Humanistic approach

that we all have free will and are masters of our own development, so can ignore the influence of internal and external factors

having free will allows us the ability to progress through the hierarchy of needs and reach self actualisation.

all of the values and idea we have about ourselves

our perception of the best version of ourselves

We experience incongruence when there is a gap between the self and idea self

prevents us from progressing through the hierarchy of needs

the innate desire that we all have to become the best version of ourselves through personal and psychological growth

in childhood, as adults restrict the love they show towards their children (lack of unconditional positive regard)

Maslow

open, genuine, empathetic, providing unconditional positive regard

Psychological needs (bottom) (food, water, warmth and safety)
safety needs
belongingness and love
esteem
self actualisation (top)

It focuses on an individual's subjective experiences as a whole- behaviour can only be understood by considering the whole person
Contrasts other approaches (e.g cognitive which sees the brain's functions parallel to a computer)
More validity than other approaches- considers human behaviour with real life context.

The ideas of self actualisation and individual freedom are associated with individualist cultures in the Western world
Collectivist cultures (e.g India) emphasise the needs of the community and so won't easily identify with the ideas of humanistic psychology
A limitation as the approach is a product of the cultural context in which it was produced

It lacks evidence and there is no possible way to systematically observe and measure the processes that are described
Self actualisation cannot be objectively measured because of the individual differences and lack of a universal measuring scale
Congruence is up to personal judgement as opinions of the ideal self will differ
it does nothing to improve the scientific credibility of psychology