Oct 6, 20193 min read

Humanistic Approach - Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow and Rollo May

Humanistic psychology can restore human dignity to mainstream psychology by means of values, such as personal agency, freedom of the will, self-actualization, authenticity, and an innate motivation to make life better for the self and society. In terms of methodology, humanistic psychology argues that the subjective and conscious experience of the individual is more important than the objective observation of behavior. Thus, it favors a phenomenological approach over scientific experimentation. The three leading figures of the humanistic movement were Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Rollo May. They all shared the orientation described earlier but differed in their views of psychopathology.

Wong, P. T. P. (2016). Humanistic theories in psychopathology. In H. L. Miller (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of theory in psychology (pp. 438-441). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Carl Rogers (1902–1987)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2SRmkCvmRk

American psychologist Carl Rogers was optimistic and positive about human nature. He believed that people are innately good, creative, rational, and motivated by the universal tendency to fulfill their potential and become self-actualized. A positive childhood experience and a supportive environment facilitated self-actualization.

However, people become maladapted and destructive when environmental constraints damage a person’s self-concept and override the positive, organismic-valuing process that enables individuals to make value judgments and constructive choices. The lack of congruence between a person’s “ideal self” and actual self-concept is the main source of psychopathology.

Rogers advocated a person-centered approach to counseling, education, and management. He believed that when there is a supportive, trusting environment characterized by empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence (genuineness), individuals have the potential to solve their own problems and find their own ways to move forward(http://www.drpaulwong.com/humanistic-theories-2/).

Rollo May (1909–1994)

May shared Rogers’s belief that people have the freedom and courage to be authentic and fulfill their potentials. They are motivated to become fully functioning human beings and develop positive self-identities as beings of worth and dignity. A major source of malady and anxiety is the loss of traditional values and erosion of human dignity. Paradoxically, to preserve their sense of self, people need to learn to give up self-centeredness and reach out to others. In other words, self-transcendence may help restore a sense of personal significance. For May, addressing existential anxiety is more important than coping with situational or realistic anxiety.

However, unlike Rogers, May believed that people are capable of both good and evil. He postulated that the daimon system involving anger, sex, and power has the potential to get out of control and limit one’s potential for authentic living and thus propel a person to engage in evil deeds, when the daimon is not properly integrated with the self. Thus, when one is not able to develop a balanced and integrated sense of self, the daimon system may take control of the person, resulting in psychopathology or self-destructive acts or both( http://www.drpaulwong.com/humanistic-theories-2/).

Abraham Maslow (1908–1970)

https://www.coachilla.co/blog/the-new-hierarchy-of-needs

Maslow was best known for his hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health based on fulfilling innate human needs, culminating in self-actualization. Self-actualized people have fulfilled all their potentials and enjoy a healthy and balanced personality. They demonstrate the best of humanity as described by the B-values, such as being loving and creative. They are not only fully functioning but also spiritual.

In his later years, Maslow realized that some people may become selfish and evil by seeking self-actualization and peak experiences as the highest good. They may act by being selfish and mean to others. As a result, he revised the hierarchy of needs to include self-transcendence as the highest need, an antidote to excessive preoccupation with self-actualization. He was moving toward the position of Viktor Frankl, the founder of logotherapy, which focuses on meaning seeking and self-transcendence(http://www.drpaulwong.com/humanistic-theories-2/).