Chapter 11 Outline
The Roots of Humanistic Psychology
Key Elements of the Humanistic Approach
Carl Rogers
Abraham Maslow
The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Application: Person-Centered Therapy and Job Satisfaction
Assessment: The Q-Sort Technique
Strengths and Criticisms of the Humanistic Approach
The Roots of Humanistic Psychology
★ Existential philosophy
○ Addresses the meaning of human existence, role of free will, and
uniqueness of each human being
○ Existential psychotherapy focuses on existential psychotherapy
focuses on existential anxiety
★ Ideas promoted by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
Key Elements of the Humanistic Approach
★ Personal responsibility
○ People are responsible for what happens to them
★ The Here and Now
○ People can’t become fully functioning individuals when they live their
lives as it happens
★ The experience of the individual
○ Therapists provide therapeutic atmosphere that allows clients to help
themselves
★ Personal growth
○ People are motivated to process toward some ultimately satisfying
state of being
Carl Rogers
★ Believed in every individual’s potential to for a fulfilling and happy life
○ Fully functioning person: People who strive and reach an optimal
sense of satisfaction in their lives
○ Anxiety is the result of acquiring knowledge that does not coincide
with the impression one has about oneself
○ When faced with extreme threatening information, one relies on
defenses
, ■ Distortion - rely on defenses to keep information from entering
awareness
■ Denial - we might convince ourselves that the person who
called us a jerk was in a bad mood or is just a rude person
○ Conditional positive regard: atmosphere when admiration is
gained when accepted behavior is portrayed
■ Leads to denial of one’s weaknesses
■ Resolved through unconditional positive regard
○ Is this child a bad boy, or has he merely done a bad thing? Rogers
argues that parents should provide children with unconditional
positive regard. Although the boy may have done something the
mother did not like, he is still loved and prized by her.
Abraham Maslow
★ Motives identified by Maslow
○ Deficiency motives: results from a lack of needed object
■ Satisfied when obtained
○ Growth needs: not satisfied by finding the object of need
■ Satisfied by expressing the motive
Hierarchy of Needs
★ Categories of needs identified and arranged by Maslow
○ Physiological needs - Hunger, thirst, air, and sleep
■ Must be satisfied before moving to higher level needs
○ Satisfy needs - Security, stability, protection, structure, order, and
freedom of chaos
■ Prominent when the future is unpredictable
Motivation and the Hierarchy of Needs
★ Belongingness and love needs
○ D-love - need to satisfy the emptiness people experience without it
○ B-love - Experienced and grows as a result of being in the
relationship
★ Esteem needs
○ Need to perceive oneself as competent and achieving
★ Need for self-actualization
○ Satisfied when people identify their true self and reach full potential
Misconceptions About Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
★ The assumption that lower needs must be satisfied before turning to higher
needs
The Roots of Humanistic Psychology
Key Elements of the Humanistic Approach
Carl Rogers
Abraham Maslow
The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Application: Person-Centered Therapy and Job Satisfaction
Assessment: The Q-Sort Technique
Strengths and Criticisms of the Humanistic Approach
The Roots of Humanistic Psychology
★ Existential philosophy
○ Addresses the meaning of human existence, role of free will, and
uniqueness of each human being
○ Existential psychotherapy focuses on existential psychotherapy
focuses on existential anxiety
★ Ideas promoted by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
Key Elements of the Humanistic Approach
★ Personal responsibility
○ People are responsible for what happens to them
★ The Here and Now
○ People can’t become fully functioning individuals when they live their
lives as it happens
★ The experience of the individual
○ Therapists provide therapeutic atmosphere that allows clients to help
themselves
★ Personal growth
○ People are motivated to process toward some ultimately satisfying
state of being
Carl Rogers
★ Believed in every individual’s potential to for a fulfilling and happy life
○ Fully functioning person: People who strive and reach an optimal
sense of satisfaction in their lives
○ Anxiety is the result of acquiring knowledge that does not coincide
with the impression one has about oneself
○ When faced with extreme threatening information, one relies on
defenses
, ■ Distortion - rely on defenses to keep information from entering
awareness
■ Denial - we might convince ourselves that the person who
called us a jerk was in a bad mood or is just a rude person
○ Conditional positive regard: atmosphere when admiration is
gained when accepted behavior is portrayed
■ Leads to denial of one’s weaknesses
■ Resolved through unconditional positive regard
○ Is this child a bad boy, or has he merely done a bad thing? Rogers
argues that parents should provide children with unconditional
positive regard. Although the boy may have done something the
mother did not like, he is still loved and prized by her.
Abraham Maslow
★ Motives identified by Maslow
○ Deficiency motives: results from a lack of needed object
■ Satisfied when obtained
○ Growth needs: not satisfied by finding the object of need
■ Satisfied by expressing the motive
Hierarchy of Needs
★ Categories of needs identified and arranged by Maslow
○ Physiological needs - Hunger, thirst, air, and sleep
■ Must be satisfied before moving to higher level needs
○ Satisfy needs - Security, stability, protection, structure, order, and
freedom of chaos
■ Prominent when the future is unpredictable
Motivation and the Hierarchy of Needs
★ Belongingness and love needs
○ D-love - need to satisfy the emptiness people experience without it
○ B-love - Experienced and grows as a result of being in the
relationship
★ Esteem needs
○ Need to perceive oneself as competent and achieving
★ Need for self-actualization
○ Satisfied when people identify their true self and reach full potential
Misconceptions About Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
★ The assumption that lower needs must be satisfied before turning to higher
needs
