Humanistic Approach

Key Points

• Person centred approach
• Opposed to using objective methods
• Personal Agency- Make your own choices
• Phenomenological- Study of humans from their view
• A persons experiences and feelings are considered
• People have free will and aren't affected by other factors

Intro

• Emerged in the USA in the 1950's
• Its the third force in psychology alongside the behaviorist and psychodynamic approaches
• The most influential humanistic psychologist's were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Fully Functioning Person

• Believe that all people are capable of achieving their own goals, wishes and desires in life
• Open to experience- Both positive and negative emotions are accepted
• Existential life- Avoid making prejudgments and preconceptions
• Trust feelings- Feelings, instincts and gut reactions are paid attention to
• Creativity- Risk taking and creative thinking are undertaken
• Fulfilled life- Happiness and satisfaction are experienced with new challenges and experiences

Conditions Of Worth

• Unconditional postive regard- People accept and love another for who they are despite any faults
• Self-worth- When a person feels confident and postive

Self-concept And Congruence-

• Congruence- Similarity between self and ideal self
• Incongruence may prevent personal growth

Hierarchy Of Needs/ Desires

• Physiological- Breathing, food, sleep and water
• Safety- Health, employment and property
• Love/ belonging- Friendship, family and sexual intimacy
• Esteem- Confidence, achievement and respect
• Self-actualization- Creativity, lack of prejudice and morality

Characteristics Of Self-actualisers

• Needs lower down the hierarchy must be satisfied first, and the higher up they are the harder to achieve
• Only about 1-2% of the population reach it
• Famous ones include Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln
• They are fulfilled in life completely, utilise abilities and view life as a series of peak experiences

Holistic Approach

• Consider how the mind and body work together as a whole person
• In contrast to the Behaviourist approach (stimulus-response) and the Psychodynamic approach (unconscious mind)

Psychotherapy

• Rogers developed Person-Centred Therapy where 'clients' are put in charge of their own recovery
• Focus on lisening, accepting and understanding clients
• Reduce incongruence between ideal self and actual self to become a more fully functioning person

Unscientific

• Lacking in empirical evidence
• Reject the use of experimental methods
• Vague, abstract and difficult to test
• Critics say that is shouldnt be practiced if psychology is wanting to be considered a science

Culturally Bias

• Personal growth, self-esteem and achievement are important in individualistic cultures
• Family and community are important in collectivist cultures
• Therefore cant be generalised to other cultures