The self — Edexcel GCSE Psychology
Test yourself on The self with PEARSON EDEXCEL GCSE practice questions.
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The self explained
The Humanistic Theory of Self focuses on personal growth and self-esteem.
Read the full explanation
Rogers (1951) explained personality development through the self-concept. Unconditional positive regard (love without conditions) fosters healthy self-esteem, whereas conditional positive regard creates conditions of worth, where individuals feel they must meet expectations to be valued. Congruence occurs when the ideal self aligns with the actual self, leading to well-being. Incongruence causes distress. Maslow (1943) proposed a hierarchy of needs, culminating in self-actualisation. Strengths include the positive focus on free will; weaknesses include the lack of objective measurement and potential cultural bias towards individualistic societies.
Your focus
- Explain Rogers' concepts of positive regard, conditions of worth, congruence, and incongruence.
- Describe Maslow's hierarchy of needs and its role in the development of the self.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of humanistic explanations of self-esteem and personality.
The self exam tips
Marking Points
- Define unconditional and conditional positive regard and explain their impact on self-esteem.
- Explain how conditions of worth develop and affect personality according to Rogers (1951).
- Distinguish between congruence and incongruence in relation to the actual and ideal self.
- Describe the stages of Maslow's (1943) hierarchy of needs, from physiological needs to self-actualisation.
- Evaluate humanistic theories by discussing strengths (e.g., holistic approach) and weaknesses (e.g., unscientific concepts).
Examiner Tips
- 💡Use a diagrammatic description of Maslow's hierarchy to help structure answers about humanistic explanations of motivation and self-esteem.
- 💡Apply Rogers' concepts to real-life scenarios, such as a parent only praising a child for good grades, to illustrate conditional positive regard.
- 💡When evaluating, contrast the humanistic approach's emphasis on free will with more deterministic psychological theories.
Common Mistakes
- Confusing congruence with unconditional positive regard. Correction: Congruence is the alignment of the actual and ideal self, while unconditional positive regard is receiving acceptance from others without conditions.
- Misordering Maslow's hierarchy. Correction: Ensure the needs are ordered correctly from bottom to top: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation.
- Treating humanistic concepts as easily measurable. Correction: Acknowledge that concepts like self-actualisation and congruence are subjective and difficult to test scientifically.