HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY:Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Positive Psychology

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History and Systems of Psychology PSY502

Lesson 37

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY

Humanistic psychology is a branch of psychology that developed from behaviorism. Humanistic

psychologists thought that the behaviorists ignored the humanistic view of people, their needs, aspirations,

hopes, fears, and focused only on behavior. In other words, the human and emotional element was ignored

and only the apparent behavioral patterns were studied. They also thought that psychoanalysts put too

much emphasis on unconscious motivations and they neglect "humanity" of man. Therefore, humanistic

psychologists focused on such human sentiments as joy, contentment, kindness, ecstasy and generosity.

Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow was born in 1908 and he died in 1970. He was born in New York and he did PhD in

1934 form Wisconsin University. Maslow is famous for his theory of motivation, called the Hierarchy of

Needs.

Maslow's primary contribution to psychology is his Hierarchy of Human Needs. Maslow contended that

humans have a number of needs that are instinctual, and are innate. Maslow assumed our needs are

arranged in a hierarchy in terms of their potency. Although all needs are instinctive, some are more

powerful than others. The lower the need is in hierarchy, the more powerful it is. The higher the need is in

hierarchy, the weaker and more distinctly human it is. The lower, or basic, needs in the hierarchy are similar

to those possessed by non-human animals, but only humans possess the higher needs.

Those needs or motives are:

i. Physiological needs

At the bottom of the hierarchy are physiological needs, including the biological requirements for food,

water, air, and sleep.

ii. Safety needs

Once the physiological needs are met, an individual can concentrate on the second level, the need for safety

and security. Here included the needs for structure, order, security, and predictability.

iii. Need for belongingness

The third level is the need for love and belonging. Included here are the needs for friends and companions,

a supportive family, identification with a group, and an intimate relationship.

iv. Esteem Needs

The fourth level is the esteem needs. This group of needs requires both recognition from other people that

results in feelings of prestige, acceptance, status, and self-esteem that results in feelings of adequacy,

competence, and confidence. Lack of satisfaction of the esteem needs results in discouragement and

feelings of inferiority.

v. Need for Self Actualization

Finally, self-actualization sits at the apex of the original pyramid of needs. Self actualization needs refer to

the need of achieving one's true potential.

History and Systems of Psychology PSY502

Carl Rogers

The other prominent humanistic psychologist was Carl Rogers who was born near Chicago, U.S.A., in 1902

and died in 1987. His education started from the second grade, because he had already read before

kindergarten. He got his PhD in educational psychology from New York in 1931 and worked at Ohio State

and University of Chicago. He was offered a full professorship at Ohio State in 1940. In 1942, he wrote his

first book, Counseling and Psychotherapy. Then, in 1945, he was invited to set up a counseling center at

the University of Chicago. It was while working there in 1951 that he published his major work, Client-

Centered Therapy, wherein he outlines his basic theory.

Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

In 1961 in his book entitled "On Becoming a Person" he regarded self actualization as the greatest drive in

human personality. He called it the highest level of mental health. According to Carl Rogers, a

psychologically healthy person:

Has openness to experience

Fully lives the moment

Has a sense of freedom

And is highly creative

Based upon his humanistic theory and point of view he developed his system of psychotherapy called

Theory of Client Centered Therapy. According to this theory, the person has the capacity to rid himself of

his problems. Method of Client Centered Therapy includes reflection in affective terms.

Positive Psychology

Humanistic Psychology has given rise to a subject called the Positive Psychology in 21st century. Positive

psychology is the scientific study of human happiness. The history of psychology as a science shows that the

field has been primarily dedicated to address mental illness rather than mental wellness. Its research

programs and application models have dealt mainly with how people are wrong rather than how they are

right. The need to correct this bias was anticipated in psychological writings as early as those of the

American psychologist and philosopher William James. In his 1902 book, The Varieties of Religious Experience,

James argues that happiness is a chief concern of human life and those who pursue it should be regarded as

"healthy-minded." Several humanistic psychologists--such as Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Erich

Fromm--developed successful theories and practices that involved human happiness despite there being a

lack of solid empirical evidence behind their work. However, it is the pioneering research of Martin

Seligman, Ed Diener, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Christopher Peterson, Don Clifton, and many others that

promise to put the study of human happiness onto a firm scientific foundation and add some positivity to

the predominantly negative discipline of psychology.

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