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Humanistic Psychology emerged in the 1950s–60s as the “third force” in psychology, a deliberate break from behaviorism’s mechanistic control model and psychoanalysis’s pathology fixation. Its origin is inseparable from Abraham Maslow’s post-Pearl Harbor vow to create “a psychology for the peace table”—a science of human nature that could make war obsolete by fostering mutual understanding and self-actualizing persons. At its core, the movement insists that man supersedes the sum of his parts (Bugental, 1964) and lives with intentionality—creating values, not merely seeking homeostatic satisfaction (Bühler, 1965). Rejecting eight entrenched parameters from part-function models to statistical frequency as truth, humanistic psychologists championed phenomenological methods, authentic therapeutic encounter, and peak-experience analysis (Maslow’s B-cognition). The field was institutionalized with the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (1961) and the American Association for Humanistic Psychology (1962), forging a research program on self-actualization, B-values (truth, goodness, beauty, justice, play, etc.), and synergy—social conditions that fuse selfish and altruistic aims. Philosophically, it revived an Aristotelian essentialism (Robb, 1969): man has an intrinsic nature whose fulfillment is the proper end of life, a doctrine that grounds its normative claim that frustration of metaneeds generates violence, while their gratification builds Eupsychia—a peaceful, psychologically healthy society. By 1969 the movement naturally extended into Transpersonal Psychology, studying transcendent states without abandoning empirical, experiential validation. Humanistic psychology is therefore not merely a clinical orientation but a moral-scientific project to re-found civilization on an empirically grounded, dignity-affirming image of Homo sapiens at its most fully human.
Humanistic Psychology emerged in the 1950s–60s as the “third force” in psychology, a deliberate break from behaviorism’s mechanistic control model and psychoanalysis’s pathology fixation. Its origin is inseparable from Abraham Maslow’s post-Pearl Harbor vow to create “a psychology for the peace table”—a science of human nature that could make war obsolete by fostering mutual understanding and self-actualizing persons. At its core, the movement insists that humanity supersedes the sum of his parts (Bugental, 1964) and lives with intentionality—creating values, not merely seeking homeostatic satisfaction.<ref>Charlotte Buhler, “The Scope of Humanistic Psychology.,” ''Education'' 95, no. 1 (January 1, 1974): 2–8.</ref> Rejecting eight entrenched parameters from part-function models to statistical frequency as truth, humanistic psychologists championed phenomenological methods, authentic therapeutic encounter, and peak-experience analysis (Maslow’s B-cognition). The field was institutionalized with the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (1961) and the American Association for Humanistic Psychology (1962), forging a research program on self-actualization, B-values (truth, goodness, beauty, justice, play, etc.), and synergy—social conditions that fuse selfish and altruistic aims. Philosophically, it revived an Aristotelian essentialism;<ref>Robb, “The Hidden Philosophical Agenda: A Commentary on Humanistic Psychology.”</ref> humanity has an intrinsic nature whose fulfillment is the proper end of life, a doctrine that grounds its normative claim that frustration of metaneeds generates violence, while their gratification builds [[Eupsychia]], a peaceful, psychologically healthy society. By 1969 the movement naturally extended into Transpersonal Psychology, studying transcendent states without abandoning empirical, experiential validation. Humanistic psychology is therefore not merely a clinical orientation but a moral-scientific project to re-found civilization on an empirically grounded, dignity-affirming image of Homo sapiens at its most fully human.
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==Notes==
==Notes==
Humanistic Psychology was meant to be revolution. Those that participated in the early days were clear on this. The goal was to create an entirely new foundation for scholarly activity, a new revolution in our understanding of humanity as deep and wide as that provided by the Copernican Revolution.<ref>Willis W. Harman, “The New Copernican Revolution,” ''Stanford Today'' Winter Series II, no. 1 (1969): 127–34.</ref>
Ultimately, the revolution failed not because of internal problems but because it was a threat to the status-quo. Ekins<ref>David Elkins, “Why Humanistic Psychology Lost Its Power and Influence in American Psychology,” ''Journal of Humanistic Psychology'' 49, no. 1 (2009): 267–91.</ref> suggests it was murdered, as a result.


===Institutional Timeline===
===Institutional Timeline===
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     Peace psychology: healthy persons create non-violent societies; frustrated metaneeds produce aggression
     Peace psychology: healthy persons create non-violent societies; frustrated metaneeds produce aggression


===ranspersonal Bridge (Chaudhuri, 1975; Harman, 1969)===
===ranspersonal Bridge (Chaudhuri, 1975; Harman, 1969)<ref>Haridas Chaudhuri, “Psychology: Humanistic and Transpersonal,” ''Journal of Humanistic Psychology'' 15, no. 1 (1975): 7–15; Willis W. Harman, “The New Copernican Revolution,” ''Stanford Today'' Winter Series II, no. 1 (1969): 127–34.</ref>===


     Humanistic psychology’s higher octave; studies mystical, cosmic consciousness while rejecting static “ultimate state” absolutism
     Humanistic psychology’s higher octave; studies mystical, cosmic consciousness while rejecting static “ultimate state” absolutism

Revision as of 13:23, 12 November 2025

Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic Psychology emerged in the 1950s–60s as the “third force” in psychology, a deliberate break from behaviorism’s mechanistic control model and psychoanalysis’s pathology fixation. Its origin is inseparable from Abraham Maslow’s post-Pearl Harbor vow to create “a psychology for the peace table”—a science of human nature that could make war obsolete by fostering mutual understanding and self-actualizing persons. At its core, the movement insists that humanity supersedes the sum of his parts (Bugental, 1964) and lives with intentionality—creating values, not merely seeking homeostatic satisfaction.[1] Rejecting eight entrenched parameters from part-function models to statistical frequency as truth, humanistic psychologists championed phenomenological methods, authentic therapeutic encounter, and peak-experience analysis (Maslow’s B-cognition). The field was institutionalized with the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (1961) and the American Association for Humanistic Psychology (1962), forging a research program on self-actualization, B-values (truth, goodness, beauty, justice, play, etc.), and synergy—social conditions that fuse selfish and altruistic aims. Philosophically, it revived an Aristotelian essentialism;[2] humanity has an intrinsic nature whose fulfillment is the proper end of life, a doctrine that grounds its normative claim that frustration of metaneeds generates violence, while their gratification builds Eupsychia, a peaceful, psychologically healthy society. By 1969 the movement naturally extended into Transpersonal Psychology, studying transcendent states without abandoning empirical, experiential validation. Humanistic psychology is therefore not merely a clinical orientation but a moral-scientific project to re-found civilization on an empirically grounded, dignity-affirming image of Homo sapiens at its most fully human.

Concept Map

Abraham Maslow Terms

B-Cognition, B-Realm, B-Values, Big Problem, D-Cognition, D-Realm, Deficiency Diseases, Eupsychia, Eupsychian Theory, Good Person, Good Science, Good Society, Good Specimen, Hierarchy of Basic Needs, Hierarchy of Cognitive Needs, Human Diminution, Humanistic Psychology, Inner Signals, Intrinsic Consciousness, Normalcy, Normative Biology, Peak Experience, Plateau Experience, Real Self, Self-Actualization, Transcending Self-Actualizers, Transhumanistic

Notes

Humanistic Psychology was meant to be revolution. Those that participated in the early days were clear on this. The goal was to create an entirely new foundation for scholarly activity, a new revolution in our understanding of humanity as deep and wide as that provided by the Copernican Revolution.[3]

Ultimately, the revolution failed not because of internal problems but because it was a threat to the status-quo. Ekins[4] suggests it was murdered, as a result.

Institutional Timeline

   1961: Journal of Humanistic Psychology founded (Sutich, Maslow)
   1962: American Association for Humanistic Psychology established
   1969: Journal of Transpersonal Psychology launched (first issue 1970)

Core Postulates (Bugental, 1964)

   Humanity [man, originally], as such, supersedes the sum of his parts.
   Humanity has its being in a human context.
   Humanity is aware.
   Humanity has choice.
   Humanity is intentional.

Clinical Practice

   Rejection of medical-model diagnosis; focus on authentic I-Thou encounter
   Therapist as “consultant in living,” not prescriptive expert
   Group process, sensitivity training, lay-counselor models (Rioch, Sanford)

Philosophical Foundations (Robb, 1969)

   Aristotelian essence: man has a telos; fulfillment is realizing inherent potential
   Existential intentionality: Sartrean/Heideggerian emphasis on meaning-creation
   Critique of scientism: “We perceive the world as we have been culturally hypnotized to perceive it” (Roszak via Maslow)

Social Vision: Eupsychia & Synergy

   Eupsychia: ideal culture where institutions foster self-actualization (Maslow, 1962)
   Synergy: social arrangements fusing selfish and altruistic motives (Benedict via Maslow)
   Peace psychology: healthy persons create non-violent societies; frustrated metaneeds produce aggression

ranspersonal Bridge (Chaudhuri, 1975; Harman, 1969)[5]

   Humanistic psychology’s higher octave; studies mystical, cosmic consciousness while rejecting static “ultimate state” absolutism
   Continuous growth vs. medieval ultimatism; process metaphysics over ecstatic finality
   Shared methodology: experiential validation, phenomenological rigor

Critique & Self-Awareness

   Humanistic psychologists acknowledged their own “hidden philosophical agenda”: essentialist, normative, teleological (Robb)
   Yet insisted these were empirically grounded in healthy-subject data, not speculative metaphysics
   Operational definitions of values via choice-preference studies, peak-experience reports, artistic-judgment correlations

Legacy

   Provided seed-bed for positive psychology, mindfulness research, existential psychotherapy
   Remains the only psychological movement explicitly founded as a science of peace and human dignity.

Maslow's Vision

Maslow's vision for a Psychology of the Peace Table, experienced shortly after the US entry into WWII.

One day just after Pearl Harbor, I was driving home and my car was stopped by a poor, pathetic parade. Boy Scouts and fat people and old uniforms and a flag and someone playing a flute off-key. As I watched, the tears began to run down my face. I felt we didn’t understand—not Hitler, nor the Germans, nor Stalin, nor the Communists. We didn’t understand any of them. I felt that if we could understand, then we could make progress

I had a vision of a peace table, with people sitting around it, talking about human nature and hatred and war and peace and brotherhood. I was too old to go into the army. It was at that moment that I realized that the rest of my life must be devoted to discovering a psychology for the peace table. That moment changed my whole life.[6]

Quotes

Citation and Legal

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Charlotte Buhler, “The Scope of Humanistic Psychology.,” Education 95, no. 1 (January 1, 1974): 2–8.
  2. ↑ Robb, “The Hidden Philosophical Agenda: A Commentary on Humanistic Psychology.”
  3. ↑ Willis W. Harman, “The New Copernican Revolution,” Stanford Today Winter Series II, no. 1 (1969): 127–34.
  4. ↑ David Elkins, “Why Humanistic Psychology Lost Its Power and Influence in American Psychology,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 49, no. 1 (2009): 267–91.
  5. ↑ Haridas Chaudhuri, “Psychology: Humanistic and Transpersonal,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 15, no. 1 (1975): 7–15; Willis W. Harman, “The New Copernican Revolution,” Stanford Today Winter Series II, no. 1 (1969): 127–34.
  6. ↑ Edward Hoffman, The Right to Be Human: A Biography of Abraham Maslow (New York: McGraw Hill, 1999), p. 148-9.


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