DISCUSS THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH (16 marks)
One basic assumption of the Humanistic Approach (HA) is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and self actualisation.
Maslow suggests that the hierarchy of needs is a 5-hierarchical system that states that levels that need to be
reached before an individual can reach self-actualisation. One level is love and belongingness, where Maslow
states that an individual needs affection and intimacy e.g parents love to move up a level to the self esteem
level. It has been suggested that once all of the levels have been reached, then an individual will experience
self-actualisation- which is their innate drive to reach their full potential, and is described by Maslow as an
intense feeling of ‘completeness’.
Another basic assumption is congruence, proposed by Rogers. Congruence is the extent to which an
individual's real self and ideal self agree with each other, who they think they are, and who they aspire to be.
Rogers suggested that the further apart the 2 selves are can result in incongruence and a low self esteem.
Rogers found that incongruence can be traced back to an individual's childhood where instead of receiving
unconditional positive regard, the child has conditions of worth placed on them e.g ‘i will only love you if you
get 100% on this test.’ This means they will have a low self worth. Rogers suggested that to prevent this from
happening the child should receive unconditional positive regard so that they can feel valued and nurtured
growing up.
One strength of the HA is that it has practical applications. Client Centred therapy is a form of therapy
developed from Roger’s theories, to overcome incongruence and so individuals can develop high self worth
and self esteem. The client therapist relationship is especially important and it is key that the client feels valued
and accepted. This ensures unconditional positive regard. Slowly, through this process, the conditions of worth
on the client will dissipate allowing the client to work towards their ideal self and have a healthy self esteem.
This means that the HA must be valid as therapies based on principles like congruence are effective. However
this form of therapy is not for everyone as it is a talking therapy and some people have social anxiety.
A weakness of the HA is that there may be other opposing theories which offer more credible explanations for
certain behaviours e.g depression. The HA suggests that depression is due to being unable to move up the
hierarchy of needs and reach self actualisation. The behavioural approach offers an alternative explanation
and suggests that depression is a result of no longer receiving rewards and positive reinforcement. For
example, if someone lost their job they would feel depressed as they will no longer receive money (rewards).
Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that behaviour is repeated, so a person with depression may
not know how to cope with no longer receiving reward. This means that the HA offers an incomplete
explanation for behaviour and ignores the influence of behaviour. However, free will is central to humanistic
thinking, as humanistic psychologists believe that individuals have the power to control their own lives and
destiny, therefore they reject the influence of internal/external forces on behaviour such as genes.
Another limitation of the HA is that the theories are not testable. The HA lacks scientific credibility and does not
meet the scientific criteria of falsification. This is because principles such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
cannot be directly observed and measured in a controlled lab setting. Therefore the approach lacks empirical
evidence to back its claims. This makes the HA less valid as an approach to explain behaviour.
One basic assumption of the Humanistic Approach (HA) is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and self actualisation.
Maslow suggests that the hierarchy of needs is a 5-hierarchical system that states that levels that need to be
reached before an individual can reach self-actualisation. One level is love and belongingness, where Maslow
states that an individual needs affection and intimacy e.g parents love to move up a level to the self esteem
level. It has been suggested that once all of the levels have been reached, then an individual will experience
self-actualisation- which is their innate drive to reach their full potential, and is described by Maslow as an
intense feeling of ‘completeness’.
Another basic assumption is congruence, proposed by Rogers. Congruence is the extent to which an
individual's real self and ideal self agree with each other, who they think they are, and who they aspire to be.
Rogers suggested that the further apart the 2 selves are can result in incongruence and a low self esteem.
Rogers found that incongruence can be traced back to an individual's childhood where instead of receiving
unconditional positive regard, the child has conditions of worth placed on them e.g ‘i will only love you if you
get 100% on this test.’ This means they will have a low self worth. Rogers suggested that to prevent this from
happening the child should receive unconditional positive regard so that they can feel valued and nurtured
growing up.
One strength of the HA is that it has practical applications. Client Centred therapy is a form of therapy
developed from Roger’s theories, to overcome incongruence and so individuals can develop high self worth
and self esteem. The client therapist relationship is especially important and it is key that the client feels valued
and accepted. This ensures unconditional positive regard. Slowly, through this process, the conditions of worth
on the client will dissipate allowing the client to work towards their ideal self and have a healthy self esteem.
This means that the HA must be valid as therapies based on principles like congruence are effective. However
this form of therapy is not for everyone as it is a talking therapy and some people have social anxiety.
A weakness of the HA is that there may be other opposing theories which offer more credible explanations for
certain behaviours e.g depression. The HA suggests that depression is due to being unable to move up the
hierarchy of needs and reach self actualisation. The behavioural approach offers an alternative explanation
and suggests that depression is a result of no longer receiving rewards and positive reinforcement. For
example, if someone lost their job they would feel depressed as they will no longer receive money (rewards).
Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that behaviour is repeated, so a person with depression may
not know how to cope with no longer receiving reward. This means that the HA offers an incomplete
explanation for behaviour and ignores the influence of behaviour. However, free will is central to humanistic
thinking, as humanistic psychologists believe that individuals have the power to control their own lives and
destiny, therefore they reject the influence of internal/external forces on behaviour such as genes.
Another limitation of the HA is that the theories are not testable. The HA lacks scientific credibility and does not
meet the scientific criteria of falsification. This is because principles such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
cannot be directly observed and measured in a controlled lab setting. Therefore the approach lacks empirical
evidence to back its claims. This makes the HA less valid as an approach to explain behaviour.
