Outline and evaluate the main assumptions of the humanist approach (16 marks)

The humanist approach is the third force in psychology, along with psychodynamicism and behaviourism. Humanists believe that individuals have free will and that psychology should concern itself with subjective experiences rather than general views. The key humanist psychologists are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs stated that the most basic needs (known as deficiency needs), such as food and water, must be met in order for all higher levels in the hierarchy to be met. At the top of the hierarchy is self-actualisation – the concept of being content with oneself and achieve your full potential. Rogers’ theory surrounded the idea that problems in later life are due to the lack of unconditional positive regard from parents and the conditions of work placed on them by other authorities in childhood, which leads to low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness. As a result of this, Rogers developed a therapy, known as client centred therapy to create congruence between the ideal and the actual self. 

One strength of the humanist approach that it has practical applications. Rogers developed a talking therapy known as the client-centred therapy that created a warm atmosphere in which therapy was directed by the “client”, who was seen as the expert on their own condition. In this approach, the therapy aimed to reduce the feelings of incongruence between the actual self and the ideal self they not yet achieved. This type of therapy is also effective at reducing symptoms of mild mental health issues, such as anxiety. This is important as it shows the benefits that the humanist approach has had on individuals mental state and the uses it can have in society. However, a limitation of this is that it cannot treat more severe psychological conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Individuals with such disorders may be unable to engage effectively with talking therapies due to their nature, for example individuals with schizophrenia may experience delusions or psychosis which may alter their view of the therapist or understanding of certain concepts like “self-actualisation”. Therefore, though the humanist approach has good practical applications for some individuals and conditions, it must be considered that it isn’t appropriate for everyone. 

Another strength of the humanist approach is that it is not reductionist. Other approaches, such as the cognitive approach, liken the mind to a computer which reduces its capacity to a machine, or the behaviourist approach which simplifies all behaviours and attachments into a stimulus/response. This limits its validity. However, humanism does not do this and aims not to simplify any behaviours or events into smaller pieces, but instead advocate for holism which considers individual experience, as well as taking into account the person as a whole. This may be more valid as it can apply the findings to real contexts, which allows us to develop methods to explain and change behaviours which may not be appropriate or healthy. Therefore, the humanist approach is strong in the way that it does not over-simplify or minimise the experience of an individual, increasing the validity of the approach. 

One weakness of the humanist approach is it relies too heavily on Western or individualist culture. The humanistic approach values growth and actualisation which are associated with more individualist cultures. Collectivist cultures or those in which communal living is more common, such as Eastern countries, or certain cultures (like those of Travellers) value the needs of the group and interdependence rather than independence, meaning humanism may not apply to them. This allows for beta bias to develop and, as a result, ethnocentrism. It may cause discrimination against certain groups, specifically collectivist cultures or the East, as their beliefs and ideas around self-actualisation for example are seen as abnormal and not supported by humanism. This is a weakness as due to the place that humanism was developed (the USA), it has led to the approach being culturally biased and ignoring the values and ways of life of different cultures which oppose that of the USA and the rest of the Western world.

Another weakness of the humanist approach is that it lacks evidence due to concepts being untestable. Maslow measured success and fulfilment in life as reaching self-actualisation. However, it is difficult to empirically test what self-actualisation really is, as it may mean different things to different individuals, cultures and time periods, and cannot be studied scientifically in a laboratory due to it being an abstract concept. Furthermore, other concepts which are important in humanism like self-esteem also cannot be tested scientifically and would rely on self-report techniques, which are methods lacking in validity due to their retrospective and biased nature. This causes difficulty in defining self-actualisation, which subsequently causes issues with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and humanism generally. This is a weakness because concepts are untestable and lacking in empirical evidence, and concepts that can be tested are lacking in validity.