Humanistic Psychology: A Third Force
Classification and Purpose
Humanistic psychology emerged in the U.S. during the 1950s and 1960s as a “third force,” alongside psychoanalysis and behaviorism.
Key Figures and Concepts
Bühler: Focused on fulfillment and satisfaction in human life. Key trends include meeting needs, adaptive restraint, creativity, and expanding domestic order.
Maslow’s Eupsychia: A vision of a healthy society where individuals are spontaneous, creative, and confident, embracing new ideas and adapting to change.
Rogers: Emphasized the individual as self-responsible, free, and capable of subjective choice.
Early Bugental’s Principles:
- Humans are more than the sum of their parts, emphasizing the uniqueness of personhood.
- Human existence is rooted in interpersonal relationships.
- Humans are conscious beings, which is fundamental to understanding human experience.
- Humans have the capacity to choose and decide, shaping their own lives.
- Humans are goal-oriented, with values that differentiate them from other living beings.
Humanistic Psychology’s Theoretical Stance:
- Human-centered: Prioritizes subjective experience over objective observation.
- Emphasis on meaning and significance over methodology.
- Validation based on human criteria, not solely statistical methods.
- Relative importance of all knowledge, encouraging creativity and expanding understanding.
- Trust in phenomenology, while acknowledging other perspectives.
Historical Context
The global economic crisis of 1929 and the subsequent “New Deal” era under President Roosevelt fostered a cultural revival in the U.S. This period saw new labor laws, rural electrification, improved public health, and the protection of union formation. These social welfare programs aimed to provide a decent existence for all citizens. Roosevelt emphasized contact with citizens, believing that economic restructuring should be coupled with individual empowerment for the benefit of the community. This led to a resurgence of optimism and humanism in the U.S.
Influences included existentialist philosophy and Gestalt psychology. There was a critique of the medical model of mental illness, with new psychiatric therapies focusing on rediscovering personal authenticity. Political consciousness grew, with existentialists questioning social structures and family dynamics. Humanistic psychology developed in contrast to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology was published in 1961, and the American Association of Humanistic Psychology (AAHP) was founded a year later, with Maslow as its first president. In 1968, Maslow was elected president of the APA, which officially recognized humanistic psychology in 1971.
Post-World War II, technological advancements addressed basic needs, shifting focus towards existential concerns. However, this technological development also created a gap between individual and societal needs, highlighted by issues like the Vietnam War, pollution, and racial discrimination. Humanistic psychology sought to address these issues, promoting ideals of freedom, equality, and fraternity.
Founders of Humanistic Psychology: Bühler, Perls, Fromm, Rogers, Maslow, and Cohn.
Existential Philosophy
Existentialism challenged traditional philosophy by analyzing human existence, freedom, responsibility, emotions, and the meaning of life. Its scientific method is phenomenology, emphasizing that individuals are defined by their actions, not a predetermined human nature. This leads to an ethic of individual responsibility. Existentialism rejects absolutism and focuses on individual experience. Key figures include Kierkegaard, Bergson, Jaspers, Buber, Brentano, and Husserl.
Marx and Kierkegaard both advocated for social change. Marx emphasized collective action, while Kierkegaard focused on individual responsibility.
Kierkegaard: Highlighted fear and despair as inherent to human existence, arising from the possibility of freedom and the need to make choices.
Buber: A philosopher of religion who advocated for a shared society between Jews and Arabs in Israel. He distinguished between the “I-Thou” relationship, characterized by participation in a changing world, and the “I-It” relationship, marked by a limited connection to others. He emphasized the duality of these attitudes within individuals.
Jaspers: Focused on how humans behave rather than why. He developed a system for classifying deviant behavior based on symptoms. He emphasized freedom and the importance of confronting extreme situations like death and suffering. He believed that the future depends on human decisions and actions.
Heidegger: Viewed human existence as “being towards death.” He emphasized the importance of confronting fear and making choices for self-realization. He distinguished between formal freedom (the ability to say yes or no) and content freedom (the obligation to choose).
Sartre: Focused on human freedom, arguing that humans are essentially free, even in constrained circumstances. He believed that current behavior is determined by future goals, and that freedom is linked to moral responsibility. He emphasized the importance of acknowledging past events and their influence on the future.