Humanistic psychology emerged in the
1950s in reaction to both
behaviorism and
psychoanalysis. It is concerned with the subjective experience of human beings, and views using
quantitative methods in the study of the human mind and behaviour as misguided. This is in direct contrast to
cognitivism (which aims to apply the
scientific method to the study of psychology), an approach of which humanistic psychology has been strongly critical. Instead, the discipline stresses a
phenomenological view of human experience, seeking to understand human beings and their behavior by conducting
qualitative research.
The humanistic approach has its roots in
existentialist thought (see
Kierkegaard,
Nietzsche,
Heidegger, and
Sartre). The founding theorists behind this school of thought are
Abraham Maslow, who presented a "
hierarchy of needs";
Carl Rogers, who created and developed
Person centred psychotherapy and
Fritz and
Laura Perls who helped create and develop
Gestalt therapy. Gestalt psychologists claim to consider behaviour
holistically—"the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"—although critics such as
Karl Popper have presented forceful arguments against the proposition that entities can be apprehended as wholes.
Humanistic psychologists use a narrow definition of
humanism. The
American Humanist Association, for example, has had as members many psychologists whom humanistic psychologists would not consider humanist, B.F. Skinner being perhaps a prominent example.
See also
Important publications in humanistic psychology
Introductory textbooks
- Rowan, John (2001) Ordinary ecstasy : the dialectics of humanistic psychology. Hove: Brunner-Routledge
- Schneider K., Bugental J., & Pierson JF. (Editors) (2001) The Handbook of humanistic psychology: leading edges in theory, research, and practice. Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, c2001.
External links
Category:psychological school
de:Humanistische Psychologie
nl:Humanistische psychologie
pl:Psychologia humanistyczna
ru:Гуманистическая психология