Week 7; Humanistic Approach Flashcards
Humanistic Approaches
Approaches to studying personality that emphasise how people seek to fulfill their potential through greater self-understanding
Goal of Humanist Psychologists
For clients to reach self- actualisation
Core Beliefs of Humanistic Theories
- Human beings are inherently good
- All humans have immense potential for growth and creativity
- In order for humans to reach their potential, we should accept the world through their eyes
Abraham Maslow
- Proposed that we are motivated by a hierarchy of needs
- As lower levels are achieved, we can reach higher potential
Hierarchy of Needs
- Biological Needs
- Safety
- Love and Belonging
- Self Esteem
- Self Actualisation
Biological Needs
- Most Basic
- Most be satisfied and constantly recur
- Food, shelter, water, warmth, clothing etc.
Safety Needs
- Physical security, stability, freedom and protection
- Children have greater safety needs as they have more fears i.e. the dark
- Emergencies and crises entail maximum threat to satisfaction of this need
Love and Belonging
- Friends, partner, club, family and nation
- People receiving a little affection have greater love needs than those who receive a healthy amount of none at all
- Many people availing of psychotherapy get ‘stuck’ at this level
Esteem Needs
- Reputation
- Self Esteem
Reputation
Having the esteem of others
Self Esteem
Your belief in yourself, regardless of the opinions or judgements of others
Self Actualisation
- The desire for self- fulfillment, to reach one’s highest potential
- Very Rare
Maslow’s study of self actualisation
- Studies healthy, creative people in opposed to troubled cases
- Based description on his own mentors and historical figures famed for their psychological richness and productive lives i.e. Abraham Lincoln, Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt
- In Maslow’s view, a mature and healthy society would facilitate lots of people to become self- actualised
Characteristics of Self- Actualised people
- Are aware of what they want and are in contact with themselves
- Very Mature and Self aware
- Often have peak experiences i.e. insights that others do not
- Naturally contribute to others and society at large
- Have B-Values
B-Values
Goodness, truth, autonomy, justice, perfection etc.
Carl Rogers
- Believed that people were inherently good and endowed with self- actualising tendencies
- Believed that certain conditions were required for growth but that most people didn’t get them
Human Potential
Unless thwarted by an environment that inhibits growth, each of us is like an acorn primed for growth and fulfillment
Conditions Necessary for Growth
- Genuineness
- Acceptance
- Unconditional Positive Regard
- Empathy
Genuineness
Open with one’s feelings, dropping their facades, being transparent and self- disclosing
Acceptance
- Offering us affection and respect despite our failings or disagreements with them
Unconditional Positive Regard
- You may disagree with one’s behaviour but not with them as a person
- How parents should treat their children
Empathy
Sharing and mirroring our feelings and reflecting our meanings
Development of Self
- Children do not have a sense of self and thus cannot differentiate between ‘me’ and ‘not me’
- Self concept develops throughout life and with interaction to the environment
- Self Consistency and congruence is needed to maintain a self- concept
Anxiety and Maladjustment
- Experiences that are inconsistent with our self concept evokes anxiety and threat
- Those who deny/ distort their experiences may experience psychological maladjustment
- The more honesty that you can employ to assess who you are and where you stand, the more likely that you are to be psychologically developed
Self Consistency
- There must be coherence in our perception of ourselves i.e. one cannot believe that they are selfish and selfless
Congruence
- The relationship between the orgasmic experience and our conceptual experience
- You can have consistency without congruence but you can’t have congruence without consistency
Self Actualisation and Congruence
Experience and self concept are the same
Incongruence
- Experience and self- concept are different
- Leads to confusion, tension and maladaptive behaviour
- Person is not fully in touch with themselves/ aware of the life they could lead or person they could be
Influence on Congruence
If were are loved and accepted for who you are
Positive Regard
- Rogers believed that we are born with an innate need for positive regard
- Ideally should come without conditions
Conditional Acceptance
- Only obtains love/ affection if they act in a certain way i.e. get a good grade or win a football match
Conditional Acceptance and Psychological Maladjustment
If conditions of acceptance are imposed upon us, then we may begin to accept as part of our self concept only the aspects of behaviour for which we receive positive regard and deny other experiences
Self Concept
All of the thoughts an feelings that we have in response to the question “who am I”
Positive Self Concept
Tend to act and perceive the world in a positive light
Negative Self Concept
-Occurs when we fall short of our ideal selves
- We feel dissatisfied and unhappy
The Q- Sort
- Rogers asked participants to answer question and give scores that would reflect themselves, their ideal selves and the average person
- Any immense gaps between the self and the ideal self could demonstrate a psychological issue
Gilovich on the self
- Studied the extent to which we believe that other people are paying attention to us
- Participants wore an embarrassing t-shirt and rated how much they believed that others were judging them
- Large discrepancy between actual judgement and the participants projections
Higgins and Bargh on self as personality centre
People recalled descriptive adjectives better if they had been asked to consider whether these adjectives fitted themselves in oposed to when they were asked if they fitted others
Features of High Self Esteem
- Fewer sleepless nights
- More persistent at difficult tasks
- Less shy and lonely
- Generally happier
Features of low self esteem
- Do not necessarily see themselves as worthless or wicked, but seldomly say good things about themselves
Features of someone vulnerable to Depression
Feel that they are falling short of their hopes
Features of someone vulnerable to anxiety
Fear that they are falling short of what they ought to be
Dan Mc Adams
Focused on personal narratives
Personal Narratives
Stories that we tell ourselves about where we come from and where we are going as part of our identity
Redemption Narrative
Things start out bad but transform for the better
Contamination Narrative
Things start out well but some person/ event causes them to turn bad
Meaning Making
When an event/ episode yields a deep insight about life
Strengths of Humanistic Theories
- Emphasis on human potential
- Influential in psychotherapy
Weaknesses of Humanistic Theories
- Concepts are vague and unscientific
- May encourage selfishness and self indulgence
- Fails to appreciate the reality of the human capacity for wrongdoing
