Paper 2- Humanist Approach Flashcards
What are the basic assumptions of the humanistic approach?
People have free will and can make their own choices but are still effected by internal and external forces.
-The humanistic approach try’s to understand behaviour from the “actor” their own point of view rather than relying on observations.
-Focus on subjective experiences rather than creating generalised laws.
What does the humanist approach think about free will?
Unlike all other approaches, which all have some level of determinism, humanistic psychology is quite different, as it claims that human beings are essential self-determining and have free will.
People are still affected by external and internal influences, but they are also active agents who can determine their own development.
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs?
The hierarchy motivates our behaviour, you are only able to move onto the nest stage wants all the needs have been met.
TOP
Self actualisation- being the best version of yourself as possible, morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts.
Esteem- self esteem. confidence, achievement, respect for others and respected by others.
Love and Belonging- friendship, family and sexual intimacy.
Safety- Security of body, employment, resources, family , health, property
Physiological- food, breathing, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion
Bottom
What did rogers believe about focus on self?
The self refers to how we perceive ourselves as a person.
Rogers (1951) claimed that people have two basic needs: positive regard from other people and a feeling of self worth ( what we think about ourselves).
Feelings of self worth are developed in childhood and are formed as a result of a child’s interactions with parents.
Further interactions with significant others (friends / spouse etc.) also influence a person’s feelings of self worth.
According to Rogers, the closer our self-concept and ideal self (who we want to be) are to each other, the greater our psychological health.
What is a state of congruence- Humanistic approach?
When there is a similarity between a person’s ideal self and how they perceive themselves to be in real life, a state of congruence occurs.
However, if there is a difference between the self and ideal self, the person experiences a state of incongruence.
The closer our self-image and ideal self, the greater the congruence (and therefore our feelings of self worth are higher).
It’s rare for a complete state of congruence to exist! Most people feel some degree of incongruence.
What is conditional positive regard and unconditional positive regard?
We can experience unconditional love and acceptance from others – unconditional positive regard.
Sometimes, this love and acceptance is conditional, when a person is accepted only if they do what others want them to do – conditional positive regard.
What happens when people develop conditional positive regard?
When people experience conditional positive regard they develop conditions of worth – these are conditions that they perceive significant others (e.g. parents or a spouse) put upon them, and which they believe have to be in place if they are to be accepted by others and see themselves positively.
Influence of humanistic counselling psychology?
Humanist therapists regard themselves as guides to help people understand themselves and reach self actualisation.
Through person centred counselling a therapist will try and provide unconditional positive regard for their clients feelings and attitudes.
This should allow their client to dissolve their conditions of worth.
Evaluation of the humanistic approach?
STRENGTH
Rejects reductionism – doesn’t attempt to break up behaviour into smaller pieces.
Humanists advocate holism – the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person – valuable because it considers human behaviour within real-world context.
COUNTER – reductionist approaches might be more scientific. Humanism struggles to break things down into variables that can be measured.
Humanism is optimistic! Whereas Freud saw humans as prisoners of the past, humanistic psychologists see all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential.
LIMITATION
The humanistic approach has been criticised for ignoring biological factors.
One limitation of the humanistic approach is that it may be culturally biased.
Many of the ideas that are central to humanistic psychology, such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, would be much more readily associated with countries that have more individualist tendencies, like the UK and US.
Countries with collectivist tendencies emphasise more the needs of the group and interdependence. In these countries, the ideals of humanistic psychology may not be as important as in others.
Consequently, the humanistic approach doesn’t apply universally when cultural context is considered.
