

Question 5

Strengths of Humanistic approach

Answer 5

+ Humanists believe in free will. However, science believes that all behaviour is caused by something. Determinism in science allows for general laws and predictability of behaviour and so there is limited application of the humanistic approach.

Question 6

Weaknesses of Humanistic approach

Answer 6

• Humanistic approach lacks scientific rigour: it proposes that we should study the whole person because each individual is unique however science relies on reductionism i.e reducing behaviour into its simplest component so that they can be studied objectively
• Humanists propose concepts such as self-actualisation where definitions lack operationalisation. There is no objective measure of whether someone has self-actualised leading to a lack of empirical evidence to support its claims.
• Many of the ideas that are central to humanistic psychology, such as personal growth are more readily associated with individualistic cultures in the Western world. Collectivist cultures which emphasise the needs of community may not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology. Therefore it is possible that this approach is the product of the cultural context from which it was developed.
• Some critics argue that the humanistic approach presents an overly idealised and unrealistic view of human nature. people are not as inherently good or growth orientated ad this approach suggests, in fact this approach ignores peoples’ capacity for pessimism and self destruction.