Humanistic+approaches

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A couple of ** humanistic theories ** make the ** humanistic approach **.


 * MAIN CONCEPT[[image:Question.jpg width="162" height="162" align="right"]] **

Let us start from the background. Humanistic approach was a reaction to psychodynamic and behaviorist approaches that were very popular in the 1950’s. It raised because people were concerned with the pessimistic view on humanity that accompanied those previous approaches. It also rejects main assumption of both the behaviorist and psychodynamic approaches treated them as deterministic, focused only on reinforcement of stimulus-response behaviour and rooted in the animal research.


 * KEY FACTORS **

People should broaden their knowledge, investigate, do the research. We have a ‘natural desire’ to learn. It is similar to a concept of Christians who should become more Christ like. They will never reach it but they should try to be as close as possible. We shall not mistake it with being better and better but becoming more truly yourself, find your own uniqueness. Every human is unique. There are not the same individuals in the world. The main idea of humanism is that people are basically good, do not have an evil factor inside them.
 * Personal growth **

Regardless of rewards and punishment, motivation and many other factors it is you who choose what you do. You have free will. You choose to be good or bad person. You can become a policeman as well as a robber but you take a responsibility for all your actions.
 * Personal responsibility **

Our main aim is to find happiness. We should live for the moment. The past does not determine our future. Examining past do not matter in case what you do now. It is not worthy to analyze mistakes and make yourself proud of the good choices because it does not matter. It is you who can choose to be happy, sad etc. now.
 * Here and now **

Everything that you know and experience on all levels of life is yours. It has an unique level just for you. Let me present you with the example of seeing a dog in the street. It can be a reason for fear for one, but may also bring happiness for the other.
 * Phenomenology of individual **


 * MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS PYRAMID[[image:http://bjjengineer.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/800px-maslows_hierarchy_of_needssvg.png align="right"]] **

We can divide Maslov’s pyramid into **basic needs** (the first two from the bottom), **psychological needs** (the third and the forth from the bottom) and **self-fulfillment needs** (the top one). Before progressing to higher needs, a person needs to fulfil the lower ones. The highest level is self-actualization. Everybody is capable of reaching the highest level but unfortunately there are some obstacles on the way. Life creates many different situations that we cannot omit. Failures in our lives does not encourage us to desire for higher needs.

Maslow's theory? ** FIND OUT! ** Click on the logo. ||
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/The_Sims_Logo.png width="255" height="254" link="Needs in Sims"]] ||
 * < How is the game ** SIMS ** connected with the


 * ROGER'S CONCEPT OF SELF-ACTUALISATION **

Carl Rogers was the specialist in the field of **self-actualisation**. He emphasised the person's current perception and how we live in the here-and now. Rogers introduced the definition of **self-concept**. This is the set of abilities, ideas and values about ourselves. It is about how we perceive ourselves in the way of what we are, what we can do. Such perception is very important. A man who is strong and believe in himself will probably behave with confidence. We must remember though that this concept does not always fit with the reality...



CLICK HERE TO FIND MORE EXAMPLES Rogers suggests that we want to feel, experience and behave in ways we would like to be, our **ideal-self**. Therefore, the theory of **congruence** was developed. He believed that in order to achieve self-actualization we need to be in a state of congruence.




 * REFERENCES **

Brown, H. D. (2000). //Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.)//. New York: Longman. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. //Psychological Review//, 50, 370-96. Mcleod, S. A. (2007). //Simply Psychology//. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/ Zastrow, Charles H. & Kirst-Ashman Karen. (2010) //Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment//. Belmont: Brooks/Cole.