Humanistic Approach

Humanistic Approach
·        Humanist school of psychology
·        Third force in psychology (behaviorism and psychoanalysis –are other two)
·        This is described as an ideographic approach. The focus is on each individual, not whole population.
·        It reflects humanistic trend in dealing with understanding human behaviour
·        It believes in the goodness of man and in his positive nature.
·        Man has free will and freedom of choice
·        Conscious experiences of a person are most important in determining personality. (What he or she feels and thinks)
·        Every one of us has the potential for self-actualization through spontaneity, creativity and personal growth.
·        Each individual has the ability to cope with stress, to control life and to achieve what he desire.
·        People strive to realise their full potential in life – called self-actualisation.
Self-actualization theory - Abraham Maslow
·        American Psychologist
·        Founder of humanistic psychology.
·        Humanistic approach for studying human behaviour and personality.
·        Human beings are basically good
·        The personality of human being depends upon his style of striving towards the ultimate goal of self-actualization
·        Thus pattern of human behaviour is always governed by the satisfaction of our needs from the lower, base level, to the upper, top level

Hierarchy of needs



Ø  Physiological Needs: oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, sex and sleep etc.
Ø  Safety Needs: security, stability, protection from physical and emotional harm
Ø  Belongingness & Love Needs: affection, belonging, acceptance, friendship, community
Ø  Esteem Needs: (Internal ones are need for self-respect, confidence, autonomy, and achievement. External ones are need for respect of others, status, fame, glory, recognition and attention.)
Ø  Self-actualization: (doing that which maximizes one’s potential and fulfills one’s innate aspirations)

16 Distinguishing Characteristics of Self-Actualizing People
1.               They are realistically oriented.
2.               They accept themselves, other people, and the natural world for what they are. 
3.               They have a great deal of spontaneity. 
4.               They are problem-centered rather than self-centered. 
5.               They have an air of detachment and a need for privacy.
6.               They are autonomous and independent. 
7.               Their appreciation of people and things is fresh rather than stereotyped. 
8.               Most of them have had profound mystical or spiritual experiences, although not necessarily religious in character. 
9.               They identify with mankind. 
10.          Their intimate relationships with a few specially loved people tend to be profound and deeply emotional rather than superficial. 
11.          Their values and attitudes are democratic. 
12.          They do not confuse means with ends.
13.          Their sense of humor is philosophical rather than hostile. 
14.          They have a great fund of creativeness. 
15.          They resist conformity to the culture. 
16.          They transcend the environment rather than just coping with it.

Carl Roger’s self-theory
·        American psychologist
·        Theory of personality: Self-theory –(1947)
·        He stressed the importance of an individual’s self for determining the process of his growth, development and appropriate adjustment to his environment.
·        Self-theory holds that Personality is a  the interaction between two systems of ones phenomenological field.
o   Organism: - It represents the totality of one’s experience both conscious and unconscious. (center of all experience)
o   The self: -it refers to totality of ideas, feelings and attitudes the individual has about himself (self-concept).  (I, Me and Myself). It developed through the process of interpersonal and social experience.
·        A world of an individual’s subjective experience is called phenomenal field’.
·        The acquisition of the concept of our self is a long and continues process.
·        Human beings have inherited the tendency to develop their self in the process of interpersonal and social experience.

Real self and Ideal self
o   Two faces of self
o   Real self is the self as it really is a result of one’s experience
o   Ideal self is the self one would be like to be.
·        Once a concept of self is formed the individual strives to maintain it by regulating his behaviour
·        Sometimes individual develops some false self-image.
·        Inconsistency between one’s actual image and a false self-image may lead to abnormality in one’s behaviour.
·        Remarkable difference between real self and ideal self is the sign of serious personality disorder.
·        The organism continually strives to develop and expand the self
·        The basic force motivating the organism is self-actualization.
·        The central agency regulating a person’s behaviour is the self.
·        The normal personality development depends on the congruence (resemblance) among different components of personality –(organism, real-self, ideal-self, and the external reality).

·        The larger gap between an individual’s self concept and reality, the poorer his psychological adjustment, and as such he develops a deviant personality.
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