Abraham Harold Maslow and Self-Actualization Essay

In 1943 Humanistic Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed his Theory of Human Motivation. In this paper he outlines what he believes to be a humans hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggests in his journal that one must meet the needs of the previous level before moving on to meet the needs of the next one on the hierarchy. According to Maslow there are 5 tiers of human needs: physiological, security, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. In Welch, West Virginia Jeanette and her siblings must adjust their lifestyles in order to meet their human needs according to Maslow’s hierarchy.

Abraham Maslow theorized the concept of self-actualization which is the term used to describe the state of self-fulfillment in which people realize their highest potentials in their own unique way. Maslow’s theory includes sublevels that must be achieved before reaching self-actualization. In this paper, I will explain how each of his previous levels have affected my life, and give an idea of when I may hope to achieve self-actualization. Self-actualization is the term that Abraham Maslow used to describe the state of self-fulfillment in which people realize their highest potentials in their own unique way. The personal reflections accommodate to my perspective of the Maslow’s Theory.

Rampant child rape, indiscreet public sex, gangs of thieving children, mobs of murderous men and women, these are the images that characterize the mining community set forth in Germinal, by Emile Zola. The graphic images presented by Zola leaves the reader wondering about a society that could allow such harsh conditions for their young. Everyone worked yet they could afford not meat but just bread from their earnings. Food was scarce and the only activity besides work was sex. The workload increased at any time and the worker was at the absolute mercy of the manager or owner of the mine where he worked. These conditions led to the revolution of the mining community. According to Dr. Abraham Maslow's theory of self-actualization,

He was never enamored with laboratory psychology. He went on to Columbia University as a Carnegie fellow where he worked with Alfred Adler, one of Sigmund Freud’s colleagues. Those days were spent in testing and measuring child and adult intelligence and their ability to learn. Between 1937 and 1951, Maslow was a faculty member at Brooklyn College. During that time he published several articles, on Human Motivation, higher and lower needs, and actualizing people . In 1947, he suffered a heart attack and was forced to take medical leave. He and his family relocated to California. He headed a division of the Maslow Cooperage Corporation, supervising men repairing wine barrels for a local winery. After he recuperated, he returned to Brooklyn College.

Abraham Maslow is one of the founding fathers of Humanistic Psychology, which is “A movement in psychology supporting the belief that humans, as individuals, are unique beings and should be recognized and treated as such by psychologists and psychiatrists.” (Cite Brittanica). Humanistic psychology is termed the “third force” as it was created after both psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches. (cite) Maslow’s principal focus was to understand the reason individuals behave in a certain manner and the interplay between their needs and drives. Moreover, he is best known for his theory of motivation written in 1943, where he created the hierarchy of needs. Maslow recognized that there were motivating forces that influence people’s behaviors. Previously, particularly psychoanalytic theorist

The patient, Abraham Maslow, appears to have possessed an unresolved Oedipus complex and an oral aggressive fixation. Maslow has used the defense mechanisms of displacement and acknowledged using sublimation. Maslow used psychoanalysis intermittently, to address self-recognized anger issues. Further, his cardiologist suggested therapy as anger issues affected Maslow’s health. However, Maslow did not fully complete a course of psychoanalytical treatment and exhibited anger issues until he died of a coronary in 1970.

After Abraham Maslow met Kurt Goldstein, who originated the concept of self-actualization, he began his movement for humanistic psychology. Early in his career Maslow worked with monkeys and he noticed that some needs took precedence over others. Maslow took this observation and created the theory of the Hierarchy of Needs. These needs were considered current motivations if they were not actualized. These needs are the Physiological Needs, the Safety and Security Needs, the Love and Belonging Needs, the Need for Self Esteem and the Need for Self Actualization (Boeree, 2006). As we consider the practical use of the Psychology of Personality in the workplace, fulfilling the needs of an employee as

Maslow is classified as a humanistic psychologist who studied that people’s needs are in stages. Due to his

within means. Another thing that is important to helping the child feel love and belonging is to

Abraham H. Maslow, is one of the founders of humanistic movement in psychology in late 1950 's. Maslow held a great deal of importance for personal freedom and individuality which would help define psychological health. Maslow felt that psychology before his time was primarily focused on people’s ailments and faults in their personalities. In an interview, Being Abraham Maslow with Warren Bennis, he stated that their was a “huge, big gaping hole in psychology.” When researching psychology was looking for important and precious things like, “Goodness, Nobility, Reason, Science, Loyalty, & Courage.”

It is hard to imagine the science of psychology without many great contributors. Psychology is an academic discipline which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific cases. There are many questions about the human psyche, and brain that are unanswered, which is why we must appreciate those who have gave so much of their time, and studies spent towards figuring that out. So many people have gave their entire life to understand the human psyche, and one of those great people are Abraham Maslow. He is cited as one of the top ten psychologists of all time, which is not an easy task to achieve.

Maslow’s self-actualization was developed from his hierarchy of needs. In the hierarchy of needs there are seven stages. Maslow did not feel that self-actualization determined one's life; rather, he felt that it gave the individual a desire, or motivation to achieve budding ambition (Gleitman and Reisberg). As a person moves up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, eventually they may reach the summit self-actualization (Gleitman and Reisberg). The first stage is physiological needs, which are where an individual will find food and water; also they will be able to use basic functions such as sleeping and breathing.

A first psychologist who looked at people’s behavior from a positive aspect was Abraham Harold Maslow. Maslow was a founder a humanistic psychology. Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 1, 1908. His parents were Jewish immigrants who came from Russia. Maslow was the oldest out of his seven siblings. He grew up in a non-Jewish community where he faced anti-Semitism. This type of unfavorable environment pushed him to isolate himself from people and indulge himself in books. Unfortunately, his life at home was not that much better. At home, Maslow did not have a good relationship with either of his parents. He did not receive any affection from his mother, who he grew to hate. Even in his adult years, Maslow never spoke anything positive about her. Growing up, he did not have a good relationship with his father, with whom he always fought. However, he made amends with his father in his adult years. Although he did not have a good relationship with his parents, his parents pushed him into education.

Psychologist Abraham H. Maslow is the developer of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The theory covers human behavior in terms of basic requirements for survival and growth (Cengage, 2002). The theory was developed in the early 1960’s. During this time psychology was taken over by two different views. One side was the human behavior and the other one was the behaviorist. Maslow explained that psychoanalysts had not accomplished the task to consider the behavior of healthy humans. He also mentioned that many subjective experiences that related with human behaviors were being ignored by behaviorist. In the beginning Maslow examined motivations and experience of many healthy individuals. He recognized that there are many requirements in this theory that are important for human survival and to help motivate individuals. He conceptualized different human needs as a pyramid with five levels in

Abraham H. Maslow was born on April 1, 1908 in New York City, and passed away on June 8, 1970 in California. Dr. Maslow received all three (A.B., M.A. and Ph.D.) of his degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He was also the “founding editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology.” (Professional biography, 1970, p. 98). As a graduate student enthusiastic by the work of Alfred Adler and John B. Watson, Maslow became a dedicated behaviorist, and pursued his socialistic and humanistic (Maslow, 2000, p. 129). From 1933 to late 1936, Dr. Maslow spent most of his research on monkeys and primates, his topic of focus revolved around motivation, hunger, social interaction, sexual behaviour, and learning and reproduction of learned behaviours. In 1937, Dr. Maslow began his work on social psychology, and was a prominent figure and founder of individual psychology as well. His focus during that time included personality and culture, dominance, and personality and social behaviour in women. At the start of 1941, it was evident that his works began to broaden and he delved into abnormal psychology, leadership, human motivation, and developed his famous theory of self-actualization in 1943 (Professional biography, 1970, p. 100).