Humanistic psychology is a school of psychology that came to be established somewhere in the 1950s. This was found in reaction to both behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Humanistic psychology is concerned with the human dimension of psychology and the human context for the growth of psychological theory.
James Bugental in 1960 further shortened this theory by stating five hypothesis of humanistic psychology. This mainly states that human beings cannot be compared or reduced to a machine and that every human being has within him a distinctively human context. It also states that human consciousness comprises of an awareness of oneself in relations other people and that human beings have choices and responsibilities. Lastly, it suggests that human beings are intentional and seek meaning, value, and creativity.
Apart from James Bugental, Abraham Maslow was also a profound advocator of humanistic psychology. He is also known as the father of the humanistic psychology movement. He is responsible for enlightening everyone by asserting that people should study the lifestyles of healthy people so that they will be able to pass judgments on their own lifestyles. Similarly, he also stated that studying the lifestyles of ‘not so healthy people’ would automatically help people realize their shortcomings and adopt effective strategies.
There have been a number of psychologists, including Carl Rogers and Clark Moustakas, who were interested in establishing a professional association. This association would be concerned with and exclusively dedicated to the psychology that focuses exclusively on human issues, such as the self, self-actualization, well-being, hope, love, ingenuity, nature, being, becoming, and individualism. In simple words, it relates to all aspects of human behavior.
However, the theories on humanistic psychology have been subjected to a great deal of criticism. This is because human behavior is purely subjective and cannot be categorized into fixed classes. However, in spite of these limitations, the concept of humanistic psychology has gained immense popularity and has proved to be extremely beneficial.
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