Describe and evaluate the humanistic approach in psychology and discuss differences

between this approach and the psychodynamic approach (24)

Humanistic psychology is an approach to understanding behaviour that focuses on the importance of
individual experience and each persons ability to determine their own behaviour and choices.
Originating in the United States in the 1950/60s, there are four basic assumptions:
1. Every individual is unique and should be treated as such, therefore generalisations are unhelpful.
This falls under the idiographic approach whereas the psychodynamic approach involves
elements of both. It focuses on the unique childhood of the individual through case studies,
however does make generalisations. I. e. Psychosexual stages which all individuals are presumed
to progress through
2. Humans have free will and control over their own development and behaviour which greatly
contrasts with the psychodynamic approachs hard determinism whereby all behaviour is driven
by unconscious forces that individuals are unaware of
3. People should be viewed holistically, rather than focusing on one aspect of the individual, unlike
the reductionist psychodynamic approach which reduces behaviour to a single factor of sexual
drives/biological instincts
4. The scientific method is too objective and is therefore inappropriate for measuring the unique,
subjective experiences of the individual.
Within the humanistic approach falls Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, which are required for human
survival, fulfilment and happiness. The bottom four levels are deficiency needs (if not met, individuals
can sense something is missing from their lives). These include physiological needs (food, water, sleep.
Etc.), safety and security needs (health, employment stability. Etc.), love and belonging (friendship,
intimacy. Etc.), and self-esteem (confidence, achievement, respect. Etc.) The highest level of self-
actualisation is a growth need - every person has an innate tendency to want to achieve their full
potential and become the best person they can possibly be. Maslow created this theory from case
studies and biographies, which are also used within the psychodynamic approach.
However, in order to achieve self-actualisation our actual selves (the person we are) and our ideal self
(the best person we can be) must be congruent. This results from our concept of self-worth developed
during childhood from experience and evaluations of significant people in our lives. Low self-esteem
(leading to incongruence) is often due a lack of unconditional positive regard from parents. Parent who
sets conditions for their love (conditions of worth) .i.e. I will only love you if. will cause a child to have
negative view of the self leading to psychological problems in the future. Consequently, if the gap
between the two selves is too big the person will experience a state of incongruence. Self-actualisation
will therefore not be possible due to an associated lack of self-worth.
To resolve these psychological problems, Rogers Client-Centred Therapy can be used to increase to
persons feelings of self-worth, reduce the level of incongruence between the self-concept and the ideal
self. This therapy operates on a few basic principles including, the clients are seen as experts in their
own condition, the client is encouraged to talk though their own solutions freely within a warm,
supportive and non-judgemental atmosphere. The therapists contributions are to listen carefully and
reflect back on what is being said. In order to do this effectively the therapist needs to be genuine,
empathetic and show an unconditional positive regard (accepting the client for who she/he is without
conditions of worth). Client-centred therapy has been praised as a forward looking and effective
approach that focused on the present and not on the past. However, like psychoanalysis, it is best
applied to treating mild psychological disorders like anxiety and low self-esteem.
The humanistic approach is successful in its attempts to be non-reductionist. It supports holism (the idea
that the whole person (their relationships, their past, present and future) must be considered). This
approach may have more validity than the other approaches as it considers human behaviour in a real-
life context. A further strength of this theory is that it is a positive approach promoting individuals as
being in control of their lives, free to fulfil their potential and able to change. This is a far more optimistic
approach than other approaches .e.g. the psychodynamic approach will presents humans as effectively
slaves to their past, particularly their childhood, and often very unhappy. Furthermore, client-centred
therapy and other associated therapies have been shown to be effective. For example, Elliot (2002)
carried out a meta-analysis of 86 studies and found humanistic therapies led to a significant
improvement in clients (compared to controls who received no treatment).
However, the humanistic approach has limited real-world application. Although Rogerian therapy has
had a real impact on counselling techniques and Maslows hierarchy of needs has been used to explain
motivation, especially in the workplace, the approach has not had a great impact on the subject of
psychology because the approach is more theoretical than grounded in experimental evidence. As with
the psychodynamic approach, humanistic psychology contains a number of vague ideas which are
abstract and difficult to test they are not falsifiable. Because of this both theories are not able to
extrapolate their findings from animal research to human development.
However, Rogers did try and make aspects of his theory more measurable by introducing the Q-sort, a
measure of progress in therapy. Furthermore, there is a clear cultural bias with the humanistic approach
favouring Western over Eastern cultures, therefore making is unsuitable to the latter. The ideas that are
central to the theory - individual freedom, autonomy, personal growth are very westernised concepts,
which contrast with the collectivist values of emphasis on the needs of the group, community and
interdependence.
To further compare, the humanistic approach rejects the nature-nurture debate as humanistic
psychologists should not try to make generalisation about behaviours and traits, unlike the
psychodynamic approach which argues that although much of our behaviour is shaped by biological
drives (nature), he also saw our relationships with our parents (nurture) as playing a key role in
development.