Humanistic Approach

The key concepts that you need to know for the humanistic approach are:

  • Freewill
  • Self-actualisation
  • Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs
  • Congruence
  • Conditions of worth

Freewill

The humanistic approach also believes in freewill. People are self-determining, and can make their own conscious choices about the way they think and act. This doesn’t mean that we are not influenced by external or internal factors, but that individuals are active agents who have the ability to determine our own development by considering these factors and then make our own decisions. This is different to other approaches (biological & behaviourist) which assume that these factors determine our behaviour and that we have no free choice in our behaviour.

This approach is often referred to as the person-centered approach because it’s main focus is to understand each person as a unique individual. Every person has their own unique way of perceiving and understanding the world. Therefore, we must try and understand their differences, and look at them as a whole. The humanistic approach rejects the idea of studying people in an objective and scientific way. They believe that you can understand people a lot more through detailed interviews and observations.

Self-actualisation & Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

Building on the concepts of freewill and idiographic, Maslow developed his Hierarchy of needs to portray how people have an innate (inborn) tendency towards growth and the fulfilment of their potential, they have a desire to become everything that they are capable of (self-actualisation). The freewill aspect relates to being active agents in achieving SE. The idiographic side relates to the idea that every person is uniquely individual, and that their progress and development is based on their own unique circumstances and choices.

Maslow described the human condition as ‘wanting’. What he means here is that we are always seeking and desiring something, so are actions and behaviour are motivated by certain needs. Maslow categorised these needs into a hierarchy which you can see below:

According to Maslow, we have a hierarchy of needs that must be met for self-actualisation to be possible. Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behaviour. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.

Humanists take a very positive approach – the glass is half full kind of vibe. Therefore, they believe that individual’s growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person. Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, an individual may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualisation.

So what does the hierarchy of needs look like in real life?

“Josh going through sixth form”

1. Physiological needs

Josh starts Year 12 but is: skipping meals, staying up very late gaming and is constantly tired in class. Because his basic needs (sleep, food) aren’t met, he struggles to concentrate and keep up with work. Being in this rut means that Josh isn’t able to think about his future career, but instead needs to address his eating and sleeping habits first. Therefore, his behaviour is being controlled by his physiological needs.

2. Safety needs

Now Josh feels more stable and less stressed about everyday survival. He decides to: create a regular sleep routine, organise his finances (part-time job, travel money), feel more secure about his daily life.

3. Love and belonging

Josh then forms a solid friendship group in sixth form and then joins a football team and feels accepted by others. He begins to enjoy school more because he has a sense of belonging.

4. Esteem needs

As things improve, Josh starts doing well in tests, gets positive feedback from teachers, feels proud of his achievements. His confidence and self-esteem increase.

5. Self‑actualisation

Finally, Josh chooses to pursue his real interest (e.g. psychology or music), works towards a goal like university or a career he cares about and feels motivated and fulfilled. He is starting to reach his potential, which is self‑actualisation.

Characteristics of a self-actualiser:

  1. They perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty and change.
  2. Accept themselves and others for what they are. They are true to themselves rather than pretending in order to impress others.
  3. Independent and resourceful: they are less likely to rely upon external authorities to direct their lives.
  4. Will try new things instead of sticking to safe pathways.

Carl Rogers: Congruence and Conditions of worth

According to Rogers, people could only self-actualise if they had a positive view of themselves which he called a positive self-regard. This can only happen if an individual’s concept of themselves is equivalent to their ideal self (the person they want to be). An example that you may relate to is in relation to social media. You may put on Instagram pictures of your ‘ideal self’ but if you feel that there is a massive gap between that, and your ‘actual self’ you will not be able to self-actualise.

Self-actualisation is only possible if there is congruence (agreement) between the way an individual sees themselves and their ideal self (the way they want to be or think they should be).

If there is a large gap between these two concepts, negative feelings of self-worth will arise that will make it impossible for self-actualisation to take place.

In order to close the gap, an individual needs unconditional positive regard from others. This is when they feel that they are valued and respected without reservation by those around them (especially their parents when they were children). However, most people don’t perceive the positive regard of others as being unconditional. They tend to think they will only be loved and valued if they meet certain conditions of worth. These conditions of worth create incongruity (lack of agreement or widening gap) between the real self (how the person is) and the ideal self (how they think they should be or want to be).

Client-centred therapy

Based on this approach, client-centred therapy aims to increase clients’ self-worth and decrease the incongruence between the self-concept and the ideal self. It is a non-directive therapy in which the client is encouraged to discover their own solutions to their difficulties in an atmosphere that is supportive and non-judgemental and that provides unconditional positive regard. It focuses on the present rather than dwell on the past unlike psychoanalysis. This therapy is widely used e.g. health, education and industry.

Watch a few minutes of the video below so that you can get an idea of what client-centred therapy looks like:

Evaluation:

Strengths:

  • Research to support: Another strength of humanistic psychology is that there is research support for conditions of worth. Harter et al. (1996) discovered that teenagers who feel they have to fulfil certain conditions in order to gain their parents’ approval end up not liking themselves.
  • Applications: It has given rise to a new way to look at people’s needs, for example Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is widely used in health and social work as a framework for assessing clients’ needs. Carl Rogers Client-centred therapy is widely used in health, social work and industry. This therapy has helped many people overcome difficulties they face in life, which is a significant contribution to improving people’s quality of life.
  • Holistic: The approach is holistic as it does not try to break down behaviours in simpler components, e.g. Stimulus and response. This arguably improves the explanatory power when compared to other explanations like the behaviourist approach because it focuses on collecting detailed data and make subjective interpretations of the individual as a whole. Therefore it considers meaningful human behaviour within it’s real life context. Furthermore, many psychologists praise the humanistic approach for its positive and holistic focus. Humanistic psychologists, unlike other psychologists, do not try and reduce behaviour and experience to simpler component parts. For example, biological psychologists reduce psychological disorders to neurochemical imbalances and/or genetic inheritance. In stark contrast, humanistic psychologist put forward a holistic view of human nature and is the only approach that attempts to consider all aspects of human nature in a holistic manner while promoting free will and human choice.
  • Interactionist approach: The approach recognises both the influence of nature and nurture, nurture- the influence of experiences on a person’s ways of perceiving and understanding the world, nature- influence of biological drives and needs (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

Weaknesses:

  • Subjectivity: The approach uses non-scientific research methods. As its aim is to understand people’s subjectivity, it uses methods that yield qualitative data such as unstructured interviews or participant observations. These are difficult/ impossible to replicate and the interpretation of the data is influenced by researcher bias. Concepts such as self-actualisation and congruence are difficult to test and measure because it is an abstract concept and it is difficult to know what you are looking for. In addition, The evidence for the existence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is empirically thin, as would be expected from an approach that disputes the validity of empirical research. Some of the concepts within the hierarchy of needs (e.g. self-actualisation) are difficult to operationalise and therefore very difficult to test empirically. Furthermore, as humanistic psychologists are typically against nomothetic methods of investigation, providing any research support for these abstract concepts becomes difficult if not impossible. Consequently, psychologists are unable to provide any research support for the existence of the hierarchy of needs and other aspects of humanistic psychology making such theories/concepts questionable.
  • Alternative explanation – It proposes a positive view of human nature, however, it could be argued that this might not be very unrealistic when considering the everyday reality such as domestic violence and genocides. Critics argue that the humanistic approach offers an unrealistic view of human nature. Critics point to the more sinister aspects of human behaviour and argue that humanism focuses on ‘growth-orientated’ behaviour while ignoring individual capacity for self-destruction. Consequently, such critics argue that a focus on self-development ignores situational forces that may provide a more realistic explanation of everyday human behaviour. Research on genetic and situational factors that have been heavily linked to crime for example. This casts doubt on the humanistic theory.
  • Freewill or determinism: Overestimates free will and underestimates deterministic factors.
  • Ethnocentrism/Cultural bias: Personal growth would be associated with individualist cultures as collectivist cultures such as India emphasise community and interdependence – The approach is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed and an emic approach is more appropriate. Research by Van ijzendoorn highlight these cultural differences in the way that children are brought up.