1908 -1970

Born April 1,1908, in a slum in Brooklyn, NY

His parents, Samuel and Rose (Schilofsky) were

Russian Jews(he faced anti-Semitism as a child and in

academia)

He was the oldest of 7 children

Described as smart but very shy

With my childhood, it's a wonder I'm not psychotic. I was the little Jewish boy in

the non-Jewish neighborhood. It was a little like being the first Negro enrolled in the all-

white school. I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends.

Both my mother and father were uneducated. My father wanted me to be a lawyer.

He thumbed his way across the whole continent of Europe from Russia and got here at the age

of 15. He wanted success for me. I tried law school for two weeks. Then I came home to my

poor father one night after a class discussing "spite fences" and told him I couldn't be a lawyer.

"Well, son," he said, "what do you want to study?" I answered: "Everything." He was uneducated

and couldn't understand my passion for learning, but he was a nice man. He didn't understand

either that at 16, I was in love.

As interviewed by Psychology Today, 1968

According to Maslow's own recollections, his

father loved whiskey, women, and fighting, and regarded

his son as ugly and stupid. He even publicly announced

that his son was repulsively ugly.

His father's cutting comments negatively

impacted his self-image. Because he too thought of

himself as disgusting, Maslow would often look for empty

cars when riding the subway so that no one else would

have to come in contact with his detestable image.

Maslow deeply loathed his mother and wanted no interaction

with her whatsoever. His intense hatred originated from the fact that

she kept a bolted lock on the refrigerator door. She only removed the

lock when she was in the mood. On another occasion, Maslow found

two abandoned kittens on the street. He decided to take them home

and care for them. One evening, his mother discovered him giving the

hungry kittens some milk in the families' basement. She immediately

became enraged and smashed the kitten's heads against the basement

wall right before the youngster's eyes.

Maslow perceived his mother as being entirely insensitive and

unloving. She exhibited no sign of affection or love for anyone she

encountered, even her own family.

“During all my first twenty years, I was

depressed, terribly unhappy, lonely,

isolated (and self-rejecting).”

He attended the Boys High

school where he was a member of several

academic clubs and officer to different

school organizations.

He also edited the Latin

Magazine and the school’s Physics paper

for a year.

He was bullied by his teachers

and classmates because of his religion.

He has few friends and was close to his

cousin Will.

He spent more time in libraries

than in socialization

Boys High SchoolU.S. National Register of Historic Places

Time Line of Maslow's Education & Career Life & Influences

1925- Enrolled at the City College of New York evening classes at the Brooklyn Law School

1926- Transferred to Cornell University, became a student of Edward B. Titchener

1928- Transferred to the University of Wisconsin; took up Psychology w/ experimental behaviorism as his field of study;

He developed a strong positivist mindset due to his experience with behaviorism; married Bertha Goodman.

1930- at 22, received his BA from the University of Wisconsin , worked with Harry Harlow on attachment behavior

1931- at 23, received his MA from the University of Wisconsin

1934- at 26, received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin and continues to teach there

1935- Moved to Columbia University as a Carnegie fellow & work with Edward Thorndike; interested & began research

on human sexuality

1937- (1951) Moved and taught full-time at the Old Brooklyn College >> Adler, Fromm, Horney, etc.. he was heavily

influenced by Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer and anthropologist Ruth Benedict. Maslow believed that they

were such exceptional people that he began to analyze and take notes on their behavior. This analysis also served as

the basis for his theories and research on mental health & human potential.

1941 – WWII, the horrors of wars, inspired a vision of peace in him influencing his psychological ideas and helped him

develop the discipline of humanistic psychology.

1943 - Proposed a theory of needs hierarchy in his paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ in ‘Psychological Review’. This

theory was explained in detail in his 1954 book ‘Motivation and Personality’.

1947- at 39, suffered a heart attack , took on medical leave & relocated to Pleasanton, California

1949 – recuperated & went back to Brooklyn College

1951- (1969) at 43, moved to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to serve as chairman of Psychology dept.

>>met Kurt Goldstein (The Organism, 1934), became interested in Humanistic Psych

1954- Motivation and Personality was published , he was 46

1961 – W/ Tony Sutich, they founded the ‘Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The journal continues to publish academic

papers till date.

1962- Established the American Association of Humanistic Psychology; went to Non- Linear Systems, Inc., as a visiting

fellow; Toward a Psychology of Being was published

1964- Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences is published

1966- The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance was published, became President of American Psychological Asso.

1967- American Humanist Association Humanist of the Year; had a near fatal heart attach.

1968- Toward a Psychology of Being published; offered a fellowship by the Saga Administration Corporation; retired

became a fellow at the Saga Administrative Corp.

1970- June 8, he died in Menlo Park, California of heart attack, he was 62.

1971- The Farther Reaches of Human Nature was published; received the American Psychological Foundation's Gold

Medal Award . http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/maslow.htm

One of the many interesting things Maslow

noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his

career (1930’s under Harry Harlow, UW) was that

some needs take precedence over others.

For example, if you are hungry and

thirsty, you will tend to try to take care of the

thirst first. After all, you can do without food for

weeks, but you can only do without water for a

couple of days! Thirst is a “stronger” need than

hunger.

Likewise, if you are very, very thirsty, but

someone has put a choke hold on you and you

can’t breath, which is more important? The need

to breathe, of course. On the other hand, sex is

less powerful than any of these. Let’s face it, you

won’t die if you don’t get it!

1937 to 1951 – Brooklyn College, NY, he

found two more mentors, anthropologist

Ruth Benedict and Gestalt psychologist Max

Wertheimer, whom he admired both

professionally and personally. These two

were so accomplished in both realms, and

such "wonderful human beings" as well, that

Maslow began taking notes about them and

their behavior.

This would be the basis of his lifelong

research and thinking about mental health and

human potential. He wrote extensively on the

subject, borrowing ideas from other

psychologists but adding significantly to them,

especially the concepts of a heirarchy of needs,

metaneeds, self-actualizing persons, and peak

experiences. Maslow became the leader of the

humanistic school of psychology that emerged in

the 1950s and 1960s, which he referred to as

the "third force" -- beyond Freudian theory and

behaviorism.

Humanistic Psychology -focused on each individual's

potential and stressed the

importance of growth and self-

actualization. The fundamental

belief of humanistic psychology is

that people are innately good and

that mental and social problems

result from deviations from this

natural tendency. Rather than

focusing on deficiencies,

humanistic psychologists argue in

favor of finding people's strengths.

D-Needs >>>>

Psychological Needs >>>

Growth Needs/B-needs/Metaneeds

“A Theory of Human Motivation” Motivation & Personality

These are needs that do not involve balance or

homeostasis. Once engaged, they continue to be felt. In fact, they are

likely to become stronger as we “feed” them! They involve the

continuous desire to fulfill potentials, to “be all that you can be.” They

are a matter of becoming the most complete, the fullest, “you” -- hence

the term, self-actualization.

The realization or fulfillment of one's

being, his talents and potentialities

fully realized; especially considered as

a drive or need present in everyone.

“What a man must

be, he must be”

Expanded Hierarchy of Needs

It is important to note that Maslow's

(1943, 1954) five stage model has

been expanded to include cognitive

and aesthetic needs (Maslow, 1970)

and later transcendence needs

(Maslow, 1970).

Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and

include a seven-stage model and a eight-stage model, both

developed during the 1960's and 1970s.

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter,

warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law,

stability, etc.

3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection

and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery,

independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial

responsibility, etc.

5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, of life, etc.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance,

form, etc.

7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-

fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self

actualization.

The growth of self-actualization

(Maslow, 1962) refers to the need for personal

growth and discovery that is present throughout

a person’s life. For Maslow, a person is always

'becoming' and never remains static in these

terms. In self-actualization a person comes to

find a meaning to life that is important to them.

As each person is unique the

motivation for self-actualization leads people in

different directions (Kenrick et al., 2010). For

some people self-actualization can be achieved

through creating works of art or literature, for

others through sport, in the classroom, or within

a corporate setting.

The Concept of Self-Actualization

.

In Maslow’s Needs Theory, successfully working your way up the hierarchy of need contributes to a healthy emotional development. Fulfilling needs result in a more “stress-resistant” personality.

Conversely, not fully meeting needs at any level of the hierarchy results in an incomplete psychological growth and development with resultant retarded emotional development. Such people will carry around emotional “baggage” that can lead to a “stress-prone” personality.

Coping With Stress in a Changing World, 4th Ed. 2007

By Richard Blonna

“ Self-actualized people are those who were fulfilled

and doing all they were capable of ”. (1943, 1954)

Education is learning to grow, learning

what to grow toward, learning what is

good and bad, learning what is

desirable and undesirable, learning

what to choose and what not to

choose.

Maslow was interested in human potential. He felt that all people

are born with unique qualities and the ability to maximize their

genetically determined potential. He was convinced that successful

people, those who seem to live life to its fullest, share certain unique

qualities that allow them to live to their fullest potential. He compile a

list of 48 of the most influential, historical, and contemporary figures of

his time; people he considered fully self-actualized.

Another way in which Maslow approach the problem of what is self-actualization is to talk about the special, driving needs (B-needs, metaneeds) of the self-actualizers. They need the following in their lives in order to be happy:

Truth, rather than dishonesty.Goodness, rather than evil.Beauty, not ugliness or vulgarity.Unity, wholeness, and transcendence of opposites, not arbitrariness or forced choices.Aliveness, not deadness or the mechanization of life.Uniqueness, not bland uniformity.Perfection and necessity, not sloppiness, inconsistency, or accident.Completion, rather than incompleteness.Justice and order, not injustice and lawlessness.Simplicity, not unnecessary complexity.Richness, not environmental impoverishment.Effortlessness, not strain.Playfulness, not grim, humorless, drudgery.Self-sufficiency, not dependency.Meaningfulness, rather than senselessness.

When a self-actualizer

doesn’t get these needs

fulfilled, they respond w/

metapathologies -- a list

of problems as long as the

list of metaneeds!

“Let me summarize it by

saying that, when forced

to live without these

values, the self-actualizer

develops depression,

despair, disgust,

alienation, and a degree

of cynicism”.

Although people achieve self-actualization in their

own unique way, they tend to share certain

characteristics. However, self-actualization is a matter of

degree, 'There are no perfect human

beings' (Maslow,1970a, p. 176).

It is not necessary to display all 15 characteristics

to become self-actualized, and not only self-actualized

people will display them. Maslow did not equate self-

actualization with perfection.

Self-actualization merely involves achieving ones

potential. Thus someone can be silly, wasteful, vain and

impolite, and still self-actualize. Less than two percent of

the population achieve self-actualization.

Maslow (1962) believed self-actualization could be

measured through the concept of peak

experiences. This occurs when a person

experiences the world totally for what it is, and

there are feelings of euphoria, joy and wonder.

It is important to note that self-

actualization is a continual process of

becoming rather than a perfect state one

reaches of a 'happy ever after' (Hoffman,

1988).

Beyond the routine of needs fulfilment, Maslow

envisioned moments of extraordinary and profound moments of

love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, when a person feels

more whole, alive, self-sufficient and yet a part of the world,

more aware of truth, justice, harmony, goodness, and so on.

Self-actualizing people have many such peak experiences.

When Do Peak Experiences Occur?

"Think of the most wonderful experience of your life: the happiest

moments, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture, perhaps from being in

love, or from listening to music or suddenly 'being hit' by a book or

painting, or from some creative moment."

(Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being, 1962)

"Most of the peak experiences had occurred during athletic, artistic,

religious, or nature experiences, or during intimate moments with a friend

or family member. There were a number of peak experiences in which the

students achieved an important personal goal or collective goal. There

were also peak experiences in which the students overcame some

adversity or danger or helped someone in need."

(Polyson, Teaching of Psychology, 1985)

Humanistic psychology emerged during the 1950s as a reaction

to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which dominated psychology at the

time. Maslow felt that psychology in the past had neglected to focus on normal,

fully functioning human beings. This new approach was later termed as the third

force. In 1962, Maslow founded the American Association of Humanistic Psychology

with such figures as Gordon Allport, George Kelly, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May. They

adhered to the following principles: (Hergenhahn & Olson, 1999)

1. The primary study of psychology should be experiencing the

person.

2. Choice, creativity, and self-realization, rather than mechanistic

reductionism, are the concern of the humanistic psychologist.

3. Only personally and socially significant problems should be

studied in significance, not objectivity, is the watchword.

4. The major concern of psychology should be the dignity and

enhancement of people.

The Founding of Humanistic Psychology, 1962

Important Events in Humanistic Psychology

•1943 - Abraham Maslow described his hierarchy of needs in "A Theory

of Human Motivation" published in Psychological Review.

•1951 - Carl Rogers published Client-Centered Therapy, which

described his humanistic, client-directed approach to therapy.

•1962 - The American Association for Humanistic Psychology is formed

and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology was established.

•1966- Maslow became President of American Psychological Association.

*1967- American Humanist Association awarded him Humanist of the Year .

•1971 - Humanistic Psychology becomes an APA division.

Abraham Maslow published described his theory and the

humanistic psychology as the "third force" in psychology (Toward a

Psychology of Being, 1962). The first and second forces were

behaviorism and psychoanalysis respectively.

However, it is not necessary to think of these three schools of thought

as competing elements. Each branch of psychology has contributed to

our understanding of the human mind and behavior. Humanistic

psychology added yet another dimension that takes a more holistic

view of the individual.

In this theory the focus is shifted at the positive sides of

mental health. His interest in human potential, seeking peak

experiences and improving mental health by seeking personal growth

had a lasting influence on psychology.

While Maslow’s work fell out of favor with many academic

psychologists, his theories are enjoying a resurgence due to the rising

interest in positive psychology.

Maslow's thinking was surprisingly

original -- most psychology before him had been

concerned with the abnormal and the ill.

He wanted to know what constituted positive

mental health. Humanistic psychology gave rise to several

different therapies, all guided by the idea that

- people possess the inner resources for growth and healing

- and that the point of therapy is to help remove obstacles to

individuals' achieving this.

The most famous of these was client-centered

therapy developed by Carl Rogers.

Maslow's (1968) hierarchy of needs theory has

made a major contribution to teaching and classroom

management in schools. Rather than reducing behavior

to a response in the environment, Maslow (1970a) adopts a holistic

approach to education and learning. Maslow looks at the entire physical,

emotional, social, and intellectual qualities of an individual and how

they impact on learning.

Applications of Maslow's hierarchy theory to the work of the

classroom teacher are obvious. Before a student's cognitive needs can be

met they must first fulfill their basic physiological needs. For example a

tired and hungry student will find it difficult to focus on learning.

Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted

within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential.

Maslow suggests students must be shown that they are valued and

respected in the classroom and the teacher should create a supportive

environment. Students with a low self-esteem will not progress

academically at an optimum rate until their self-esteem is

strengthened.

With Maslow’s theory, employers or managers have become

aware that by providing real meaning, purpose and true

personal development for their employees, they become

more effective not just for work, but for life as well.

Maslow saw these issues fifty years ago: the fact that -

employees have a basic human need and a right to strive for self-actualisation, just

as much as the corporate directors and owners do.

- Going beyond traditional work-related training and development, and of

course way beyond old-style X-Theory management autocracy, which still forms the

basis of much organised employment today.

- Provision of genuinely care, understanding, encouragement and enabling

their people's personal growth towards self-actualisation

- Provision of compassionate commitment to help people identify, pursue and

reach their own personal unique potential while building on company sustainable

success.

- When people grow as people, they automatically become more effective

and valuable as employees.

- The best modern employers recognise this and as such offer development

support to their staff in any direction whatsoever that the person seeks to grow

and become more fulfilled.

In fact virtually all personal growth, whether in a hobby, a special talent or

interest, or a new experience, produces new skills, attributes, behaviors and wisdom that

is directly transferable to any sort of job role.

Physiological Needs

•Provide input for employee salaries and bonuses, incentives

Safety Needs

•Ensure the correct tools for the job are available.

•Create an environment where individuals are comfortable

Social Needs

•Schedule weekly project team meetings.

•Get the team together to celebrate project milestones.

• R & R

Esteem Needs

•Recognize team members for excellent contributions to the project. /Employee of the month

•Ensure each team member understands how important they are to the project.

•Award ceremonies

Self-Actualization Needs

•Take into account each team members professional goals when assigning tasks.

•Empower team members so that they can develop and grow.

•Staff development –further studies, relevant verticalized trainings & seminars

A person's behavior can focus on more than one need. For example, one of your team members may be

actively seeking promotion because it will lead to a higher salary (physiological need). But the promotion can also

satisfy esteem and self-actualization needs. Even though the needs are described as hierarchical, application of the

theory isn't as rigid.

The Maslow Theory of Motivation is a great tool for Project Managers to understand and use. It helps team

motivated as well as correct motivational issues.

Implications of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory for Managers

The most significant limitation of Maslow's theory concerns his methodology. Maslow formulated the

characteristics of self-actualized individuals from undertaking a qualitative method called biographical analysis.

He looked at the biographies and writings of 18 people he identified as being self-actualized. From these sources

he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of this specific group of people, as opposed to humanity in general.

From a scientific perspective there are numerous problems with this particular approach. First, it could be

argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher.

Personal opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity f any data obtained. Therefore Maslow's operational

definition of self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as scientific fact.

Furthermore, Maslow's biographical analysis focused on a biased sample of self-actualized individuals,

prominently limited to highly educated white males (such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, William

James, Aldous Huxley, Gandhi, Beethoven).

Although Maslow (1970) did study self-actualized females, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa, they

comprised a small proportion of his sample. This makes it difficult to generalize his theory to females and individuals from

lower social classes or different ethnicity. Thus questioning the population validity of Maslow's findings.

Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow's concept of self-actualization in a way that causal relationships

can be established.

Another criticism concerns Maslow's assumption that the lower needs must be satisfied before a person can

achieve their potential and self-actualize. This is not always the case, and therefore Maslow's hierarchy of needs in some

aspects has been falsified.

Through examining cultures in which large numbers of people live in poverty (such as India) it is clear that

people are still capable of higher order needs such as love and belongingness. However, this should not occur, as according to

Maslow, people who have difficulty achieving very basic physiological needs (such as food, shelter etc.) are not capable of

meeting higher growth needs.

Also, many creative people, such as authors and artists (e.g. Rembrandt and Van Gough) lived in poverty

throughout their lifetime, yet it could be argued that they achieved self-actualization.

Contemporary research by Tay & Diener (2011) has tested Maslow’s theory by analyzing the data of 60,865

participants from 123 countries, representing every major region of the world. The survey was conducted from 2005 to 2010.

Respondents answered questions about six needs that closely resemble those in Maslow's model: basic needs (food, shelter);

safety; social needs (love, support); respect; mastery; and autonomy. They also rated their well-being across three discrete

measures: life evaluation (a person's view of his or her life as a whole), positive feelings (day-to-day instances of joy or

pleasure), and negative feelings (everyday experiences of sorrow, anger, or stress).

The results of the study support the view that universal human needs appear to exist regardless of cultural

differences. However, the ordering of the needs within the hierarchy was not correct.

"Although the most basic needs might get the most attention when you don't have them," Diener explains, "you don't need to

fulfill them in order to get benefits [from the others]." Even when we are hungry, for instance, we can be happy with our friends.

"They're like vitamins," Diener says on how the needs work independently. "We need them all."

1. Methodology – biographical analysis is qualitative & subjective;

small biased samples, difficult to measure or test as to the causal

relationship, not scientific

2. Hierarchy or order of needs by closer look does not always

follow across people form all walks of life. (Tay & Diener, 2011)

there are many examples of highly-actualized people who were

deprived of other lower needs or that people physiologically

deprived are still capable of attaining higher order needs.

In his defense, Maslow expressed that he understood his critics, and thought of his work as simply pointing the way. He hoped that others would take up the cause and complete what he had begun in a more rigorous fashion.

It is a curiosity that Maslow, the “father” of American humanism, began his career as a behaviorist with a strong physiological bent. He did indeed believe in science, and often grounded his ideas in biology. He only meant to broaden psychology to include the best in us, as well as the pathological!

At 60, he knew that time permitted him only to plant

seeds (in his own metaphor) of research and theory

and hope that later generations would live to see the

flowering of human betterment.

Overcoming Evil: An interview with Abraham Maslow, founder of

Humanistic Psychology.

By E. Hoffman published by Psychology Today January 01, 1992

“I have worked out a lot of good tricks for fending off professional attacks. We all have to do that.”

In 1968 he went into retirement due to failing health. He

lived in California with his wife Bertha and 2 beloved children, Ann

and Ellen. He enjoyed a happy lifelong marriage with Bertha. It is

said that he remained modest and reportedly very humble, even

after he became famous.

He eventually became a public intellectual who wrote for a

general audience as well as influencing business leaders, Maslow's

ideas fed into the counter-culture movement. (he had links with the

psychedelic figurehead, Timothy Leary).

One morning in June 8, 1970, while slowly jogging in place

beside his pool he had a heart attack and died. He was 72.

70 years after the emergence of his

movement his ideas and influence are still

relevant and continue to remain with us today.

So does his challenge for us to strive

to become more of what we are capable of

becoming.

Fin

http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhmasl.html

Http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23902918

http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/p/abraham-maslow.htm

http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/maslow.htm

References:

The Science of Psychology: an Appreciative View by Laura King pp. 379-380; 415-416

An Academic Discussion by:

May Flerida M. Culango, RGC

September 20, 2014