The Humanism approach Flashcards
What does the humanism approach look at the importance of?
Unique aspects of individuals
What does the approach focus on?
Subjective feelings and conscious thoughts in individuals
What is the approach known as? Why?
The third force in psychology
It rejects what both behaviourist and the psychodynamic approach say about behaviour
Why does the approach reject behaviourism?
They say its too deterministic
What are the assumptions of the approach?
People have free will and control over what we feel and how we behave - we make rational, conscious decisions
Subjective view - the experience of the world as a person has a greater importance to understanding people than the objective view
Is the humanism approach idiographic or nomothetic?
idiographic
What did Rogers develop?
Person centred therapy
What ideas did Rogers develop his person centred therapy from?
individuals knowing self worth, accept positive regard and give it to others, have a good idea about their self concept
What is self-actualisation?
A fully functioning person aware of subjective experiences and feelings whist being able to grow and change
What are some qualities of a fully functioning person?
- Open to experience
- Existential living - wholly focused life - not focused on material things
- Trust own feelings
- Creative
- Feel happy about life
What type of people are considered fully functioning?
Well adjusted people
What does an individual who has self concept have?
Positive feelings about themselves and are able to take on challenges
When does self-worth develop?
Develops in childhood and comes from interaction from parents in childhood
What needs does Rogers believe children need?
Positive self regard from mothers
Positive self worth
What is unconditional positive regard?
Significant others love you and don’t withdraw the love if wrong doing occurs
What is conditional positive regard?
If a child is acting in the correct manner, they will only be loved if they behave in the correct way
What is negative regard?
Feeling that you can do nothing right
What is incongruence?
Self image is different to the ideal self with only a slight overlap.
Hard to adjust to a normal life which links to mental illnesses
What is congruence?
Ideal self and self image are closer, self actualisation is able to occur
What are some characteristics of client centred therapy?
- Therapist is congruent with the patient
- Provides client with unconditional positive self-regard
- Therapist is empathetic to client
What 3 things does Rogers believe need to be present in client centred therapy in order for it to be successful?
1) Genuineness
2) Empathy
3) unconditional positive regard
What does client centred therapy focus on?
Present rather than the past
What did Sexton and Whinston find?
Effectiveness of Rogerian therapy
Effective short term, unsuccessful long term
Effectiveness is measured by the patient, its not objective
What did Maslow propose?
Hierarchy of needs
What did Maslow believe there was fulfilment through?
Personal growth
What is the first need in the hierarchy?
Physiological needs - food, water
What is the second need in the hierarchy?
Safety needs - need for security, protection, stability
What is the third need in the hierarchy?
Belongingness/love - humans are a social species
What is the 4th need in the hierarchy?
Self esteem needs
What is the 5th need in the hierarchy?
Self actualisation - reached full potential
How is the 5th need reached in the hierarchy?
all needs underneath need to be satisfied before the individual can move up the hierarchy
What is criticism for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
It over simplifies human needs and behaviour
Why do some people fear self actualisation?
It brings duties and responsibilities
According to Maslow, what are the growth needs?
Striving for goodness
Helping other people
Seeking truth and justice
Striving to create beauty and order
What are the three conditions of self actualisation?
- Absence of restraints
- Little or no distraction from deficiency needs
- Good knowledge of self
What type of people are self-actualisers?
- Assessive
- Creative
- Automonous
- Private people
What is a peak experience?
Feelings of ecstasy and self-fulfillment, happen spontaneously and aren’t frequent
Where are Maslow’s ideas influential?
Organisational psychology, eg. business
What is a limitation of Maslow’s methods to gain information?
He interviewed people who he thought were self-actualisers
Self report
Subjective
Didn’t include people with mental disorders so couldnt say what was stopping them from researching SA
What did Shostrum find?
Used a set questionnaire to measure self-actualisation. Those with low self actualisation had poor relationships with others and those with high were creative
Which culture is the idea of self actualisation specific to? Limitation of this?
Western cultures
Can’t generalise to other cultures
Who did Maslow pay too much attention to?
Unhealthy people
What does the humanism approach reject and why is this a limitation?
Rejects scientific approach
Objective reality is less important
Less use of science and testing doesn’t have any scientific value
Does the approach believe in reductionism or holism?
Holism
What important quote is linked to holism?
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
Why is the lack of scientific testing a strength of the approach?
Normal scientific psychology is unable to capture the richness of human experience whereas the humanistic approach does and it is more empathetic because of this
What does the humanistic approach promote?
A positive view of human beings with each individual being in control of their own life
What did Goldstein 1939 say?
Organismic theory for holism - the mind and body are a unified whole
What does the humanistic approach lack?
Empirical research to back up theories
What does the humanistic approach have too much emphasis on and therefore reject?
Too much focus on self-actualisation and rejects the influence of biology on behaviour
What criticism is there to be made about the concepts in the humanistic approach?
They are vague and hard to define
What point can you include in a conclusion?
Emphasis on the importance of the humanistic approach to therapy, counselling, education and business
What do the ideas in the approach reflect?
An individualistic self-obsessed outlook that is a part of the problem in society
