Humanistic Perspective

Maslow, Rogers, and Humanism

During the early 20th century, American psychology was dominated by
behaviorism and psychoanalysis. However, some psychologists were
uncomfortable with what they viewed as limited perspectives being so
influential to the field. They objected to the pessimism and determinism
(all actions driven by the unconscious) of Freud. They also disliked the
reductionism, or simplifying nature, of behaviorism. Behaviorism is also
deterministic at its core, because it sees human behavior as entirely
determined by a combination of genetics and environment. Some
psychologists began to form their own ideas that emphasized personal
control, intentionality, and a true predisposition for “good” as important
for our self-concept and our behavior. Thus, humanism
emerged. Humanism is a perspective within psychology that
emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans. Two of
the most well-known proponents of humanistic psychology are Abraham
Maslow and Carl Rogers (O’Hara, n.d.).
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is shown.
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) was an American psychologist who is
best known for proposing a hierarchy of human needs in motivating
behavior (Figure left). To provide a brief overview, Maslow asserted that
so long as basic needs necessary for survival were met (e.g., food,
water, shelter), higher-level needs (e.g., social needs) would begin to
motivate behavior. According to Maslow, the highest-level needs relate
to self-actualization, a process by which we achieve our full potential.
In humanistic theory, self actualization is the maximum realization of the
individual’s potential for psychological growth. Obviously, the focus on
the positive aspects of human nature that are characteristic of the
humanistic perspective is evident (Thorne & Henley, 2005). Humanistic
psychologists rejected, on principle, the research approach based on
reductionist experimentation in the tradition of the physical and biological
sciences, because it missed the “whole” human being. Beginning with
Maslow and Rogers, there was an insistence on a humanistic research
program. This program has been largely qualitative (not measurement-
based), but there exist a number of quantitative research strains within
humanistic psychology, including research on happiness, self-concept,
meditation, and the outcomes of humanistic psychotherapy (Friedman,
2008).

Carl Rogers, shown in this portrait, developed a client-centered therapy method that has
been influential in clinical settings.
Carl Rogers (1902–1987) was also an American psychologist who, like
Maslow, emphasized the potential for good that exists within all people
(Figure right). Rogers used a therapeutic technique known as client-
centered therapy in helping his clients deal with problematic issues that
resulted in their seeking psychotherapy. Unlike a psychoanalytic
approach in which the therapist plays an important role in interpreting
what conscious behavior reveals about the unconscious mind, client-
centered therapy involves the patient taking a lead role in the therapy
session. This approach is based on the belief held by Rogers that
people are innately good and that the potential for self improvement lies
with the individual. Rogers believed that a therapist needed to display
three features to maximize the effectiveness of this particular
approach: unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and
empathy. Unconditional positive regard refers to the fact that the
therapist gives total acceptance of what the client says, does and feels.
Provided these factors, Rogers believed that people were more than
capable of dealing with and working through their own issues (Thorne &
Henley, 2005).

Humanism has been influential to psychology as a whole. Both Maslow

and Rogers are well-known names among students of psychology (you
will read more about both men later in this text), and their ideas have
influenced many scholars. Furthermore, Rogers’ client-centered
approach to therapy is still commonly used in psychotherapeutic settings
today (O’hara, n.d.)

The Humanistic and Existential Perspectives

The Humanistic Perspective

The humanistic perspective, or third force psychology (psychoanalysis

and behaviorism being the other two forces), emerged in the 1960s and
1970s as an alternative viewpoint to the largely deterministic view of
personality espoused by psychoanalysis and the view of humans as
machines advocated by behaviorism. Key features of the perspective
include a belief in human perfectibility, personal fulfillment, valuing self-
disclosure, placing feelings over intellect, an emphasis on the present,
and hedonism. Its key figures were Abraham Maslow who proposed the
hierarchy of needs and Carl Rogers who we will focus on here.

Rogers said that all people want to have positive regard from significant
others in their life. When the individual is accepted as they are they
receive unconditional positive regard and become a fully functioning
person. They are open to experience, live every moment to the fullest,
are creative, accept responsibility for their decisions, do not derive their
sense of self from others, strive to maximize their potential, and are self-
actualized. Their family and friends may disapprove of some of their
actions but overall, respect and love them. They then realize their worth
as a person but also that they are not perfect. Of course most people do
not experience this but instead are made to feel that they can only be
loved and respected if they meet certain standards, called conditions of
worth. Hence, they experience conditional positive regard. According to
Rogers, their self-concept is now seen as having worth only when these
significant others approve and so becomes distorted, leading to a
disharmonious state and psychopathology. Individuals in this situation
are unsure what they feel, value, or need leading to dysfunction and the
need for therapy. Rogers stated that the humanistic therapist should be
warm, understanding, supportive, respectful, and accepting of his/her
clients. This approach came to be called client-centered therapy.
The Existential Perspective

This existential perspective stresses the need for people to continually

re-create themselves and be self-aware, acknowledges that anxiety is a
normal part of life, focuses on free will and self-determination,
emphasizes that each person has a unique identity known only through
relationships and the search for meaning, and finally, that we develop to
our maximum potential. Abnormal behavior arises when we avoid
making choices, do not take responsibility, and fail to actualize our full
potential. Existential therapy is used to treat a myriad of disorders and
problems including substance abuse, excessive anxiety, apathy,
avoidance, despair, depression, guilt, anger, and rage. It also focuses on
life-enhancing experiences such as love, caring, commitment, courage,
creativity, spirituality, and acceptance, to name a few (For more
information, please visit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/therapy-
types/existential-therapy).

Evaluating the Humanistic and Existential Perspectives

The biggest criticism of these models is that the concepts are abstract
and fuzzy and as such are very difficult to research. The exception to
this was Rogers who did try to scientifically investigate his propositions,
though most other humanistic-existential psychologists rejected the use
of the scientific method. They also have not developed much in the way
of theory and their perspectives tend to work best with people who have
adjustment issues and not as well with severe mental illness. The
perspectives do offer hope to people who have experienced tragedy by
asserting that we control our own destiny and can make our own
choices.

Maslow’s hierarchy is a perceptive and constructive schema for

organizing and prioritizing aspects of the human condition. It provides a
meaningful lens through which to view the differences between the
adaptive needs of different cultures. According to Maslow, the objective
of human adaptation is to rise through the pyramid ultimately achieving
self-actualization. However, Maslow’s hierarchy suggests that all human
behavior is motivated. This may not be true. Some human behavior may
simply be reflexive. Maslow holds a biased opinion on the definition of
self-actualization. Each individual may have a different opinion of what it
means to self-actualize. Maslow believed that people who self-actualized
had great characteristics. He believed these made them natural leaders
and incredible people. This makes the goal of self-actualization nearly
impossible for the average person. Maslow’s theory states that lower
level needs must be met in order to meet needs in the higher levels.
However, this is not always the case. It is possible for people who suffer
from poverty and hunger to still feel love and belonging. Therefore,
higher level needs can be met in some cases even if lower levels needs
are neglected. Some theorists argue that the levels of the hierarchy are
out of order in terms of necessity.Some needs that are higher in the
hierarchy may actually appear and become important early in an infant
or child’s life. Maslow’s hierarchy is hard to prove scientifically. It cannot
be proved false easily. There may not be enough hard, scientific
evidence to fully support Maslow’s hierarchy.