Humanistic psychology was formed as a psychological trend in the early 1960s, opposing itself, on the one hand, to behaviorism, which was criticized for the mechanistic approach to human psychology by analogy with animal psychology, for considering human behavior as completely dependent on external stimuli, and, on the other hand, psychoanalysis, criticized for the idea of a person's mental life as completely determined by unconscious drives and complexes. Representatives of the humanistic direction strive to build a completely new, fundamentally different methodology for understanding a person as a unique object of study.
The main methodological principles and provisions of the humanistic direction are as follows:
♦ the person is whole and should be studied in his wholeness;
♦ each person is unique, so the analysis of individual cases is no less justified than statistical generalizations;
♦ a person is open to the world, a person's experiences of the world and himself in the world are the main psychological reality;
♦ human life should be considered as a single process of formation and being of a person;
♦ a person has the potential for continuous development and self-realization, which are part of his nature;
♦ a person has a certain degree of freedom from external determination due to the meanings and values by which he is guided in his choice;
♦ Man is an active, intentional, creative being.
The main representatives of this trend are A. Maslow, V. Frankl, S. Buhler, R. May, F. Barron and others.
A. Maslow is known as one of the founders of the humanistic trend in psychology. He is best known for his hierarchical model of motivation. According to this concept, seven classes of needs consistently appear in a person from birth and accompany his growing up:
1) physiological (organic) needs, such as hunger, thirst, sexual desire, etc.;
2) security needs - the need to feel protected, to get rid of fear and failure, from aggressiveness;
3) the need for belonging and love - the need to belong to a community, to be close to people, to be recognized and accepted by them;
4) the need for respect (reverence) - the need to achieve success, approval, recognition, authority;
5) cognitive needs - the need to know, be able, understand, explore;
6) aesthetic needs - the need for harmony, symmetry, order, beauty;
7) the needs of self-actualization - the need to realize one's goals, abilities, development of one's own personality.
According to A. Maslow, this motivational pyramid is based on physiological needs, and higher needs, such as aesthetic and the need for self-actualization, form its top. He also believed that the needs of higher levels can be satisfied only if the needs of lower levels are first met. Therefore, only a small number of people (about 1%) achieve self-actualization. These people have personal characteristics that are qualitatively different from the personality traits of neurotics and people who do not reach such a degree of maturity: independence, creativity, philosophical worldview, democracy in relationships, productivity in all areas of activity, etc. Later, A. Maslow refuses the rigid hierarchy of this model , distinguishing two classes of needs: the needs of the need and the needs of development.
V. Frankl believed that the main driving force behind the development of personality is the desire for meaning, the absence of which creates an "existential vacuum" and can lead to the most sad consequences, up to suicide.
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The humanistic approach in psychology has not lost its relevance for more than fifty years. Probably the main reason for this is the special perception of each person as unique system providing excellent opportunities for self-realization. But first things first.
A general description of humanistic psychology, a brief history of its emergence and the main representatives, as well as the method of psychotherapy that was born thanks to this direction, are the main aspects of our today's conversation.
General information
Personality in humanistic psychology is not only a subject of research, but also a special value that must be treated with attention and respect. Self-realization, the desire for knowledge, mental health, duty, personal choice and responsibility for it are the most important elements a full-fledged personality in humanistic psychology.
Humanistic psychology considers unacceptable the attitude to the subject of research that is characteristic of natural sciences, which was shared by some psychological schools. In such sciences, objects are studied that are devoid of reason and their own vision of the world, incapable of forming connections with other people and filling space and time with their own content.
A person, on the other hand, is able to evaluate each new situation, choose a model of behavior that suits her - in general, actively create and transform his own life. If a researcher does not take into account these fundamental differences between a person and other living organisms, then he significantly limits himself and cannot present a complete picture of the functioning of the human psyche.
Of course, humanistic psychology has been and is being criticized. First of all, the subjectivity of the direction raises questions, because, putting at the forefront the individual experience and individual judgment of the individual about himself, it is difficult to give an objective assessment of the mental processes of a person, and it is completely impossible to measure them quantitatively. Nevertheless, as the basis for a highly demanded method of psychotherapy, humanistic psychology still retains its importance.
"Third Force"
In the West (and above all in the United States, which was the main center of influence in the world of psychology at that time) after the Second World War, two psychological schools dominated: and (more precisely, later versions of these trends - neobehaviorism and neo-Freudianism). Humanistic psychology developed as a response to these trends, which it considered to be too simplistic in its approach to man. What was this approach?
In most cases, behavior is determined by the expectation of positive reinforcement (gratitude, material incentives, positive reaction others), but can also be dictated by the desire to avoid the negative. Neobehaviorists have complicated this three-component structure and introduced intermediate factors into it that slow down, increase or block reinforcement. Thus, not only the observed manifestations of behavior, but also the mechanisms that regulate it, began to be analyzed.
Neo-Freudianism is a complex of currents that developed on the basis of the ideas of Freud and his psychoanalytic theory. As is known, in the classical driving force human actions were considered unconscious drives, with the main role assigned to sexual energy. Neo-Freudians did not deny the influence of the unconscious, but the main source of personality conflicts was considered not its confrontation with consciousness, but the impact of society.
The basic principles of humanistic psychology were formulated in 1963 by the first president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, James Bugenthal:
- A person is not a passive observer, but an active transformer of his life, having the freedom of choice. The potential for development is inherent in the personality.
- The experience of the individual is unique and valuable and cannot be analyzed by simple description behavior and generalizations.
- The study of individual mental processes does not give a complete picture. Man must be studied as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
- A person is naturally endowed with positive qualities, and shows negative ones because he has not revealed his true essence.
Client Centered Therapy
The humanistic direction in psychology was originally focused more on practice than on theoretical studies. This proximity to everyday life, to the needs of people, as well as a special attitude towards a person, have become the main reasons for the popularity of the direction among a large number of people.
This attitude follows from the basic principles proclaimed by Bugental, but its active implementation in the actual practice of counseling began with another specialist. Carl Rogers is the name with which humanistic psychology and humanistic psychotherapy acquired those fundamental features that form its basis to this day.
Back in 1951, when humanistic psychology was just beginning to assert itself, the book by the American psychologist Carl Rogers, Client-Focused Therapy, was published. In it, Rogers expressed ideas that were seditious for that time: the directive approach in psychotherapy is ineffective, it is not the psychologist who acts as an expert and mentor for a person, but a person for himself.
What does such therapy involve? As already noted, humanistic psychology proceeds from the fact that man is a being by nature good, not evil. However, all his positive qualities become visible in a special atmosphere of support and attention, which helps him to reveal his positive essence. The psychotherapist must provide such an atmosphere, but the client helps himself, he finds answers and makes decisions himself.
How is the session
What principles, in accordance with the ideas of Rogers, should form the basis of the work of a psychotherapist?
- Most importantly, non-judgmental acceptance, in which the therapist allows the person to be himself, responds emotionally to what the client says, but does not give him any evaluation.
- , that is, the ability to recognize what the client feels, to put oneself in his place.
- The therapist and the client are equal participants in the dialogue, and a strong psychological contact is established between them.
- - openness and spontaneity, honesty and sincerity, self-expression without fear. Such a manner of behavior should be characteristic of both the consultant and (after some time) the person being consulted.
Psychotherapy, which arose on the basis of the humanistic trend in psychology, still remains one of the most popular and sought-after areas of psychological counseling. It is especially shown to people suffering from loneliness, who feel an acute lack of understanding and sympathy.
A client-centered approach helps in solving both internal and interpersonal problems. Its important feature is that the person himself makes a conclusion about whether he has achieved the desired goal, and, accordingly, he determines the duration of treatment. Author: Evgeniya Bessonova
Humanistic psychology.
The new situation that developed in the world in connection with the consequences of the first and especially the second world wars, the madness of fascism turned the psychological thought of the West to a new problem - the meaning (or meaninglessness) of being, freedom (or lack of freedom) of the individual, loneliness (or non-loneliness) of a person, his responsibility, life and death - to the problems developed in the philosophy of existentialism. In addition to the fact that this philosophy influenced many neo-Freudians (K. Horney, E. Fromm, etc.), it brought to life new psychology, which revised the basic foundations of the previous one and in many respects opposed itself to both behaviorism and psychoanalysis, primarily in understanding the true nature of man. This direction as a whole is often referred to as existential-humanistic psychology.
In 1964, the first conference on humanistic psychology was held in the USA. Its participants came to the conclusion that behaviorism and psychoanalysis (they were designated as the two main psychological forces at that time) did not see in a person what constitutes his essence as a person. Behaviorism and psychoanalysis considered a person from natural-science positions: in Freud, human morality and spirituality were considered not as independent realities, but as a consequence of the complexities of psychosexual development and, accordingly, secondary, derivative from drives and their fate; in behaviorism (with the exception of socio-behaviorism, which was formed in the same years as humanistic psychology), such things as freedom, human dignity, etc., were not only not considered, but were declared fictions, i.e. artificially created and not related to real concepts. Humanistic psychology has identified itself as a third force opposed to behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Principles of humanistic psychology.
The principle of integrity.
Personality is a holistic formation, not reducible to its components. What happens in any part of the whole affects the whole person. The integrity of the Self creates a unique character of the experiences of each person. That is why the subject of study should be goals, meanings, self-attitude, self-perception of the individual.
The principle of positivity.
Human nature is kind and constructive, in connection with which the emphasis is shifted to the study of healthy, creative individuals with enormous internal resources for their solution. Rigid external determinism is opposed to self-determination and self-determination.
development principle.
This principle is intended to explain the presence of internal potencies. Like any creature, a person is naturally endowed with a tendency to growth, development and realization. K. Rogers gives the following analogy: the grain thrown into the ground grows, develops and bears fruit (results). Similarly, every person: nature gives strength for growth, development and self-regulation, i.e. to choose your one and only path, which will lead to the multiplication of good in this world. Therefore, the most important thing is the actualization of human potential. Development has no limit. A person has a huge creative potential, but in order for it to be realized, a person must be active.
Activity principle .
A person is not a victim of circumstances, previously acquired skills, childhood experiences. He is self-determined by nature, creates his own destiny, is free to choose his life and is responsible for his choice. Humanistic psychology abandoned the idea of violence and pressure on the individual. Everything that comes from the outside and does not coincide with the internal needs of the individual is blocked, sooner or later makes itself felt in nervous breakdowns, illnesses, breaks with loved ones.
These principles generally apply to other humanistic concepts, although in general humanistic psychology does not represent unified theory, it is united by some general provisions and personal orientation in practice - in psychotherapy and pedagogy.
The emergence of the name and the formulation of the basic principles are associated primarily with the name of the American psychologist Abraham Maslow. At the center of humanistic psychology is the concept personality development, the idea of the need for maximum creative self-realization, which means true psychological health.
Let us denote, following Maslow, the main differences between humanistic psychology and the first two forces.
First of all, humanistic psychology emphasizes that a person must be considered as a creative self-developing being, striving not only for peace and certainty, i.e. equilibrium state, but also to imbalance: a person poses problems, solves them, striving to realize his potential, and it is possible to understand a person exactly as a person only by taking into account his highest ups, highest creative achievements.
Individuality in humanistic psychology is seen as an integrative whole, as opposed to behaviorism, focused on the analysis of individual events.
Humanistic psychology emphasizes the irrelevance of animal research to human understanding; this thesis is also opposed to behaviorism.
In contrast to classical psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology asserts that a person is inherently good or, at the very least, neutral; aggression, violence, etc. arise due to environmental influences.
Basic provisions of humanistic psychology:
Man must be studied in his wholeness
Each person is unique, so the analysis of individual cases is no less unique than statistical generalizations.
Man is open to the world; human experience of the world and oneself in the world is the main psychological reality;
Life should be considered as a single process of becoming and being of a person;
A person has a certain degree of freedom from external determination due to the meanings and values that guide him in his choices;
Man is endowed with the potentialities of continuous development and self-realization as part of his nature;
Man is an active, intentional, creative being.
The most universal human characteristic in Maslow's concept is creativity , i.e. a creative direction that is innate in everyone, but is largely lost by the majority due to the influence of the environment, although some manage to maintain a naive, childish view of the world.
Maslow emphasizes the interest of humanistic psychology in the psychologically healthy individual; before analyzing the disease, you need to understand what health is (in Freud's psychoanalysis - the way back; according to Maslow, Freud showed the sick side of the psyche, it's time to show the healthy). Genuine health - not in the medical, but in the existential sense - means creative growth and self-development.
The heart of Maslow's concept is his understanding of human needs . Maslow showed that the so-called basic human needs are given and hierarchically organized by levels. If this hierarchy is represented as a pyramid or ladder, then the following levels are distinguished (from bottom to top)6
Physiological needs (food, water, oxygen, optimal temperature, sexual desire, etc.)
security needs (confidence, structure, order, predictability of the environment)
Needs related to love and acceptance (the need for affective relationships with others, for being included in a group, for loving and being loved)
needs related to respect and self-respect
self-actualization needs
The general principle proposed by Maslow for the interpretation of personality development is that lower needs must be satisfied to some extent before a person can proceed to the realization of higher ones. Without this, a person may not be aware of the existence of higher-level needs.
In general, Maslow believed, the higher a person can climb the ladder of needs, the more health, humanity he will show, the more individual he will be.
At the top of the pyramid are needs related to self-actualization. Maslow defined self-actualization as the desire to become everything that is possible; it is the full use and disclosure of a person's talents and abilities. This is the need for self-improvement, in realizing one's potential. This path is difficult, it is associated with the experience of fear of the unknown and responsibility, but it is also the path to a full, internally rich life. By the way, self-actualization does not necessarily imply an artistic form of embodiment: communication, work, love are also forms of creativity.
Characteristics of a "self-actualizing personality".
objective perception of reality
acceptance of self, others, world such what they are
non-egocentricity, orientation to solving external problems, centering on the object
the ability to endure loneliness and the need for isolation
Creative skills
naturalness of behavior, lack of desire to violate conventions simply from the spirit of contradiction
friendly relations with any person with good character, regardless of his education, status and other formal characteristics.
The capacity for deep attachments, often to few people, in the absence of constant unconditional hostility towards anyone
moral certainty, a clear distinction between good and evil, consistency in moral consciousness and behavior
relative independence from the physical and social environment.
awareness of the difference between the end and the means: the ability not to lose sight of the end, but at the same time emotionally perceive the means in itself
Large-scale mental content and activity (These people are raised above trifles, have a wide horizon, a long-term perspective. They are guided by broad and universal values.)
Although all people are looking for inner consistency, few reach the level of self-actualization (which is not a state, but a process) - less than 1%. The majority, according to Maslow, are simply blind to their potential, do not know about its existence and do not lead the joy of movement to its disclosure. The environment contributes to this: a bureaucratic society tends to level the individual.
This also applies to the family environment: children who grow up in a friendly environment, when the need for security is satisfied, are more likely to self-actualize.
In general, if a person does not reach the level of self-actualization (self-actualizing personality), he turns out to be a special person, not burdened with many small vices such as envy, anger, bad taste, cynicism; he will not be prone to depression and pessimism, selfishness, etc. - all this does not correspond to true human nature, all this is a manifestation of mental illness in the sense in which it is considered by humanistic psychology.
Such a person is distinguished by high self-esteem, he accepts others, accepts nature, is unconventional (i.e., independent of conventions), simple and democratic, has a sense of humor (moreover, of a philosophical nature), is prone to experiencing peak feelings such as inspiration, etc.
So, the task of a person, according to Maslow, is to become what is possible - and therefore to be himself - in a society where conditions do not contribute to this. A person turns out to be the highest value and is ultimately responsible for being successful.
The concept of self-actualization is at the center of the concept of one of the most popular psychologists of the twentieth century - Carl Rogers.
Man, like other living organisms, Rogers believes, has an innate tendency to live, grow, develop. All biological needs are subject to this tendency - they must be satisfied in order to develop positively, and the development process proceeds despite the fact that many obstacles stand in its way - there are many examples of how people living in harsh conditions not only survive, but and continue to progress.
According to Rogers, a person is not what appears in psychoanalysis. He believes that a person is inherently good and does not need to be controlled by society; moreover, it is control that makes a person do bad things. Behavior that leads a person down the path to misfortune is not in accordance with human nature. Cruelty, anti-sociality, immaturity, etc. - the result of fear and psychological protection; the task of a psychologist is to help a person discover his positive tendencies, which are present at deep levels in everyone.
The actualization trend is the reason why a person becomes more complex, independent, socially responsible.
Initially, all experiences, all experience is evaluated (not necessarily consciously) through the tendency to actualization. Satisfaction is brought by those experiences which correspond to this tendency; the organism tries to avoid opposite experiences. The term organism in this case means a person as a single bodily-spiritual being. Such an orientation is characteristic of a person as a leading one until the structure of the Self is formed, i.e. self-awareness. The problem, according to Rogers, is that along with the formation of the I, the child has a need for a positive attitude towards himself from others and a need for a positive self-attitude; however, the only way to develop a positive self-image is to learn behaviors that evoke a positive attitude from others. In other words, the child will now be guided not by what contributes to actualization, but by how likely it is to receive approval. This means that in the mind of the child, not those that correspond to his nature will arise as life values, and that which contradicts the acquired system of values will not be allowed into the self-image; the child will reject, not allow into knowledge about himself those experiences, manifestations, that experience that do not correspond to ideals that have come from outside. The self-concept (i.e. self-image) of the child begins to include false elements that are not based on what the child really is.
This situation of abandoning one's own assessments in favor of someone else creates an alienation between a person's experience and his self-image, their inconsistency with each other, which Rogers refers to as " incongruity»; this means - at the level of manifestations - anxiety, vulnerability, lack of integrity of the personality. This is exacerbated by the unreliability of external reference points - they are unstable; from this Rogers deduces a tendency to join relatively conservative groups in this respect - religious, social, small groups of close friends, etc., because. incongruence, to one degree or another, is characteristic of a person of any age and social status. However, the ultimate goal, according to Rogers, is not the stabilization of external assessments, but fidelity to one's own feelings.
The main cause of neuroses, according to Rogers, is the discrepancy between who a person considers himself to be and what he wants to be. The essence of the Rogers method is aimed at:
form a new, more adequate image of oneself in a person
to make more real, corresponding to the capabilities of a person, the idea of \u200b\u200bhis ideal.
Rogers proposed to fill the concept of " mental health" positive content. In other words, mental health is not the absence of illness, but a positive way of life that is characterized by openness to new experiences, striving for the fullness of life, trust in one's feelings and high creative activity.
Is it possible to develop on the basis of self-actualization, and not an orientation towards external evaluation? The only way of non-interference in the self-actualization of the child, Rogers believes, is an unconditional positive attitude towards the child, “ Unconditional acceptance »; the child must know that he is loved no matter what he does, then the need for a positive attitude and self-relationship will not be in conflict with the need for self-actualization; only under this condition will the individual be psychologically whole, fully functioning.
As a practitioner, Rogers proposed a number of procedures to mitigate incongruity; they are reflected primarily in individual and group psychotherapy. Rogers originally referred to his psychotherapy as non-directive which meant abandoning the recommendations of the prescriptive plan (and most often the psychologist is expected to do just that) and trusting in the client's ability to solve his own problems if an appropriate atmosphere is created - an atmosphere of unconditional acceptance. Rogers later referred to his psychotherapy as client centered therapy; now the therapist's task was not only to create an atmosphere; The most important role was played by the openness of the therapist himself, his movement in the direction of understanding the problems of the client, the manifestation of this understanding, i.e. both the client's feelings and the therapist's feelings are important.
Finally, Rogers developed person centered therapy, the principles of which (the main focus is on the person as such, not on social roles or identity) spread beyond the boundaries of psychotherapy in the traditional sense of the word and formed the basis of groups - meetings, covered the problems of education, family development, interethnic relations, etc. In all cases, the main for Rogers is to address self-actualization and emphasize the role of an unconditional positive attitude as what allows a person to "become a fully functioning person". Its properties, in the understanding of Rogers, in many ways resemble the properties of a child, which is natural - a person, as it were, returns to an independent assessment of the world, characteristic of a child before reorienting to the conditions for obtaining approval.
Position close to humanistic psychology Viktor Frankl. His approach is called logotherapy, those. therapy focused on finding the meaning of life(in this case, logos means meaning). Frankl bases his approach on three basic concepts:
free will,
will to meaning
meaning of life.
Thus, Frankl indicates disagreement with behaviorism and psychoanalysis: behaviorism, in fact, rejects the idea of human free will, psychoanalysis puts forward ideas about the desire for pleasure (Freud) and the will to power (Adler); As for the meaning of life, Freud at one time believed that a person who asks this question, thereby manifests mental distress.
According to Frankl, this question is natural for a modern person, and it is precisely the fact that a person does not strive to acquire it, does not see the ways leading to this, that is the main cause of psychological difficulties and negative experiences, such as a sense of meaninglessness, worthlessness of life. The main obstacle is the centering of a person on himself, the inability to go beyond himself - to another person or to meaning; According to Frankl, meaning exists objectively in every moment of life, including the most tragic ones; a psychotherapist cannot give a person this meaning (it is different for everyone), but he can help to see it. "Going beyond one's limits" Frankl means by the concept "self-transcendence and considers self-actualization to be only one of its moments.
This desire of man may be called will to meaning. Frankl focuses on situations of meaning loss and the search for meaning in hopeless situations (he himself was a prisoner of Auschwitz). Frankl concludes that suffering is worthwhile if it changes you for the better.
In order to help a person in his problems, Frankl uses two basic principles (they are also therapies): the principle of dereflection and the principle of paradoxical intention.
The principle of dereflection means the removal of excessive self-control, thinking about one's own difficulties, what is commonly called "self-digging".
So, in a number of studies, it has been shown that modern youth suffer more from the thought of what carries “complexes” than from the complexes themselves.
The principle of paradoxical intention suggests that the therapist is inspiring the client to do exactly what the client is trying to avoid. At the same time, various forms of humor are actively used (although this is not necessary) - Frankl considered humor to be a form of freedom, similar to how heroic behavior is a form of freedom in an extreme situation.
The direction developed by Frankl, like humanistic psychology, can hardly be called a theory in the traditional natural science sense. Frankl's statement is characteristic that the main argument confirming the legitimacy of his position is his own experience of being a prisoner in fascist concentration camps. It was there that Frankl became convinced that even in inhuman conditions, it is possible not only to remain human, but also to rise - sometimes to holiness - if the meaning of life is preserved.
The psychoanalytic direction, which for the first time raised the question of the need to study the motivation and structure of personality, has enriched psychology with many important discoveries. But this approach ignored the study of such important characteristics as the qualitative originality of the personality of each person, the ability to consciously and purposefully develop certain aspects of the “I-image” and build relationships with others. Scientists also objected to the idea of psychoanalysis that the process of personality development ends in childhood, while experimental materials showed that the formation of personality occurs throughout life.
The approach to the study of personality, developed within the framework of the behavioral direction, could not be considered satisfactory either. Scientists who developed this approach, focusing on the study of role behavior, ignored the issues of internal motivation, personality experiences, as well as the study of those innate qualities that leave an imprint on a person's role behavior.
Awareness of these shortcomings of traditional psychological trends led to the emergence of a new psychological school, called humanistic psychology. This direction, which appeared in the United States in the 40s, was built on the basis of the philosophical school of existentialism, which studied inner world, human existence.
Humanistic psychology is a psychological direction that recognizes the personality of a person as the main subject of study, considered as a unique integral system, striving for self-actualization and constant personal growth.
The basic principles of humanistic psychology were as follows:
1) emphasizing the role of conscious experience;
2) belief in the holistic nature of human nature;
3) emphasis on free will, spontaneity and the creative power of the individual;
4) study of all factors and circumstances of human life.
Representatives: Maslow, Rogers, Frankl, Allport, Fromm (partial).
Gordon Allport is one of the founders of humanistic psychology. One of the main postulates of Allport's theory was the position that a person is an open and self-developing system. He proceeded from the fact that a person is primarily a social, and not a biological being, and therefore cannot develop without contacts with other people, with society. Hence his sharp rejection of the position of psychoanalysis about the antagonistic, hostile relationship between the individual and society. Arguing that "a personality is an open system", he emphasized the importance of the environment for its development, the openness of a person to contacts and the influence of the outside world. At the same time, Allport believed that the communication of an individual with society is not a desire to balance with the environment, but mutual communication, interaction. Allport sharply objected to the postulate generally accepted at that time that development is an adaptation, an adaptation of a person to the world around him. He argued that at the heart of the development of the human personality lies the need to blow up the balance, to reach new heights, i.e. the need for constant development and self-improvement.
Allport's important merit is that he was one of the first to talk about the uniqueness of each person. He argued that each person is unique and individual, because. is the bearer of a peculiar combination of qualities, needs, which Allport called trite - a trait. These needs, or personality traits, he divided into basic and instrumental. The main features stimulate behavior and are congenital, genotypic, while instrumental features shape behavior and are formed in the course of a person's life, i.e. are phenotypic formations. The set of these traits makes up the core of the personality, gives it uniqueness and originality.
Although the main features are innate, they can change and develop throughout life, in the process of communicating with other people. Society stimulates the development of some personality traits and inhibits the development of others. This is how that unique set of features that underlies the “I” of a person is gradually formed. Important for Allport is the provision on the autonomy of traits. The child does not yet have this autonomy, his features are unstable and not fully formed. Only in an adult who is aware of himself, his qualities and his individuality, the features become truly autonomous and do not depend on either biological needs or social pressure. This autonomy of human needs, being the most important characteristic of the formation of his personality, allows him, while remaining open to society, to maintain his individuality. So Allport solves the problem of identification - alienation - one of the most important for humanistic psychology.
Allport developed not only the theoretical concept of personality, but also his own methods of systematic research of the human psyche. He proceeded from the fact that certain traits exist in the personality of each person, the difference is only in the level of their development, degree of autonomy and place in the structure. Based on this position, he developed multifactor questionnaires, with the help of which the features of the development of personality traits are studied specific person. The University of Minnesota MMPI questionnaire has gained the greatest popularity.
Abraham Maslow . Hierarchical theory of motivation. There are several levels of motivation, each builds on the previous one - the pyramid of needs.
1. basis - vital needs (physiological)
2. need for security
3. need for care (love and belonging)
4. need for respect and self-respect
5. creativity and self-actualization
If the 1st level (lower needs - hunger, thirst, etc.) is saturated, then the need for security is the need to protect oneself from outside intrusion. In a sense, autonomy, solitude.
The need for guardianship is family, love, friendship. Someone can support.
The need for respect - career, work provides.
These 4 levels are based on the principle of reduction of needs. This is called Type A needs.
Humanistic psychology opposes itself depth psychology. In depth psychology, the subject of study is a sick, suffering person - a patient. Such a model of man.
In humanistic psychology, the term "client", an equal person. The human model is a mature personality. Maslow, in contrast to psychoanalysts, who studied mainly deviant behavior, believed that it was necessary to investigate human nature by studying it. the best representatives. Researched prominent mature individuals that have reached the top. I studied biographies. I watched what provides the pinnacle of personal development.
Maslow coined the term self-actualization. Self-actualization - when all needs are saturated, may not think about the opinions of others, does not owe anything to anyone, knows his own worth, acts as he sees fit.
One of weaknesses in Maslow's theory was his position that needs are in a rigid hierarchy once and for all, and higher "higher" needs arise only after more elementary ones are satisfied. Critics and followers of Maslow have shown that very often the need for self-actualization or self-respect dominates and determines a person's behavior, despite the fact that his physiological needs have remained unsatisfied.
Humanists took the concept of "becoming" from existentialism. Man is never static, he is always in the process of becoming.
Maslow: personality is a whole. A protest against behaviorism, which dealt with individual manifestations of behavior, and not with the individuality of a person. Maslow's holistic point of view.
The internal nature of a person from the point of view of humanists is internally good (as opposed to deep ones). The destructive forces in people are the result of frustration, not innate. By nature, a person has opportunities for growth and self-improvement. Man has the ability to be creative. Everyone has.
Subsequently, Maslow abandoned a rigid hierarchy, combining all existing needs into two classes - the needs of need (deficit) and the need for development (self-actualization). Thus, he singled out two levels of human existence - existential, focused on personal growth and self-actualization, and deficient, focused on satisfying frustrated needs. Metamotivation is an existential motivation leading to personal growth.
Maslow gave 11 main characteristics of self-actualized people: an objective perception of reality; full acceptance of one's own nature; passion and devotion to any business; simplicity and naturalness of behavior; the need for independence, independence and the opportunity to retire somewhere, to be alone; intense mystical and religious experience, the presence of higher experiences (especially joyful and intense experiences); benevolent and sympathetic attitude towards people; non-conformism (resistance to external pressures); democratic personality type; creativity to life; high level social interest.
Maslow's theory includes the concepts of identification and alienation, although these mechanisms are completely mental development they were never disclosed.
Each person is born with a certain set of qualities, abilities that make up the essence of his "I", his Self and which a person needs to realize and manifest in his life and activity. Neurotics are people with an undeveloped or unconscious need for self-actualization.
According to Maslow, society, the environment, on the one hand, is necessary for a person, since he can self-actualize, manifest himself only among other people, only in society. On the other hand, society, by its very nature, cannot but impede self-actualization, since any society strives to make a person a template representative of the environment, it alienates the personality from its essence, its individuality, makes it conformal.
At the same time, alienation, preserving the Self, the individuality of the individual, puts it in opposition to the environment and also deprives it of the opportunity to self-actualize. Therefore, in its development, a person needs to maintain a balance between these two mechanisms. Optimal is identification in the external plan, in the communication of a person with the outside world and alienation in the internal plan, in terms of his personal development, the development of his self-consciousness.
The goal of personal development, according to Maslow, is the desire for growth, self-actualization, while stopping personal growth is death for the individual, the Self. Psychoanalysts - psychological protection - a boon for the individual, a way to avoid neurosis. Maslow - psychological defense is an evil that stops personal growth.
As for other representatives of humanistic psychology, the idea of the value and uniqueness of the human person is central to Carl Rogers. He believed that the experience that a person acquires during his life and which he calls the "phenomenal field" is unique and individual. This world, created by a person, may or may not coincide with reality, since not all objects in a person's environment are perceived by him. The degree of identity of this field of reality Rogers called congruence. With a high degree of congruence, what a person communicates to others, what is happening around, and what he is aware of in what is happening, more or less coincide with each other. A violation of congruence leads to the fact that a person is either not aware of reality, or does not express what he really wants to do or what he thinks. This leads to an increase in tension, anxiety and, ultimately, to a neurotic personality.
Neuroticism is also facilitated by the departure from one's individuality, the rejection of self-actualization, which Rogers, like Maslow, considered one of the most important needs of the individual. Developing the foundations of his therapy, the scientist combined in it the idea of congruence with self-actualization, since their violation leads to neurosis and deviations in personality development.
Speaking about the structure of the "I", Rogers came to the conclusion that the inner essence of a person, his Self is expressed in self-esteem, which is a reflection of the true essence of this person, his "I". In the event that behavior is built precisely on the basis of self-esteem, it expresses the true essence of the individual, his abilities and skills, and therefore brings the greatest success to a person. The results of activity bring satisfaction to a person, increase his status in the eyes of others, such a person does not need to displace his experience into the unconscious, since his opinion of himself, the opinion of others about him and his real Self correspond to each other, create complete congruence.
Rogers' ideas about what the true relationship between a child and an adult should be formed the basis for the works of the famous scientist B. Spock, who wrote about how parents should take care of children without violating their true self-esteem and helping them socialize.
However, parents, according to both scientists, do not often follow these rules and do not listen to their child. Therefore, already in early childhood, a child can be alienated from his true self-esteem, from his Self. Most often this happens under the pressure of adults who have their own idea of the child, his abilities and purpose. They impose their assessment on the child, striving for him to accept it and make it his self-assessment. Some children begin to protest against the actions imposed on them. However, most often children do not try to confront their parents, agreeing with their opinion about themselves. This is because the child needs affection and acceptance from an adult. Rogers called this desire to earn the love and affection of others "the condition of value." The "condition of value" becomes a serious obstacle to personal growth, as it interferes with the realization of the true "I" of a person, his true vocation, replacing it with an image that is pleasant to others. Man renounces himself, his self-actualization. But when carrying out activities imposed by others, a person cannot be completely successful. The need to constantly ignore signals of one's own insolvency is associated with the fear of changing self-esteem, which a person already considers really his own. This leads to the fact that a person displaces his fears and aspirations into the unconscious, alienating his experience from consciousness. At the same time, a very limited and rigid scheme of the world and oneself is being built, which does not correspond much to reality. This inadequacy is not recognized, but causes tension, leading to neurosis. The task of the psychotherapist, together with the subject, is to destroy this scheme, to help the person realize his true "I" and rebuild his communication with others.
Rogers insisted that self-assessment should be not only adequate, but also flexible, i.e. should change depending on the environment. He said that self-esteem is a connected image, a gestalt, which is constantly in the process of formation and changes, restructures when the situation changes. At the same time, Rogers not only talks about the influence of experience on self-esteem, but also emphasizes the need for a person to be open to experience. Rogers emphasized the importance of the present, saying that people should learn to live in the present, realize and appreciate every moment of their lives. Only then will life reveal itself in its true meaning and only in this case can we talk about full implementation.
Rogers proceeded from the fact that the psychotherapist should not impose his opinion on the patient, but lead him to right decision which the patient takes independently. In the process of therapy, the patient learns to trust himself, his intuition more, to better understand himself, and then others. As a result, “insight” (insight) occurs, which helps to rebuild one’s self-esteem. This increases congruence and enables a person to accept himself and others. This therapy takes place as a therapist-client meeting or in group therapy (encounter groups).
The term "I-concept" was introduced in the 50s. in humanistic psychology. This concept meant a return to the classical psychology of consciousness. The main ideas are borrowed from the works of James. James shares 2 concepts of personality:
1) Personality as an acting agent (subject of activity).
2) Personality as a set of ideas about oneself (empirical personality).
Separates the term "I" (acting agent) and "Mine" - what I know about myself, what I attribute to myself. James studied "Mine".
"Mine" consists of 3 parts:
1. Knowing about yourself is a cognitive component
2. Self-attitude is an affective component
3. Behavior - behavioral component
These 3 components define the "I-concept" (the image of "I"). These are phenomenal. In domestic psychology, a broader term is “self-consciousness”.
1. Cognitive component. 3 parts of personality according to James, which are defined as knowledge about oneself:
A. Physical personality - body, clothes, house in the broadest sense of the word.
B. social personality How we are perceived by others. This is determined by our social roles. What is expected of us influences our behavior.
B. Spiritual personality - "image I". The inner world of a person, that which belongs to the consciousness of the subject. What am I? What I will answer. Everything that provides a holistic view of oneself (thoughts, feelings, experiences, abilities).
2. Self-attitude, self-acceptance, self-esteem - the affective component of the "I-concept". From the point of view of a concrete I, all ideas about oneself can be both positive and negative. Not focused on social norms. "I'm an alcoholic and I love it." Our attitude towards ourselves is connected with what goals a person sets and what he can achieve. Self-respect is the result of the relationship between success and ambition.
Carl Rogers introduces the concept of "real" and "ideal" I. Ideal I - an idea of what a person would like to be. The real self is a person's idea of who he really is. According to Rogers, a person strives to comprehend his own Self, to comprehend the self, he wants to feel the true Self.
The true self can be identical (congruent) to the ideal self. Congruence = positive self-concept when the ideal and real self coincide. An incongruent self-concept is negative when they don't match.
2. Behavior. Everyone strives to ensure that the real I coincides with the ideal (according to James).
According to Rogers, the self-concept can be conditionally positive and unconditionally positive. Conditionally positive self-concept, when we follow some standard in order to get approval. Unconditionally positive - a person accepts himself as he is.
Personal development problems can be when outwardly successful man feels the conditionality of the self-concept. Rejection of the conditionally positive I from my self. The way out is unconditional self-acceptance. Personal development - liberation from the system psychological protection(protection does not allow a person to penetrate into the depths of his "I", to experience his self). This can be achieved by the openness of experience, i.e. everything that is available to a person, he must experience.
Method - training groups (meeting groups). Everyone talks about himself. The rest accept it as it is. Or individual therapy (client-centered therapy). Rogers is an indirect method. The therapist is like a mirror. Repeats the last phrase. It does not press, but accepts a person as he is.
The main thing is self-actualization, personal growth, self-development. The goal of the psychotherapist is to provide conditions for the client's self-development.
The directive method works through empathy. Empathy – client and therapist are attuned to each other's experiences.
ROGERS CLIENT CENTERED THERAPY
In 1951, Rogers published the book Client Centered Therapy. He called the patronage model. The client largely relies on the therapist, but the choice of actions, actions always remains with the client. The therapist is a gardener, he can only create conditions for growth and development. The therapist only creates conditions, does not change, does not remake. customer care model. The main goal is to contribute to the growth and development of the client. The ideal is a self-actualizing personality. This process is initiated by the therapist. The need for self-actualization is inherent in a person, but may not be relevant. Self-actualizing personality = healthy. Rogers coined the term "client". It is fundamentally important point. The patient is not responsible, relies on the doctor. The result largely depends on the experience, education, level of knowledge of the psychoanalyst. For Rogers, the central figure is the client. The therapist follows the client. The client has the right to withdraw from therapy at any time. The client initiates a psychoanalytic interaction. The client explores his inner world, and the therapist walks beside him. Equal position. The therapist does not direct, does not push. He is a facilitator - one who supports. The meaning of therapy is to change the inner world, but this change is made by the client himself.
Rogers understood symptoms very broadly. It does not answer the question why such a symptomatology arose in a particular person. He says where the symptomatology comes from: when a split into “I” and “not me” occurs in the client’s personality. “I” is realized, “not I” is that which is not realized. Cleavage produces symptoms. There is an experience that a person has experienced, accumulated. It can completely coincide, be congruent with the self-concept. But the self-concept may not be congruent to experience - splitting occurs. The ideal "I" is what a person thinks he should be. A split may occur - the ideal may not coincide with experience, the Self-concept. There are 3 splitting options. The more 3 peaks coincide, the healthier the person. The more breaks, the more severe the symptoms.
I-concept I-ideal
For Freud, the therapist is the standard. For Rogers, the most important thing for the therapist is authenticity (authenticity), conformity to oneself, does not play a role.
Every effort should be made to reduce the conditioning in self-acceptance. The therapist accepts the client unconditionally, as he is. Encourages the client to treat himself unconditionally. The client's anxieties, fears are reduced, defenses are removed. The client begins to open up, it is easier for him to tell problems. The main thing is to accept and not condemn, emotionally support.
The main thing is to be there, but not to invade the client's world. Respect his decisions, values, views. The therapist must be able to listen and hear. But the therapist has the right to express his opinion. He has the right to make mistakes, he must tell the client about it and apologize. Due to the non-judgmental attitude, the client is not afraid to show emotions. The therapist can also show his emotions, positive and negative: anger, aggression, etc.
Rogers didn't have much experience with psychotics. Short-term therapy for people whose "I" is not destroyed.
Many provisions of existential theory Viktor Frankl make it related to humanistic psychology. Frankl's theory consists of three parts - the doctrine of the pursuit of meaning, the doctrine of the meaning of life and the doctrine of free will. Frankl considered the desire to understand the meaning of life to be innate, and this motive was the leading force in the development of the individual. Meanings are not universal, they are unique for each person at every moment of his life. The meaning of life is always associated with the realization of a person's capabilities and in this regard is close to Maslow's concept of self-actualization. However, an essential feature of Frankl's theory is the idea that the acquisition and realization of meaning is always associated with the external world, with the creative activity of a person in it and his productive achievements. At the same time, he, like other existentialists, emphasized that the lack of meaning in life or the inability to realize it leads to neurosis, giving rise to a state of existential vacuum and existential frustration in a person.
At the center of Frankl's concept is the doctrine of values, i.e. concepts that carry the generalized experience of mankind about the meaning of typical situations. He identifies three classes of values that make it possible to make a person's life meaningful: the values of creativity (for example, work), the values of experience (for example, love) and the values of the attitude consciously formed in relation to those critical life circumstances which we are unable to change.
The meaning of life can be found in any of these values and any action generated by them. It follows from this that there are no such circumstances and situations in which human life would lose its meaning. Finding meaning in a particular situation Frankl calls awareness of the possibilities of action in relation to a given situation. It is this awareness that logotherapy developed by Frankl aims to help a person see the full range of potential meanings contained in a situation and choose the one that is consistent with his conscience. At the same time, the meaning must not only be found, but also realized, since its realization is connected with the realization of the person himself.
In this realization of meaning, human activity must be absolutely free. Disagreeing with the idea of universal determinism, Frankl seeks to remove a person from the biological laws that postulate this determinism. Frankl introduces the concept of the noetic level of human existence.
Recognizing that heredity and external circumstances set certain limits on the possibilities of behavior, he emphasizes the existence of three levels of human existence: biological, psychological and noetic, or spiritual. It is in the spiritual existence that the meanings and values that play a determining role in relation to the lower levels are contained. Thus, Frankl forms the idea of the possibility of self-determination, which is associated with the existence of man in the spiritual world.
Assessing the humanistic theories of personality, it should be noted that their developers for the first time paid attention not only to deviations, difficulties and negative aspects in human behavior, but also to positive aspects personal development. In the works of scientists of this school, the achievements of personal experience, the mechanisms of personality formation and ways for its self-development and self-improvement were revealed. This direction has become more widespread in Europe, and not in the USA, where the traditions of existentialism and phenomenology are not so strong.
Fromm. Personality - the sum of congenital and acquired crazy. St., characterization. individual and determine his uniqueness. Unlike animals, a person is deprived of the original connection with nature - we do not have powerful instincts that allow us to adapt to an ever-changing world, but we can think when we are in a state of human dilemma. On the one hand, it allows us to survive, and on the other hand, it pushes us to think about questions that have no answers - existentialism. dichotomies. Among them: 1) life and death (we know that we will die, but we deny it). 2) living under the sign of the ideal idea of the full self-realization of the individual, we will never be able to achieve it 3) we are absolutely alone, but we cannot do without each other. existential needs. A healthy person differs from a sick person in that he is able to find answers to existential. questions - answers that are more in line with his existential. needs. Our behavior is motivated by physiological needs, but their satisfaction does not lead to a solution to the human dilemma. Exist only. needs can unite man with nature. Among them: 1) the need to establish connections (stepping over the boundaries of oneself, becoming a part of something greater. Submission and power are unproductive here. Only love as a union with someone, outside a person, provided that the isolation and integrity of one's Self is preserved (4 components - care, respect, responsibility and knowledge). in self-determination, the desire to rise above passive and accidental existence into purposefulness and freedom. Creation and destruction of life are two ways. 3) consum. in rootedness - the search for one's roots and the desire to literally take root in the world and feel it again as one's home. Unproductive - fixation (unwillingness to move far beyond one's own safe world originally determined by the mother. 4) self-identity - awareness of oneself as a separate entity (I am me and I am responsible for my actions) Unproductive - belonging to a group. 5) system of values. Unproductive - irrational goals. Character - a relatively constant set of aspirations of the individual, not yavl. instinctive, with pom. which a person relates himself to nature or culture. People relate to the world in 2 ways: assimilation (the acquisition and use of things) and socialization (knowledge of oneself and others). Unproductive types: receptive, exploitative, cumulative, market.
6) Domestic psychology . In the study of personality structure main characteristic is direction. Rubinstein is a dynamic trend; Leontiev - meaning-forming motive; Myasishchev - dominant attitude; Ananiev is the main life orientation. Orientation is a capacious descriptive characteristic of the personality structure. A.N.Leontiev. Parameters (grounds) of personality: 1. The richness of the individual's connections with the world; 2. The degree of hierarchization of deeds, their motives. Hierarchies of motives form relatively independent units of life; 3. General type personality structures.
The personality structure is a relatively stable configuration of the main motivational lines hierarchized within itself. The diverse relationships in which a person enters into reality give rise to conflicts, which, under certain conditions, are fixed and enter the structure of the personality. The structure of the personality does not come down to the richness of a person's connections with the world, nor to the degree of their hierarchization; its characteristic lies in the ratio different systems established life relationships that give rise to a struggle between them. Psychological substructures of personality - temperament, needs, drives, emotional experiences, interests, attitudes, skills, habits - some in the form of conditions, others in changes in their place in the personality, in generations and transformations. The dual structure of personality: 1. Socio-typical manifestations of personality are systemic social qualities first order; 2. Personal-semantic manifestations of personality are system-specific integrative social qualities of the second order. The personal-semantic manifestations of a personality represent a form of social qualities specifically transformed in the process of activity in the individual life of a person. System-social qualities express the general tendency of a developing personality to be preserved, system-specific personality-semantic qualities represent its tendency to change. To search for ways of its further development, in a world full of surprises.
Vygotsky: personality is a social concept, and it embraces the supranatural, historical in man. It is not born, but arises in the process of cultural development. The personality develops as a whole. Only when a person masters a certain form of behavior, then it rises to a higher level. The essence of cultural development is the mastery of the processes of one's own behavior, but a necessary prerequisite for this is the formation of personality and => the development of a function is a derivative and conditioned by the development of the personality as a whole. The newborn has no self and no personality. The decisive moment in the development of a child's personality is the awareness of one's self (a name and only then a personal pronoun). The child's concept of self develops from the concept of others. That. the concept of personality is socially reflected. Only in school age for the first time a stable form of personality appears, thanks to the formation of inner speech. In a teenager - the discovery of I and the formation of personality.
Rubinstein. When explaining any psycho. phenomena, the personality acts as a united set of internal conditions, through the cat. and all external influences are refracted. The history that determines the structure of personality incl. into itself and the evolution of living beings, the history of mankind and personal history. Personality traits are not limited to individual abilities. Personality is all the more significant, than the universal is represented in the individual refraction. The distance separating a historical person from an ordinary one is determined not by saints, but by the significance of the general history. the forces of which it is the bearer. As a person, a person acts as a unit in the system of social relations, as a bearer of these relations. The mental content of the personality is not only the motives of the conscious mind. activities, it incl. a variety of unfounded tendencies-motives. The first stage in the formation of personality as an independent subject is associated with the mastery of one's own body and voluntary movements. Next is the beginning of the walk. And here the child begins to understand that he really stands out from the environment. environment. Another important link is the development of speech.
Ananiev. The structure of personality is a product of individual mental development, which appears in three plans: ontogenetic evolution, psychophysiological functions and the history of human development as a subject of labor.
Characteristics of a person as an individual. Age-sex and individual-typical saints. Their interaction determines the dynamics of psychophysiological functions and the structure of organic needs. Main f. development of these saints - ontogenetic development, impl. according to the phylogenetic program.
As individuals. The starting point of the structural-dynamic properties in the individual is its status in society. Based on this status, systems are built: a) societies. functions-roles and b) goals and value aspirations. Main f. personal development here life path human and general-ve.
as a subject of activity. The initial ones here are consciousness (as a reflection of objective activity) and activity (as a transformation of reality)
Myasishchev. Personality is the highest integral concept. It is characterized as a system of relations between a person and the environment. reality. The most important thing that determines l is her attitude towards people. The first component of personality characteristics forms the dominant personality relationships. The second is the mental level (desires, achievements). Here again the psychologist comes into contact. and social aspects that are completely inconsistent. The level of development and selective orientation characterize the attitude of l. The third is the dynamics of districts l. or whatever is called. type of GNI, temperament. Fourth - the relationship of the main components, general structure personalities
Last update: 07/06/2015
Humanistic psychology emerged in the 1950s as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which were then dominant. Psychoanalysts focused on understanding the unconscious motivations that govern behavior, while behaviorists studied the conditioning process that they believed determined behavior. Humanistic thinkers, on the other hand, believed that both psychoanalysis and behaviorism were too pessimistic, because they emphasized negative emotions and do not take into account the role of personal choice.
Humanistic psychology focuses on the potential of each person and emphasizes the importance of growth and self-realization. Fundamental to humanistic psychology is the belief that people are inherently good and that it is mental and social problems that lead to deviations from this natural tendency.
Humanism also assumes that man is characterized by activity and that, through his will, he pursues goals that will help him realize his own potential. This need for self-actualization and personal growth represents a key, from the point of view of humanist psychologists, a factor in motivating behavior. People are constantly looking for new ways to grow and become better, learn something new and realize their potential.
In the late 1950s, Abraham Maslow and other psychologists organized several meetings to discuss the possibility of forming a professional organization dedicated to a humanistic approach to psychology. They agreed that topics such as self-realization, creativity and individuality, as well as related issues, should be key to the new approach. So, in 1961 they created the American Association for Humanistic Psychology.
In 1962, Abraham Maslow published Toward a Psychology of Being, in which he described humanistic psychology as the "third force" in psychology. The first and second were behaviorism and psychoanalysis, respectively.
However, you should not think of these directions as competing with each other. Each branch of psychology contributes to our understanding of the human mind and behavior. Humanistic psychology added another aspect that made the concept of personality holistic.
The humanist movement had a huge impact on the development of psychology and contributed to the emergence of new approaches to working with human mental health. Psychologists began to understand human behavior and motives in a new way, which led to the development of new methods of psychotherapy.
The main ideas and concepts within the framework of the humanistic movement include such concepts as:
self-esteem;
- free will;
- etc.
Main proponents of humanistic psychology
The greatest influence on the process of formation and development of the humanistic direction in psychology was exerted by the works of such psychologists as:
- Rollo May;
- Erich Fromm.
Important events in the history of humanistic psychology
1943 - Abraham Maslow described his hierarchy of needs in his article "The Theory of Human Motivation" published in the Psychological Review;
1961 - Prominent humanists of the time formed the American Association for Humanistic Psychology and began publishing the "Journal of Humanistic Psychology";
1971 - The American Association for Humanistic Psychology becomes a division of the APA.
Criticism of humanistic psychology
- Humanistic psychology is often considered too subjective - the importance of individual experience makes it difficult to objectively study and measure mental manifestations. Can we objectively say that someone has self-actualized? Of course not. We can only rely on our own assessment of our experience given by the individual.
- In addition, the results of observations are not verifiable - there is no precise way to measure or quantify the properties under study.
Strengths of humanistic psychology
- One of the main advantages of humanistic psychology is that it assigns a greater role to a person in managing and determining the state of his own mental health, compared to other schools.
- It also takes into account the impact of the surrounding world. Instead of focusing solely on our thoughts and desires, humanistic psychology also emphasizes the importance of influencing our experience of the environment as well.
- Humanistic psychology continues to influence therapy as well as education, health care, and other areas of our lives.
- She has helped to overcome some of the stereotypes about psychotherapy and made it an acceptable option for normal healthy people who want to explore their abilities and potential.
Humanistic psychology today
Now the central concepts of humanistic psychology can be found in many disciplines, including other branches of psychology, education, therapy, politics, etc. For example, transpersonal and positive psychology rely heavily on humanistic principles.