Occluded humanistic qualitative research: Implications for positive psychology.

Abstract

A reply is given to the charge made by the originators of the current positive psychology movement that humanistic psychology has not provided an adequate empirical base for its positive psychology. It is observed that although it is more about ontology, or the nature of being, than a scientific field as such, there is an extensive body of empirical qualitative research pertinent to humanistic psychology, including the positive psychology it originated. It is argued that the visibility of this research has been occluded, however, for two main reasons. The first is that humanistic qualitative research is often published in outlets not directly connectable to humanistic psychology. The second is that representatives of humanistic psychology have failed to take into account relevant returns from some qualitative research methods. The argument is supported by studies of the publication of qualitative research. A call is put out for broader surveys of humanistic qualitative research and for more publication of it in mainstream outlets. As well, an invitation is extended to positivistic positive psychologists to try their hands at qualitative research because of its reach into the meaning of human experience and action.

Lived experiences within a longstanding coach-athlete relationship. The case of one paralympic athlete

“…Thus, the two-interview approach used by Camiré (2016) was replicated with the emphasis placed on getting the athlete to share the meaning he attributed to his developmental experiences over the course of his career. Throughout the research process, the main researcher embraced a humanistic approach (Rennie, 2012), which guided the decisions he made pre-interview (e.g., framing interview questions in a non-judgmental manner), during interview (e.g., genuinely empathizing with the athlete as he cried for a moment while vividly remembering the death of his mother), and post-interview (researcher and athlete jointly reflecting on the researchers' interpretations). Using the humanistic approach (Rennie, 2012), the main researcher was able to develop strong rapport with the athlete who felt comfortable expressing his opinions and emotions related to the successes (e.g., winning…”

The Relationship Between Counseling Psychology and Positive Psychology

“…A different strand of critique, as voiced by Rennie (2012) has suggested that positive psychology is not really a separate discipline but could be seen as part of humanistic psychology, and he observes that positive psychology has sought to dissociate itself from humanistic psychology mainly for methodological reasons, which Rennie suggests are illfounded due to the strong empirical traditions within humanistic psychology that may have been overlooked. A reason for this could be that much high-quality research done within humanistic psychology is published in journals not connected with the movement, similar to counseling psychologists in the UK who often publish their work in journals relating to their field of research rather than to their professional discipline, which makes it more difficult to trace back their output.…”