The Humanistic Approach Flashcards
What are the parts of the humanistic approach?
- Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
- The self, congruence and the role of conditions of worth
- Influence of the Humanistic Approach on Counselling Psychology
What is the order of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
- Self actualisation- Problem solving, morality, lack of prejudice
- Esteem- Self esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others
- Love/Belonging- Friendship, family
- Safety- Security of: body, employment, resources, morality, family, health, property
- Physiological- Breathing, food, water
What is free will?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
- We are all ultimately in control of our own behaviour
- Acknowledges constraints on free will (social rules, laws, morals)
- Can’t be objectively measured
What is self actualisation?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
- Everyone has an innate drive to achieve their full potential
- ‘The peak state of existence that any individual can attain’
- To achieve it: Hierarchy of needs + The self and Congruence
What is the definition of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
- If the 1st need isn’t met, the other needs can’t be fulfilled
- State of self actualisation isn’t permanent
What is the pneumonic technique to remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
Some (self actualisation)
Elephants (esteem)
Love (love/belonging)
Sexy (safety)
Pandas (physiological)
if the point is:
A weakness of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is that describing self actualisation as a concept is difficult and as a consequence it’s difficult to measure and therefore difficult to test.
What is the explanation and link?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
Explanation- Self reports could be used to help gauge this concept, yet if you ask key individuals or others you’re likely to get different responses.
Link- This isn’t seen as an issue by humanistic theorists, as they do not feel measurement is appropriate. However, other psychologists who promote psychology as a science claim this is too subjective.
If the point is:
A strength of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is that concepts such as self actualisation have been widely accepted and the hierarchy of needs has been very influential.
What is the evidence and link?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
Evidence- For example, sport and business psychology have made full use of this notion. Additionally, the hierarchy is often used in education with teachers trained on the importance of being able to identify which needs of students are being met or not in order to ensure their academic achievement. For instance, if a students basic needs are not being met they will have difficulty engaging in higher order tasks.
Link- Hence, this has made a positive contribution to society.
If the point is:
A weakness of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is that it’s criticised for being culture specific.
What is the evidence and link?
(Free will, self actualisation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)
Evidence- This is because it relates well to individualistic cultures, where the focus is on the self, but not so well in collectivist cultures, where the focus is on the wellbeing of others. Research by Nevis found that, in China, belongingness needs were seen as more fundamental than physiological needs.
Link- This implies the theory can be seen as culturally relative.
What is ‘the self’?
(The self, congruence and the role of conditions of worth)
- How you perceive yourself as a person
- Perceived self= The self you feel you believe you are
- Ideal self= The self you wish to be
- Real self= The person you actually are
What is congruence?
(The self, congruence and the role of conditions of worth)
- The degree of similarity between a person’s ideal self and their imagined real self or self image
- The state when the elements of our self concept are in agreement
- Incongruent= The gap between what we want to be like and how we see ourselves
What is conditions of worth?
- The conditions imposed on an individual’s character or behaviour that are considered necessary to earn positive regard from significant others
- What we feel we must do or how we should be to be seen as worthy of love
What is Person Centred Therapy?
(Influence of the Humanistic Approach on Counselling Psychology)
- Created in the 1950’s by Carl Rogers
- Therapist works to understand the individual’s experience from their perspective- they must positively value the client as a person in all aspects of humanity
- This helps the client to reconnect with themselves (inner value + sense of self worth)
- The core purpose is to facilitate our ability to self actualise
- Congruence- Therapist must be completely genuine
- Empathy- Therapist strives to understand client’s experience
- Unconditional positive regard- Therapist must be non judgemental and valuing
- Low self esteem, lack of self reliance, little openness to new experience can affect growth
If the point is:
A strength of the Humanistic Approach is that it has contributed enormously to society, especially the world of psychological counselling and psychotherapy.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- For example, the core conditions promoted in person centred therapy, such as congruence and empathy, have merged into many forms of effective psychotherapy.
Link- Therefore, we could argue that the approach has benefitted both society and psychology itself.
If the point is:
A weakness of the Humanistic Approach is that the ideas of the approach are hard to test scientifically and therefore support with empirical evidence.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- For example, some of the issues like congruence and unconditional positive regard are very difficult to study without using subjectivity, inferences or retrospection.
Link- This could mean the approach lacks scientific rigour that is often found in other approaches in psychology.
