Maslow (1908-1970)
Need Hierarchy Theory
Early Influences
1941: horrified by hatred in WWII,
wanted to find and study “best specimens of mankind”
While studying two of his most admired people (Wertheimer & Benedict) he noticed patterns that could be applied to all people
Scientific Approaches
Reductive-analytic approach to science:Reduce object to component parts
Psychoanalytic Behaviorist
Desacralize: to distort human nature and make it less marvelous and dignified
Holistic-analytic approach to science:Totality of object (both pos. & neg.)
Humanistic (Third Force)
Needs
Human needs are instinctoid (or innate)Different from animal instincts b/c they are
weaker, less absolute
Hierarchy of human needsBottom: strongest, humans and animalsTop: weakest, humans only
Hierarchy of Needs
self-actualization
esteem
love and belongingness
safety
physiological
1. physiological needs
• Food
• Water
• Sex
• Elimination
• Sleep
2. safety needs
• Structure
• Order
• Security
• Predictability
3. belongingness & love needs
• Friends
• Companions
• Supportive Family
• Identification w/ a Group
• Intimate Relationship
4. esteem needs• Recognition from Other People
• Prestige
• Acceptance
• Status
• Self-Esteem
• Adequacy
• Competence
• Confidence
Desire to Know and Understandtools used to solve problems
with satisfying basic needs
secrecy, censorship will prevent satisfying needs
Those are all deficiency needs.
There is something missing.
There is something higher.
5. self-actualization
• Develop potentials and talents
• Fulfill mission (call) in life
• Understand and accept own nature
• Create unity or integration within self
Growth occurs spontaneously, if lower order needs are met.
However, lower needs do not have to be 100% satisfied to move on to a higher need
Person usually addressing more than one level at a time
People long deprived of a need may never progress to higher needs
Very talented people may proceed directly to self-actualization w/o satisfying lower needs
Hierarchy of Needs
self-actualization
esteem
love and belongingness
safety
physiological
Self-actualization(B-Needs)
Lower-orderneeds
(D-Needs)
Differences between D-motivation & B-motivation D-motivation: deficiency
Need-directed perception; D perception; D cognition; deficiency motives (D motives)
Person motivated by absence of needed elements; non-self-actualizing
B-motivation: being Growth motivation; B perception; "metamotivated“ Person motivated by personal inner growth; self-
actualizing
D-love is jealous (selfish, self-directed; need for love and belongingness)
B-love is trusting (nonpossessive; allows partner to grow)
Metapathology Failure to satisfy a b-need
Truth: Dishonesty (cynicism, distrust) Justice: Injustice (jungle worldview) Playfulness: Humorlessness (depression, loss of zest in life)
Peak Experience Being experiences that have intense feelings of
ecstasy Catching the winning touchdown at the Superbowl Performing a song “just right”
Characteristics of self-actualized people
efficient perception of reality
• Not colored by needs/defenses
• Enables person to perceive deception, judge others accurately
acceptance
• Recognize who they and others really are
• Not burdened by undue guilt, anxiety, shame
• Feel no need to convert others
• Accept both weaknesses and strengths in others without feeing threatened
spontaneity
• Tend to be true to their feelings
• Do not hide behind a mask
problem-centered
• Committed to a task or a cause, not preoccupied with themselves
need for privacy (solitude)
• Company of others not needed at all times
• Rely on their own interpretations of events, rather than other peoples’
autonomy
• Independence from culture & environment
• Outside rewards (acclaim from others) less important than inner growth and development
freshness of appreciation
• Continuously experience events with awe, wonder
• These experiences create energy
peak experiences
• Embracing of B-values
human kinship
• Desire to help all humanity
interpersonal relationships• Only a few, but deep, friendships
strong ethical sense
• Awareness of ethical implications for all their actions
sense of humor
• Being able to laugh at yourself
• Not finding humor in events that degrade or harm others
creativity
• Found in all self-actualized people
resistance to enculturation
• Tend to be nonconformists (i.e., if cultural norm contradicts what they believe, they will not conform)
But…self-actualized people
are not perfect.
- boring, stubborn, irritating, vain
- occasionally ruthless- temper outburst- silly, wasteful, thoughtless habits
Self-Actualized People Rare (1%)
Why?Obstacles to Self-Actualization
1. Self-actualization is at the top of the hierarchy, which makes it weaker than any of the other needs
2. Most people fear uncertainty, esp. when it is related to personal self-knowledge
Threat to self-concept Jonah complex
Jonah complex
Fear of one’s own greatness, running from one’s destiny and best talentsNamed after the
biblical Jonah, who tried to escape his fate
Why? continued
3. Choice between safety & growth Freedom within limits
4. Cultural environment
Self-Actualized People Rare (1%)
Criticisms
Biased toward Western cultures Overly optimistic Unscientific Exceptions exist
Who can be self-actualized?