Multicultural Influence in Humanistic Psychology

Cultural Values in Humanistic Psychology

Every discipline embraces particular values that reflect on the science or discipline itself, but that also reflect on the cultural context in which the discipline or science is primarily conducted. The full court press of positivism brought an objective, values-free paradigm to the forefront of research (Glazner & Hill, 2013). The field of psychology is engaged in a debate about the possibility of bringing positive psychology and humanistic psychology together, in what would invariably be considered a renewal of humanism. But certain conditions are requisite for this reattachment of the disciplines -- most notably, multiculturalism. "The renewal of humanism is integral to multicultural practice, and multicultural practice is integral to the renewal of humanism" (Schneider & Langle, 2012, p. 481). It is difficult to imagine a therapeutic relationship that is not sensitive to multicultural differences. Indeed, it is reasonable to say that, "humanistic practice principles are a pivotal (and needed) dimension of therapeutic intervention" (Schneider & Langle, 2012).

Humanistic psychology is decidedly liberal and left leaning. As a liberating psychology, humanistic psychology is "inherently incompatible with right-wing ideologies that seek to impose rigid moral values and suppress civil liberties and individual freedom" (Elkins, 2009, p. 280). One line of thinking about humanistic psychology is that it is a fundamental threat to people who are "committed to conservative ideologies" (Elkins, 2009, p. 280).

The tenants of humanistic psychology are laudable: centering on change and growth and a belief in the dignity and worth of all human beings. In as much as this suggests a positive middle ground that both liberal and conservative factions support, the liberal approach taken by humanism asserts that paternalistic, constraining ideologies are fundamentally wrong. Mainstream psychologists tend to consider humanistic psychology as a movement that is centered on a cult of narcissism (Elkins, 2009, p. 268).

[E]xistential-humanistic psychology aspires to apprehend not just our relationship to our physical bodies, outward behaviors, and intellective operations but our relationship to existence as a whole, which includes much more than overt and mathematically measurable "variables. (Schnieder, 2014, p. 92)

Humanistic practices and approaches to counseling, education, and leadership are helpful for establishing ways of relating to people in empathic, respectful, and growth-producing manners. With the current emphasis on individualizing therapeutic interventions juxtaposed against empirical science, there is an inherent tension with the "…more recent developments in the philosophy of science [that] reveal the impossibility of ever totally separating values from science" (Freidman & Robbins, 2012). Humanistic psychology embraces qualitative approaches, inviting "a 'feminine' version of existential psychology [that] really stresses the emphasis on depth, presence, and being" (Kass, 2014, p. 131). The liberal underpinnings of humanistic psychology that embrace feminism and multiculturalism are important from another perspective.