The Humanistic Approach

Question 1

The approach says humans are active ___?

Answer 1

Active agents.

Question 2

What is different about this approaches view on human behaviour compared to other approaches?

Answer 2

This approach isn’t determinist and sees us having free will.

Question 3

How does this approach view people as a whole?

Answer 3

The approach sees us all as good people and says we have a drive to be the best we possibly can.

Question 4

Why does this approach reject scientific methods?
How are humans studied instead?

Answer 4

Because no two humans are the same, instead we should be studied individually.

Question 5

List Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Answer 5

Self Actualisation
Esteem
Love and Belonging
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs

Question 6

What are deficiency needs? What are growth needs?

Answer 6

Deficiency needs are essential for human survival. Growth needs allow us to excel as humans.

Question 7

Sort Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into deficiency and growth.

Answer 7

Growth - Self Actualisation
Deficiency Needs -
Esteem
Love and Belonging
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs

Question 8

Define physiological needs.

Answer 8

Basic needs that keep us alive, such as food and water.

Question 9

Define safety needs.

Answer 9

Needs that protect us, such as shelter.

Question 10

Define love and belonging.

Answer 10

Having friends, romantic partners and family.

Question 11

Define esteem.

Answer 11

Feelings of self worth.

Question 12

Define self actualisation.

Answer 12

Realising that you have reached your full potential.

Question 13

How do you progress through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 13

You can only progress through once you have met the needs of the previous stage.

Question 14

What is the self?

Answer 14

How you see yourself as a person.

Question 15

What is the ideal self?

Answer 15

The person who you want to be.

Question 16

What is congruence?

Answer 16

When view of the self aligns with the view of your ideal self.

Question 17

What is incongruence?

Answer 17

There is too big of a gap between view of the self and ideal self, leading to negative feelings of self worth.

Question 18

What is client centred therapy?

Answer 18

A form of counselling that helps people to deal with everyday issues.

Question 19

Why did Carl Rogers say issues such as low self esteem arise?
What are conditions of worth?

Answer 19

They arise because we weren’t provided with unconditional positive regard in childhood. Instead, they were provided with conditions of worth, where a parent says they will only love a child if…

Question 20

What is unconditional positive regard?

Answer 20

Being loved and cared for by someone, no matter what.

Question 21

What 2 things did Rogers aim to provide clients with?

Answer 21

He provided clients with unconditional positive regard and empathy.

Question 22

Explain the strength of the approach not being reductionist, using the example of the approach not breaking behaviours into stimulus and response.

Answer 22

The approach rejects the idea of breaking behaviour down into stimulus - response and instead focuses on individual cases of how people behave. The approach especially focuses on subjective experience that can only be understood when considering the whole person. This means that the approach is more valid as it considers humans within the real world, and not in a lab.

Question 23

Explain the strength of the approach being positive, comparing it Freud stating that humans are ‘‘prisoners of their past’’.

Answer 23

Humanistic psychologists have brought the person back into psychology in a positive way. This contrasts other approaches, such as the psychodynamic where Freud stated that humans are ‘‘prisoners of their past’’ and claimed we exist between ‘‘absolute despair and a common unhappiness’’. On the contrary, humanistic psychologists see us as having free will and having the freedom to work towards achieving potential, something that many other approaches ignore.

Question 24

Explain the limitation of the approach having cultural bias, using the example of individualist and collectivist cultures.

Answer 24

Many ideas central to humanistic psychology such as autonomy and individual freedom only apply to western, individualist cultures, where people typically focus on themselves. Other countries emphasise collectivist values and focus on interdependence. Therefore, it is possible that the approach doesn’t universally apply.

Question 25

Explain the limitation of the approach having limited application using the example of it being abstract.
Explain the counterpoint of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs having real world application.

Answer 25

Critics have argued that the approach has limited practical application and has been described as a loose set of abstract ideas, as it cannot be backed up by science. However, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has had successful use in places such as businesses to understand motivation of workforces. This suggests that the approach has some useful application.