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This story should not be seen as a recommendation for marrying ones first cousin, Among others, he met and

learned from Erich Fromm, Karen Horney. He was


but it does illustrate how brilliant people sometimes need only a small shove to reach influenced by each of these people, most of whom conducted lectures at the New
their potential. School for Social Research.

Maslow also became associated with Alfred Adler, who was living in New York at that
time. Adler held seminars in his home on Friday nights, and Maslow was a frequent
Overview of Holistic-Dynamic Theory visitor to these sessions.

But on June 8, 1970, he suddenly collapsed and died of a massive heart attack. He
The personality theory of Abraham Maslow has variously been called humanistic
was 62.
theory, transpersonal theory, and the third force in psychology, the fourth force in Maslow received many honors during his lifetime, including his election to the
personality, needs theory, and self-actualization theory. presidency of the American Psychological Association for the year 19671968.

However, Maslow (1970) referred to it as a holistic-dynamic theory because it


Maslows View of Motivation
assumes that the whole person is constantly being motivated by one need or another
Maslows theory of personality rests on several basic assumptions regarding
and that people have the potential to grow toward psychological health, that is, self- motivation. First, Maslow (1970) adopted a holistic approach to motivation: That is,
actualization. To attain self actualization, people must satisfy lower level needs such the whole person, not any single part or function, is motivated.
as hunger, safety, love, and esteem. Only after they are relatively satisfied in each of
these needs can they reach self-actualization. Second, motivation is usually complex, meaning that a persons behavior may spring
from several separate motives. For example, the desire for sexual union may be
motivated not only by a genital need but also by needs for dominance,
companionship, love, and self-esteem.
Biography of Abraham H. Maslow A third assumption is that people are continually motivated by one need or another.
When one need is satisfied, it ordinarily loses its motivational power and is then
Born in Manhattan, New York, on April 1, 1908. replaced by another need. For example, as long as peoples hunger needs are
Maslow was the oldest of seven children born frustrated, they will strive for food; but when they do have enough to eat, they move
Maslow felt hatred and deep-seated animosity. on to other needs such as safety, friendship, and self-worth.
Despite several years of psychoanalysis, he never overcame the intense hatred of his
mother and refused to attend her funeral, despite pleas from his siblings who did not Another assumption is that all people everywhere are motivated by the same basic
share his hateful feelings for their mother. needs. The manner in which people in different cultures obtain food, build shelters,
express friendship, and so forth may vary widely, but the fundamental needs for food,
But the whole thrust of my life philosophy and all my research and theorizing also has
safety, and friendship are common to the entire species.
its roots in a hatred for and revulsion against everything she stood for.
A final assumption concerning motivation is that needs can be arranged on a
In 1934, Maslow received his doctorate, but he could not find an academic position. hierarchy.
Consequently, he continued to teach at Wisconsin for a short time and even enrolled Hierarchy of Needs
in medical school there. However, he was repulsed by the cold and dispassionate Maslows hierarchy of needs concept assumes that lower level needs must be
attitude of surgeons who could cut off diseased body parts with no discernible satisfied or at least relatively satisfied before higher level needs become motivators.
emotion. To Maslow, medical schoollike law schoolreflected an unemotional and The five needs composing this hierarchy are conative needs, meaning that they have
negative view of people, and he was both disturbed and bored by his experiences in a striving or motivational character.
medical school. Whenever Maslow became bored with something, he usually quit it,
and medical school was no exception. These needs, which Maslow often referred to as basic needs can be arranged on a
hierarchy or staircase, with each ascending step representing a higher need but one
The following year he returned to New York to become E. L. Thorndikes research less basic to survival.
assistant at Teachers College, Columbia University. Lower level needs have prepotency over higher level needs; that is, they must be
satisfied or mostly satisfied before higher level needs become activated. For example,
anyone motivated by esteem or self-actualization must have previously satisfied
needs for food and safety. Hunger and safety, therefore, have prepotency over both Why some people step over the threshold from esteem to self-actualization
esteem and self-actualization. and others do not is a matter of whether or not they embrace the B-values.

Physiological Needs People who highly respect such values as truth, beauty, justice, and the
The most basic needs of any person are physiological needs, including food, water, other B-values become self-actualizing after their esteem needs are met,
oxygen, maintenance of body temperature, and so on. Physiological needs are the whereas people who do not embrace these values are frustrated in their
most prepotent of all. self actualization needs even though they have satisfied each of their other
basic needs.
Physiological needs differ from other needs in at least two important respects. First,
they are the only needs that can be completely satisfied or even overly satisfied Self-actualization needs include self-fulfillment, the realization of all ones
effect. A second characteristic peculiar to physiological needs is their recurring nature. potential, and a desire to become creative in the full sense of the word.
After people have eaten, they will eventually become hungry again. For example, People who have reached the level of self-actualization become fully
people who have at least partially satisfied their love and esteem needs will remain human, satisfying needs that others merely glimpse or never view at all.
confident that they can continue to satisfy their love and esteem needs.
Self-actualizing people maintain their feelings of self-esteem even when
Safety Needs scorned, rejected, and dismissed by other people. In other words, self-
When people have partially satisfied their physiological needs, they actualizers are not dependent on the satisfaction of either love or esteem
become motivated by safety needs, including physical security, stability, needs; they become independent from the lower level needs that gave
dependency, protection, and freedom from threatening forces such as war, them birth.
terrorism, illness, fear, anxiety, danger, chaos, and natural disasters.
In addition to these five conative needs, Maslow identified three other
Safety needs differ from physiological needs in that they cannot be overly categories of needsaesthetic, cognitive, and neurotic.
satiated; people can never be completely protected from meteorites, fires,
floods, or the dangerous acts of others. Aesthetic Needs
Unlike conative needs, aesthetic needs are not universal, but at least
Love and Belongingness Needs some people in every culture seem to be motivated by the need for beauty
After people partially satisfy their physiological and safety needs, they and aesthetically pleasing experiences.
become motivated by love and belongingness needs, such as the
desire for friendship; the wish for a mate and children; the need to belong People with strong aesthetic needs desire beautiful and orderly
to a family, a club, a neighborhood, or a nation. Love and belongingness surroundings, and when these needs are not met, they become sick in the
also include some aspects of sex and human contact as well as the need to same way that they become sick when their conative needs are frustrated.
both give and receive love. People prefer beauty to ugliness, and they may even become physically
and spiritually ill when forced to live in squalid, disorderly environments.
Esteem Needs
To the extent that people satisfy their love and belongingness needs, they Cognitive Needs
are free to pursue esteem needs, which include self-respect, confidence, Most people have a desire to know, to solve mysteries, to understand, and
competence, and the knowledge that others hold them in high esteem. to be curious. Maslow (1970) called these desires cognitive needs. When
cognitive needs are blocked, all needs on Maslows hierarchy are
Maslow (1970) identified two levels of esteem needsreputation and self- threatened; that is, knowledge is necessary to satisfy each of the five
esteem. conative needs.
Reputation is the perception of the prestige, recognition, or fame a person has
achieved in the eyes of others, whereas self-esteem is a persons own feelings of Maslow believed that healthy people desire to know more, to theorize, to
worth and confidence. test hypotheses, to uncover mysteries, or to find out how something works
just for the satisfaction of knowing.
Self-Actualization Needs
When lower level needs are satisfied, people proceed more or less Neurotic Needs
automatically to the next level. However, once esteem needs are met, they The satisfaction of conative, aesthetic, and cognitive needs is basic to
do not always move to the level of self-actualization. ones physical and psychological health, and their frustration leads to some
level of illness. However, neurotic needs lead only to stagnation and
pathology.
Maslow (1970) hypothesizes that some human needs are innately
By definition, neurotic needs are nonproductive. For example, a person determined even though they can be modified by learning. He called these
who does not satisfy safety needs may develop a strong desire to hoard needs instinctoid needs. Sex, for example, is a basic physiological need,
money or property. The hoarding drive is a neurotic need that leads to but the manner in which it is expressed depends on learning.
pathology whether or not it is satisfied.
General Discussion of Needs Comparison of Higher and Lower Needs
Maslow estimated that the hypothetical average person has his or her Important similarities and differences exist between higher level needs
needs satisfied to approximately these levels: physiological, 85%; safety, (love, esteem, and self-actualization) and lower level needs (physiological
70%; love and belongingness, 50%; esteem, 40%; and self-actualization, and safety).
10%.
The more a lower level need is satisfied, the greater the emergence of theFirst, higher level needs are later on the phylogenetic or evolutionary scale.
next level need. Also, higher needs appear later during the course of individual
development; lower level needs must be cared for in infants and children
Reversed Order of Needs before higher level needs become operative.
Even though needs are generally satisfied in the hierarchical order, Second, higher level needs produce more happiness and more peak
occasionally they are reversed. For some people, the drive for creativity experiences, although satisfaction of lower level needs may produce a
may take precedence over safety and physiological needs. An enthusiastic degree of pleasure.
artist may risk safety and health to complete an important work.
Self-Actualization
Unmotivated Behavior Maslows ideas on self-actualization began soon after he received his PhD,
Maslow believed that even though all behaviors have a cause, some when he became puzzled about why two of his teachers in New York City
behaviors are not motivated. In other words, not all determinants are anthropologist Ruth Benedict and psychologist Max Wertheimerwere so
motives. Some behavior is not caused by needs but by other factors such different from average people.
as conditioned reflexes, maturation, or drugs. Motivation is limited to the
striving for the satisfaction of some need. Much of what Maslow called Criteria for Self-Actualization
expressive behavior is unmotivated. What criteria did these and other self-actualizing people possess? First,
they were free from psychopathology. They were neither neurotic nor
psychotic nor did they have a tendency toward psychological disturbances.
Expressive and Coping Behavior This point is an important negative criterion because some neurotic and
Maslow distinguished between expressive behavior (which is often psychotic individuals have some things in common with self-actualizing
unmotivated) and coping behavior (which is always motivated and aimed people: namely, such characteristics as a heightened sense of reality,
at satisfying a need). mystical experiences, creativity, and detachment from other people.

Expressive behavior can continue even in the absence of reinforcement or Second, these self-actualizing people had progressed through the
reward. For example, a frown, a blush, or a twinkle of the eye is not hierarchy of needs and therefore lived above the subsistence level of
ordinarily specifically reinforced existence and had no ever present threat to their safety.

Coping behavior involves the individuals attempts to cope with the Maslows third criterion for self-actualization was the embracing of the
environment; to secure food and shelter; to make friends; and to receive Bvalues. His self-actualizing people felt comfortable with b-values.
acceptance, appreciation, and prestige from others.
The final criterion for reaching self-actualization was full use and
Deprivation of Needs exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc. In other words, his
Lack of satisfaction of any of the basic needs leads to some kind of self-actualizing individuals fulfilled their needs to grow, to develop, and to
pathology. Deprivation of physiological needs results in malnutrition, increasingly become what they were capable of becoming.
fatigue, loss of energy, obsession with sex, and so on.
Deprivation of self-actualization needs also leads to pathology, or more Values of Self-Actualizers
accurately, metapathology. Maslow defined metapathology as the Maslow held that self-actualizing people are motivated by the eternal
absence of values, the lack of fulfillment, and the loss of meaning in life. verities, what he called B-values. These Being values are indicators of
psychological health and are opposed to deficiency needs.
Instinctoid Nature of Needs
Maslow termed B-values metaneeds to indicate that they are the Maslow stated that most people, or almost all people, have peak
ultimate level of needs. He distinguished between ordinary need experiences or ecstasies
motivation and the motives of self-actualizing people, which he called
metamotivation. Gemeinschaftsgefhl
Self-actualizing people possess Gemeinschaftsgefhl, Adlers term for
Only people who live among the B-values are self-actualizing, and they social interest, community feeling, or a sense of oneness with all humanity.
alone are capable of metamotivation. Self-actualizers may become angry, impatient, or disgusted with others;
but they retain a feeling of affection for human beings in general.
Maslow (1970) hypothesized that when peoples metaneeds are not met,
they experience illness, an existential illness. Profound Interpersonal Relations
Related to Gemeinschaftsgefhl is a special quality of interpersonal
Characteristics of Self-Actualizing People relations that involves deep and profound feelings for individuals. Self-
Maslow believed that all humans have the potential for self-actualization. actualizers have a nurturant feeling toward people in general, but their
To be self-actualizing, Maslow believed, people must be regularly satisfied close friendships are limited to only a few.
in their other needs and must also embrace the B-values.
The Democratic Character Structure
More Efficient Perception of Reality Maslow found that all his self-actualizers possessed democratic values.
Self-actualizing people can more easily detect phoniness in others. They Beyond this democratic attitude, self-actualizers have a desire and an
can discriminate between the genuine and the fake not only in people but ability to learn from anyone.
also in literature, art, and music.
Discrimination between Means and Ends
Acceptance of Self, Others, and Nature Self-actualizing people have a clear sense of right and wrong conduct and
Self-actualizing people can accept themselves the way they are. They can have little conflict about basic values.
tolerate weaknesses in others and are not threatened by others strengths.
They accept nature, including human nature. Philosophical Sense of Humor
Another distinguishing characteristic of self-actualizing people is their
Spontaneity, Simplicity, and Naturalness philosophical, nonhostile sense of humor. They amuse, inform, point out
They are unconventional but not compulsively. ambiguities, and provoke a smile rather than a guffaw.

Problem-Centering Creativeness
A fourth characteristic of self-actualizing people is their interest in All self-actualizing people studied by Maslow were creative in some sense
problems outside themselves. Non-self-actualizing people are self-centered. of the word. In fact, Maslow suggested that creativity and self-actualization
may be one and the same. Not all self-actualizers are talented or creative
The Need for Privacy in the arts, but all are creative in their own way.
Self-actualizing people have a quality of detachment that allows them to be
alone without being lonely. They feel relaxed and comfortable when they Resistance to Enculturation
are either with people or alone. A final characteristic identified by Maslow was resistance to enculturation.
Self-actualizing people have a sense of detachment from their surroundings
Autonomy and are able to transcend a particular culture. Self-actualizing people do
Self-actualizing people are autonomous and depend on themselves for not waste energy fighting against insignificant customs and regulations of
growth even though at some time in their past they had to have received society.
love and security from others.
Continued Freshness of Appreciation Love, Sex, and Self-Actualization
Maslow wrote that self-actualizing people have the wonderful capacity to Before people can become self-actualizing, they must satisfy their love and
appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, belongingness needs. Self-actualizing people do not love because they
with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy expect something in return. They simply love and are loved.
Because self-actualizers are capable of a deeper level of love, they can
The Peak Experience more easily tolerate the absence of sex (as well as other basic needs),
because they have no deficiency need for it.
Jonah complex is characterized by attempts to run away from ones destiny
Philosophy of Science just as the biblical Jonah tried to escape from his fate.
Maslows philosophy of science and his research methods are integral to an
Maslows own life story demonstrated his Jonah complex. Despite an IQ of
understanding of how he arrived at his concept of self-actualization.
195, he was only an average student, and, as a world-famous psychologist,
he frequently experienced panic when called on to deliver a talk.
Maslow argued for a different philosophy of science, a humanistic, holistic
approach that is not value free and that has scientists who care about the
Why do people run away from greatness and self-fulfillment? Maslow
people and topics they investigate. For example, Maslow was motivated to
offered the following rationale. First, the human body is simply not strong
search for self-actualizing people because he idolized and greatly admired
enough to endure the ecstasy of fulfillment for any length of time, just as
Max Wertheimer and Ruth Benedict, his two original models for self-
peak experiences and sexual orgasms would be overly taxing if they lasted
actualization. But he also expressed affection and admiration for Abraham
too long.
Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, and other self-actualizing people (Maslow,
1968a).
Maslow (1971) listed a second explanation for why people evade
Maslow agreed with Allport that psychological science should place more
greatness. Most people, he reasoned, have private ambition to be great, to
emphasis on the study of the individual and less on the study of large
write a great novel, to be a movie star, to become a world-famous
groups. Traditional psychology has dealt with sensations, intelligence,
scientist, and so on. However, when they compare themselves with those
attitudes, stimuli, reflexes, test scores, and hypothetical constructs from an
who have accomplished greatness, they are appalled by their own
external point of view. It has not been much concerned with the whole
arrogance: Who am I to think I could do as well as this great person?
person as seen from that persons subjective view.

When Maslow attended medical school, he was shocked by the impersonal Psychotherapy
attitude of surgeons who nonchalantly tossed recently removed body parts To Maslow the aim of therapy would be for clients to embrace the
onto a table. His observation of such a cold and calloused procedure led Beingvalues, that is, to value truth, justice, goodness, simplicity, and so
Maslow to originate the concept of desacralization: that is, the type of forth. To accomplish this aim, clients must be free from their dependency
science that lacks emotion, joy, wonder, awe, and rapture. Taoistic on others so that their natural impulse toward growth and self-actualization
attitude for psychology, one that would be non interfering, passive, and could become active.
receptive.
Most people who seek therapy have these two lower level needs relatively
Measuring Self-Actualization well satisfied but have some difficulty achieving love and belongingness
needs. Therefore, psychotherapy is largely an interpersonal process.
Everett L. Shostrom (1974) developed the Personal Orientation
Through a warm, loving, interpersonal relationship with the therapist, the
Inventory (POI) in an attempt to measure the values and behaviors of self-
client gains satisfaction of love and belongingness needs and thereby
actualizing people. This inventory consists of 150 forced-choice items.
acquires feelings of confidence and self-worth.
To overcome these two practical limitations, Alvin Jones and Rick Crandall
created the Short Index of Self-Actualization, which borrows 15 items from Related Research
the POI that are most strongly correlated with the total. As you just read, one of the most notable aspects of Maslows theory of
personality is the concept of a hierarchy of needs.
A third measure of self-actualization is the Brief Index of Self-Actualization, Generally speaking, according to Maslows theory the lower order needs
developed by John Sumerlin and Charles Bundrick. must be met early in life, whereas the higher order needs such as self-
This inventory yields four factors: (I) Core Self-Actualization, or the full use actualization tend to be fulfilled later in life.
of ones potentials; (II) Autonomy; (III) Openness to Experience; and (IV)
Comfort with Solitude. Recently, researchers have tested this aspect of Maslows theory by
measuring need fulfillment in a sample of 1,749 people of all age groups.
The Jonah Complex The researchers found that the lower motives were stronger in younger
people, whereas the higher motives were stronger in older people.
According to Maslow everyone is born with a will toward health, a tendency
to grow toward self-actualization, but few people reach it. What prevents
Positive psychology is a relatively new field of psychology that combines
people from achieving this high level of health?
an emphasis on hope, optimism, and well-being with scientific research
Another obstacle that often blocks peoples growth toward self-
and assessment. One area of positive psychology where Maslows ideas
actualization is the Jonah complex, or the fear of being ones best. The
have been particularly influential is in the role of positive experiences in
peoples lives. Maslow referred to extremely positive experiences that
involve a sense of awe, wonder, and reverence as peak experiences
In one such study, participants were instructed to write about a positive Concept of Humanity
experience or experiences for 20 minutes each day for 3 consecutive days. Maslow believed that all of us can be self-actualizing.
Therefore, Burton and King predicted that writing about these peak or Maslow was generally optimistic and hopeful about humans, but he
intensely positive experiences would be associated with better physical recognized that people are capable of great evil and destruction.
health in the months following the writing exercise. Evil, however, stems from the frustration or thwarting of basic
needs, not from the essential nature of people. When basic needs
Personality Development, Growth, and Goals are not met, people may steal, cheat, lie, or kill.
Implicit in Maslows concept of self-actualization is the assumption that
people acquire greater levels of psychological health as they become older. Truth, love, beauty, and the like are instinctoid and are just as basic
In their research on growth goals, Bauer and McAdams predicted a positive
to human nature as are hunger, sex, and aggression. All people
relationship between age and personality development and psychological
wellbeing. have the potential to strive toward self-actualization, just as they
have the motivation to seek food and protection. Because Maslow
held that basic needs are structured the same for all people and
Critique of Maslow that people satisfy these needs at their own rate, his holistic
First, how does Maslows theory rate on its ability to generate research? On
dynamic theory of personality places moderate emphasis on both
this criterion, we rate Maslows theory a little above average. Self-
actualization remains a popular topic with researchers, and the tests of uniqueness and similarities.
self-actualization have facilitated efforts to investigate this illusive concept.
From both a historical and an individual point of view, humans are
Nevertheless, Maslows hierarchy of needs framework gives his theory an evolutionary animal, in the process of becoming more and more
excellent flexibility to organize what is known about human behavior. fully human. That is, as evolution progresses, humans gradually
Maslows theory is also quite consistent with common sense. For example, become more motivated by metamotivations and by the B-values.
common sense suggests that a person must have enough to eat before High level needs exist, at least as potentiality, in everyone. Because
being motivated by other matters. Starving people care little about political people aim toward self-actualization, Maslows view can be
philosophy. Their primary motivation is to obtain food, not to sympathize considered teleological and purposive.
with one political philosophy or another

Does Maslows theory serve as a guide to the practitioner? On this In general, the behavior of people motivated by physiological and
criterion, we rate the theory as highly useful. For example, safety needs is determined by outside forces, whereas the behavior
psychotherapists who have clients with threatened safety needs must of self-actualizing people is at least partially shaped by free choice.
provide a safe and secure environment for those clients. Once clients have
satisfied their safety needs, the therapist can work to provide them withAs for biological versus social influences, Maslow would have
feelings of love and belongingness. insisted that this dichotomy is a false one. Individuals are shaped by
both biology and society, and the two cannot be separated.
Is the theory internally consistent? Unfortunately, Maslows arcane and Inadequate genetic endowment does not condemn a person to an
often unclear language makes important parts of his theory ambiguous and unfulfilled life, just as a poor social environment does not preclude
inconsistent. Apart from the problem of idiosyncratic language, however,
growth.
Maslows theory ranks high on the criterion of internal consistency. The
hierarchy of needs concept follows a logical progression, and Maslow
hypothesized that the order of needs is the same for everyone, although
he does not overlook the possibility of certain reversals.

Is Maslows theory parsimonious, or does it contain superfluous fabricated


concepts and models? At first glance, the theory seems quite simplistic. A
hierarchy of needs model with only five steps gives the theory a deceptive
appearance of simplicity. A full understanding of Maslows total theory,
however, suggests a far more complex model. Overall, the theory is
moderately parsimonious.

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