Humanistic Perspective
Key concepts:
Self actualization
Hierarchy of needs
Self-determination theory
Client-centered therapy
Key Elements of Humanistic Perspective
l Subjective nature of experience
l no one knows you better than you do
l Free will
l let people be whoever they want to be
l Personal responsibility
l behaviors represent personal choices
l Intrinsically positive nature of human being
l encourage people to strive for growth and develop their inner
potentials
l The here and now
l experiences in the present is more important than childhood
experiences
Carl Rogers:
“Every person is to be prized”
l Responsibility: Everyone is responsible for his/her own
life and maturity
l Self-actualization (a fully functioning person)
l The organism has one basic tendency & striving – to
actualize, maintain & enhance the experiencing
organism
l Move toward greater autonomy and self-sufficiency
l Promotes congruence, organization, wholeness, and
integration in the person
l able to appreciate all emotions, cognitions & perceptions at any
given moment
l live existentially: go with the flow of each moment in life & fully
participate in it
Need for Positive Regard
l Strong motive for love, friendship and affection from important
others
l Unconditional positive regard— affection is given without any
conditions or contingencies
l Conditional Positive Regard— affection is given only when
particular conditions are met
l Conditions of worth: conditions under which a person is
considered worthy of regard
l Conditional self-regard (or contingent self-worth): application of
conditions of worth to self
l Conflicts between self-actualization and fulfilling conditions of worth
l desire to be a musician which is in conflict with parent’s aspiration to be a doctor
Congruence
l Self-concept
l Actual self: the perceived way you really are
l Ideal self: what you really want to be
l Congruence
l Discrepancies à anxiety, low self-esteem
l Defenses against incongruence
l Rationalize the experience
l Denial, avoiding situations which cause incongruence
l Self-actualization creates a closer fit between the
actual and ideal selves
Favorable conditions for
personality change
l (especially in the Rogerian therapy)
l Unconditional positive regard
l The therapist has an accepting attitude toward the client
l Positive self-regard
l Don’t apply pre-condition to self-worth, e.g., I’m worthless if I
cannot perform well
l Accurate empathy
l Understanding the client’s internal frame of reference
l Congruence
l Be sincere in feeling and thinking
Assessment: Q-sort Technique
l Assumptions
l The client can describe him/herself accurately
l The client can describe attributes that he/she would like to
possess but currently does not
l Sort cards into piles that correspond to particular
criteria
Abraham Maslow:
“Becoming all that one can be”
l Hierarchy of needs
deficiency needs vs. being-motive
Hierarchy of Needs
l Low-level needs: more primitive and demanding
than higher-level needs
l Higher-level motives: more distinctive human
characteristics
l Needs at lower level must be met before
pursuing higher-level needs
l Low-level needs are deficit motivated and high-
level needs are growth motivated
l Self-actualization: the innate process by which
one tends to realize his/her potentials and
dreams
Self-Determination Theory
(Deci & Ryan, 2000)
l Three needs for growth, integrity, and well-being
l Autonomy (self-determination):
l Freedom to decide how and when to act
l Freedom to take control
l Competence:
l Need to develop skills & capabilities
l The desire to feel effective and in control of the outcome of the
task
l Relatedness:
l Need to develop interpersonal relationship
l Characterized by genuine connectedness with others and
unconditional acceptance
Self-Determination Theory
(Deci & Ryan, 2000)
l Self-determined actions:
l Do it because of intrinsic value to self
l Maintain interest for longer time
l Controlled actions:
l Do it to gain reward or satisfy external pressure
l Rewards can undermine intrinsic value of some
activities and turn them into controlled actions
l Exception: Activities are resistant to this effect if the
reward informs you about your competency
Free Will
l Emphasizes that people are free to determine:
l How they act
l What to become
l People freely make choices but they are
personally responsible for their choices
In contrast: Determinism
l Hard determinism
l Human behavior is completely determined by
factors outside a person
l Free will & moral responsibility are meaningless
l Soft determinism
l People do make choices about their lives
l But the choices are determined by external
factors
Gagne & Deci (2005): J. of Organizational Behavior
Introjection and Identification
l Identified Regulation:
l The behavior is held as personal meaningful and valuable
over time
l Not as self-determined as intrinsically motivated behavior,
but it’s close
l Introjected Regulation:
l Take up the behavior but not really accepted it
l Behavior done to avoid guilt or to get self-approval
l The behavior is controlled and externally imposed
l Behavior as a “should” or an “ought” response
l With introjected values
Workers with High Intrinsic
Motivation
l Higher job satisfaction and work
commitment
l Greater retention rates
l Lower turnover rate and absenteeism
l Higher work efficiency, engagement, and
performance
l Improved organizational culture
Sense of Well-being
l Self-concordance
l Pursuit of goals that are
Pursuit of
consistent with personal core goals
values
l Contribute to a sense of
Higher
well-being well-being
Efforts
l Happiness is when the
person who finds wisdom,
gains understanding and Satisfaction Success
control over life, and feels
completely self-fulfilled
Characteristics of Self-Actualizers
l Perceive reality efficiently and are able to tolerate
uncertainty
l Accept themselves and others for what they are
l Spontaneous in thought and behavior
l Problem-centered rather than self-centered
l Have a good sense of humor
l Highly creative
l Maintain inner detachment from culture
l Capable of deep appreciation of the basic experiences of
life
l Establish deep, satisfying interpersonal relationships with
few, rather than many, people
l Able to look at life from an objective viewpoint
Rogers: Client-Centered Therapy
This hypothesis is that the client has the capacity
and the tendency to reorganize himself and his
relationship to life in the direction of self
actualization and maturity in such a way as to bring
a greater degree of internal comfort. The function of
the therapist is to create such a psychological
atmosphere as will permit this capacity and this
strength to become effective rather than latent or
potential.
(Rogers, 1950)
Rogers: Client-Centered Therapy
l Client-Centered Therapy:
l Responsibility for improvement lies in the client
l Removes distractions so self-actualization processes can
move client toward greater integration
l Therapist demonstrates unconditional positive regard and
empathy
l Non-directive, non-evaluative method
l Clarification of feelings
l Restatement of content
Evaluation of Humanistic Perspective
l Strengths:
l Focused on important aspect of human existence –
subjective nature of experiences and self-regulation
l Stresses holistic, integrated aspects of personality
l Bring fewer biases and preconceptions to personality
l Weaknesses:
l Lacks objective measures of behavior beyond self-report
l Ignore the influences of past experiences
