Humanistic Approach
The humanistic approach is used to understand behaviour that emphasises the Importance of
subjective experiences.
Key Terms:
Free Will
Free will- the notion that humans can make
Humanistic psychology claims that humans are essentially self-
choices and are not determined by
determining and have free will. Humans are still affected by internal and
biological or external forces
external influences but we are active agents who can determine our own
Self- actualisation- the desire to grow
development. Due to this humanistic psychologist’s, such as Rogers and
psychologically and fulfil one’s full potential-
Maslow, reject scientific models that attempt to establish general
becoming what you are capable of
principles of human behaviour as active agents we are all unique (person-
Hierarchy of needs- a five-levelled
centred approach).
hierarchical sequence in which basic needs
Self-Actualisation
must be satisfied before higher
Every person has an innate tendency to achieve their full potential. Self-
psychological needs can be achieved
actualisation represents the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Self- the ideas and values that characterise
All 4 lower levels of the hierarchy must be met before the individual can
‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and
work towards self-actualisation and fulfil their potential. Humanistic
valuing of ‘what I am’ and ‘what I can do’
psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of what it is to
Congruence- the aim of Rogerian therapy,
be human.
when the self-concept and ideal self are
The self, congruence, and conditions of worth
seen broadly accord or match
Rogers believed that for personal growth to be achieved an individual’s
Conditions of worth- when a parent places
concept of self (the way they see themselves) must be equivalent to their
limits or boundaries on their love of their
ideal self (the person they want to be). If too big a gap exists between the
children
two ‘selves’ the person will experience a state of incongruence and self-
actualisation won’t be possible due to negative feelings of self-worth.
To reduce the gap between self-concept and the ideal self, Rogers
developed therapy that was client-centred to help people cope with the
Evaluation
problems of everyday living. Rogers claimed that the issues we
Strength- Non reductionist
experience as adults have roots in childhood and can often be explained
One strength of the humanistic psychology is
by a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents. A parent who
that it rejects any attempt to break up
sets boundaries or limits on their love for their child (conditions of worth)
behaviour and experience into smaller
is effectively storing up psychological problems for that child in the
components. For example, behaviourists
future.
explain human learning in terms of stimulus-
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
response connections, Freud described
Maslow believed that to achieve our primary goal of self-actualisation, a
personality as a conflict between three things,
number of other deficiency needs must first be met. The first is
biological psychologists reduce behaviour to its
physiological; it would be hard to do your best if you were hungry or
basic physiological processes. In contrast
tired. The next deficiency need is safety and security followed by love and
humanistic psychologists advocate holism, the
belongingness and then self-esteem. A person is only able to progress
idea that subjective experiences can be
through the hierarchy once the current need in the sequence has been
understood by considering the whole person,
met. Maslow characterised life as a series of peak experiences: moments
this approach therefore has more validity as it
of great achievements, ecstasy, or elation when all the deficiency needs
takes into real-life human behaviour into
are satisfied.
context.
Limitation- limited application
One limitation of the humanistic approach is
that it has little real-life application. While
Rogerian therapy has revolutionised
counselling techniques and Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs has been used to explain motivation,
it remains that the approach has had limited
impact on psychology as a whole. This may be
due to humanistic psychology lacking sound
evidence and the approach is described as a
set of concepts rather than a theory.
The humanistic approach is used to understand behaviour that emphasises the Importance of
subjective experiences.
Key Terms:
Free Will
Free will- the notion that humans can make
Humanistic psychology claims that humans are essentially self-
choices and are not determined by
determining and have free will. Humans are still affected by internal and
biological or external forces
external influences but we are active agents who can determine our own
Self- actualisation- the desire to grow
development. Due to this humanistic psychologist’s, such as Rogers and
psychologically and fulfil one’s full potential-
Maslow, reject scientific models that attempt to establish general
becoming what you are capable of
principles of human behaviour as active agents we are all unique (person-
Hierarchy of needs- a five-levelled
centred approach).
hierarchical sequence in which basic needs
Self-Actualisation
must be satisfied before higher
Every person has an innate tendency to achieve their full potential. Self-
psychological needs can be achieved
actualisation represents the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Self- the ideas and values that characterise
All 4 lower levels of the hierarchy must be met before the individual can
‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception and
work towards self-actualisation and fulfil their potential. Humanistic
valuing of ‘what I am’ and ‘what I can do’
psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of what it is to
Congruence- the aim of Rogerian therapy,
be human.
when the self-concept and ideal self are
The self, congruence, and conditions of worth
seen broadly accord or match
Rogers believed that for personal growth to be achieved an individual’s
Conditions of worth- when a parent places
concept of self (the way they see themselves) must be equivalent to their
limits or boundaries on their love of their
ideal self (the person they want to be). If too big a gap exists between the
children
two ‘selves’ the person will experience a state of incongruence and self-
actualisation won’t be possible due to negative feelings of self-worth.
To reduce the gap between self-concept and the ideal self, Rogers
developed therapy that was client-centred to help people cope with the
Evaluation
problems of everyday living. Rogers claimed that the issues we
Strength- Non reductionist
experience as adults have roots in childhood and can often be explained
One strength of the humanistic psychology is
by a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents. A parent who
that it rejects any attempt to break up
sets boundaries or limits on their love for their child (conditions of worth)
behaviour and experience into smaller
is effectively storing up psychological problems for that child in the
components. For example, behaviourists
future.
explain human learning in terms of stimulus-
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
response connections, Freud described
Maslow believed that to achieve our primary goal of self-actualisation, a
personality as a conflict between three things,
number of other deficiency needs must first be met. The first is
biological psychologists reduce behaviour to its
physiological; it would be hard to do your best if you were hungry or
basic physiological processes. In contrast
tired. The next deficiency need is safety and security followed by love and
humanistic psychologists advocate holism, the
belongingness and then self-esteem. A person is only able to progress
idea that subjective experiences can be
through the hierarchy once the current need in the sequence has been
understood by considering the whole person,
met. Maslow characterised life as a series of peak experiences: moments
this approach therefore has more validity as it
of great achievements, ecstasy, or elation when all the deficiency needs
takes into real-life human behaviour into
are satisfied.
context.
Limitation- limited application
One limitation of the humanistic approach is
that it has little real-life application. While
Rogerian therapy has revolutionised
counselling techniques and Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs has been used to explain motivation,
it remains that the approach has had limited
impact on psychology as a whole. This may be
due to humanistic psychology lacking sound
evidence and the approach is described as a
set of concepts rather than a theory.
