humanistic vs existential

1. Humanistic vs experiential
• Humanistic psychology (also known as the “third force”) started in
the 1950s.
• This perspective grew largely out of frustration with both behaviorism
and psychoanalysis.
• The focus of psychology should not be on observable behavior and
how it can be manipulated (behaviorism).
• Nor should it be on unconscious motivation and how to understand it
(psychoanalysis).

2. • Humanistic psychology has its theoretical roots in existential
philosophy.
• As discussed in previous lectures (Romanticism Era), generally
speaking, the existentialists look for the meaning of life, and they can
be divided into theists (rooted in Kierkegaard) and atheists (rooted in
Nietzsche).

3. Philoshophical roots
• Humanism was also influenced by the romantic philosophers.
Rousseau’s seminal work on emotion, which is based on an assumed
goodness in people, is especially noteworthy.
• Martin Heidegger – wrote “Being and Time” (1927), in which he
thoroughly describes the nature of the question of existence.
Heidegger’s work defined the existential movement, and allows us to
ask ourselves the same questions.
• Alfred Adler – influence of “healthy lifestyles.

4. Humanism and Existentialism
• Humanism and existentialism entered into psychology as mutual
partners of the third force.
• The major difference is that humanism assumes people are basically
good, whereas existentialism assumes people are neither good nor
bad (human nature has no inherent quality).
• Both place a priority on the meaning of life and purpose within life.
• In humanistic psychology, the effort is focused more on the search
for meaning and the need for fulfillment and purpose in life.

5. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
• Maslow gets the credit for legitimizing Humanistic Psychology within
the field of psychology.
• Started as a Harry Harlow-trained behaviorist, but upon raising his
first child, he abandoned behaviorism.
• In the 1930s, many psychologists were fleeing Europe and the Nazi
aggressions. As a fellow Jew living in in New York, he took it upon
himself to assist and befriend them (Wertheimer, Alfred Adler, Erich
Fromm, etc.)

6. major difference between humanism and
existentialism i
• As said earlier, the major difference between humanism and
existentialism is that humanism assumes people are basically good,
but existentialism assumes people have no inherent qualities. (no
good or bad, no destiny, etc.)
• Existentialism is founded in the romantic-socialistic movements that
explored free-will and self-governance as our basic human nature.
• Existential psychology has its roots in Martin Heidegger, who defined
the existential quest.

7. • Many of the ideas expressed by Rogers and his colleagues are similar to
those enshrined in the existential approach to therapy.
• Existential psychotherapy is influenced by the philosophy of
existentialism.
• This philosophical tradition is, in turn, associated with the work of
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre.
• These philosophers were concerned with the meaning of human existence,
and with the concepts of free will, subjectivity and the nature of individual
experience.
• It can be seen, therefore, that humanism and existentialism are closely
allied.

8. • The use of deflection as a defence means that contact with othersi s
diminished through a process of distraction.
• Humour and intellectualisation are two ways of avoiding real intimacy
and contact.
• Asking questions, instead of making statements, is another way in
which people can distance themselves, not just from others but from
themselves as well.