Humanistic Approach AO3 Evaluations
Strengths
A strength of the Humanistic Approach is that it has bought the ‘person
back into psychology’. Contrary to Freud’s views of humans being slaves
to their past, and claims that all of us existed somewhere between
common happiness and constant despair, this approach promotes a
positive image of the human condition. Humanistic psychology bought a
refreshing and optimistic alternative as it; sees all people as basically
good, states that we are free to work towards the achievements of our
potential and that we are in control of our lives. This is a strength, as it
focuses on different aspects to what other approaches explore.
Another strength of the approach is that it is not a reductionist approach.
Behaviourists explain human and animal learning through the use of
stimulus-response connections; Freud described personality as a conflict
between the id, ego and superego; Biological Psychology reduces
behaviour into its basic, physiological processes and supporters of the
Cognitive Approach see human beings as little more than information
processing ‘computers’ or ‘machines’. In contrast to this, Humanistic
Psychologists approve of holistic views, which is the idea that subjective
experiences can only be understood by considering the whole person.
This approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering
meaningful human behaviour within its real-life context. This is a strength,
as this approach believes that various systems should be viewed as holes,
not only as parts.
Limitations
A limitation of the Humanistic Approach is that it has limited application.
Rogers therapy revolutionised counselling techniques, and Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation, particularly in a
workplace. However, the approach has had a limited impact within the
discipline of psychology as a whole. This is a limitation due to how
humanistic psychology is lacking in scientific evidence, and also due to
the fact that the approach has been describe as a ‘loose set of rather
abstract concepts’.
Strengths
A strength of the Humanistic Approach is that it has bought the ‘person
back into psychology’. Contrary to Freud’s views of humans being slaves
to their past, and claims that all of us existed somewhere between
common happiness and constant despair, this approach promotes a
positive image of the human condition. Humanistic psychology bought a
refreshing and optimistic alternative as it; sees all people as basically
good, states that we are free to work towards the achievements of our
potential and that we are in control of our lives. This is a strength, as it
focuses on different aspects to what other approaches explore.
Another strength of the approach is that it is not a reductionist approach.
Behaviourists explain human and animal learning through the use of
stimulus-response connections; Freud described personality as a conflict
between the id, ego and superego; Biological Psychology reduces
behaviour into its basic, physiological processes and supporters of the
Cognitive Approach see human beings as little more than information
processing ‘computers’ or ‘machines’. In contrast to this, Humanistic
Psychologists approve of holistic views, which is the idea that subjective
experiences can only be understood by considering the whole person.
This approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering
meaningful human behaviour within its real-life context. This is a strength,
as this approach believes that various systems should be viewed as holes,
not only as parts.
Limitations
A limitation of the Humanistic Approach is that it has limited application.
Rogers therapy revolutionised counselling techniques, and Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation, particularly in a
workplace. However, the approach has had a limited impact within the
discipline of psychology as a whole. This is a limitation due to how
humanistic psychology is lacking in scientific evidence, and also due to
the fact that the approach has been describe as a ‘loose set of rather
abstract concepts’.
