Abraham Maslow 's Theory Of Psychology

Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), some-time President of the American Psychological Association, is best known for his work on human motivation and in particular for his Hierarchy of Needs, which was first defined in a paper of 1943. Five basic needs are defined, all of which he considered to be hard-wired in the human species. They are arranged hierarchically, with self-actualization referring to people’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely, the tendency for them to become actualized in what they are potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one idiosyncratically is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming (Maslow, 1943, p.22). Maslow’s 1943 paper mentions cognitive needs such as the desire to know and to understand, and also aesthetics, but does not place them within the hierarchy of five.

When you think about Abraham Maslow, Erik Erikson, and Sigmund Freud's theories, they all have to do with psychology. They all have to do with the mind. Abraham Maslow’s theory, Theory of Hierarchy Needs, is a description of the needs that motivate human behavior. Erik Erikson’s theory, Theory Eight Stages of Development, has eight stages that include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Sigmund Freud’s theory, Theory ID, EGO, SUPEREGO, emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and a primary assumption that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than people suspect.

Abraham Maslow was one of seven children born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn New York on April 1st 1908. He grew up in rather negative environment, both of his parents were negligent and nurturing. His father and mother were degrading and verbally abusive to him and his siblings. They would call him names causing Maslow to feel insecure about his appearance. Maslow was inspired by the work of Erik Fromm who was also a humanistic psychologist. He eventually went to New Yorks City College where he attempted to take legal courses but later discover that wasn’t his main interest. He then went to Wisconsin University where he majored in Psychology. There, he studies experimental-behaviorism. In 1931, he received his

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a humanistic psychologist agreed with most of what Maslow believed, but added that for a person to "grow", they need an environment that provides them with genuinness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood).

Abraham Maslow, considered the “Father of Humanistic Psychology” an approach that looks at“the human being as a “whole person, one who is complex, adaptable, and multiple” (Journal of Humanistic Psychology Vol 51, Issue 4, pp. 428 - 431) began to gain traction at almost the same time Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird: a coming of age story about racism in the South during the thirties. Lee’s fictional hero Atticus Finch the “legal warrior” (James R. Elkins, A Humanistic Perspective in Legal Education, 62 Neb. L. Rev. (1983). who defends an innocent black man accused of rape offers a perfect case study for Maslow’s concept of a self-actualized person “living “with integrity and meaning” (Journal of Humanistic Psychology Vol 51, Issue 4, pp. 428 - 431)

‘Abraham Maslow was born in Brooklyn and bread in Brooklyn in 1908. He was the 1st of 7 children and was pushed very hard academically by his parents who wanted the best for their children. He attended the University of Wisconsin where he studied psychology. Maslow received his BA in 1930, his MA in 1931 and his PhD in 1934. While in Wisconsin he spent a proportion of time working with Harry Harlow who completed experiments with baby monkeys and their relationship with human behaviour. Maslow also began to teach in Brooklyn College, in his time teaching he came into contact with the many European intellectuals that were immigrating to the US.’

Throughout history, many have contributed to psychology and have made an impact and developed innovative theories and ideas. Two contributors who have influenced the treatment of patients and even helped innovate a new school of thought are Abraham Maslow and Dorothea L Dix. Their contributions drew attention to some problems that were present at the time and helped society realize the importance of mental health and ethical ways of treating patients.

The Old Saybrook Conference in 1964 was to by invitational meeting only and was established as a social event that began the start of the Humanistic Psychology Movement. Of course, the individuals at the meeting included Rogers, May and Allport (Aanstoos, Serlin & Greening, 2000). The conference focused on the genuine ideology of human life and focused on the understanding of the "Third Force" (Aanstoos et al., 2000). Maslow, Rogers and May had placed a high interest in this conference and continue to be the primary individuals that would take over this movement. Maslow continue to believe in the hypothesis that humans who had certain needs and they're accommodated, then their higher thought processes could become self-completed and these

The experience convinced him that there is so much that can be learned by studying people of different cultures daily lives. It also convinced him that people around the world have more similarities than differences, and that we all share certain human needs and drives. These findings helped guide his research on emotional security as an attribute that profoundly impacts our social relations. Maslow did not know how to organize all of these observations into a consistent conception of personality. While trying organize his findings, Maslow studied the literature of a few European psychological thinkers: Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Karen Horny and Max

This was the beginning of one of the groundbreaking contributions to Psychology Abraham Maslow has done. Another way that Maslow has contributed to Psychology by making sure through gatherings, meetings, lectures, and theory that the matter of humanistic psychology is just as valuable and needed to be taught as that of Pavlov’s theory of behaviorism and that of Freudian’s psychoanalysis theory. “As a prophet of human potential, Maslow believed the realization of one’s total potential variously described as self-realization to be the ultimate goal of all human kind” (Dhiman, 2007). He did this with extensive research and by working with theorist that shared the same interests, like Carl Rogers. He did his bit on teaching at a university, but quickly found out that he did not like it very much and had the students teach the class as he monitored. The times that he did lecture the class, he asked questions that broaden the horizons of how the student saw themselves in the future.

Unlike Freud and the psychodynamic approach that concentrated on the unconscious mind, the concern of the humanistic psychologists was to do justice to people’s conscious experience and their role in direction their own lives. The humanistic approach in psychology developed as a rebellion against what some psychologists saw as limitations of the behaviourist and psychodynamic psychology. The humanistic approach is thus often called the “third force” in psychology after psychoanalysis and behaviourism (Maslow, 1968).( Saul McLeod. (2007). Humanism. Available: http://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html. Last accessed 13th Nov 2013.) Humanism rejected the assumption of the behaviourist perspective which is characterised as deterministic, focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behaviour and heavily dependent on animal research. Humanistic psychology also rejected the psychodynamic approach because it also is deterministic, with unconscious irrational and instinctive forces determining human thought and behaviour.  Both behaviourism and psychoanalysis are regarded as dehumanizing by humanistic psychologists. (Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-96.) The two most prominent figures in the field of humanistic psychology are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Their focus in humanistic psychology was to emphasize that which helps individuals reach

One of the founders of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow, often pondered over why he did not go insane. Maslow, like any great psychologist, questioned what made him stand apart from others – I relate strongly to this.

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.

Humanistic theory moved away from the Freudian premise of humans needing to "find fault and repair" and with Maslow (1943) as the conceptual founder, began to place emphasis on the positive, arguing that humans (once their basic needs are met) are essentially motivated by the ultimate goal of self actualisation; to realise their fullest potential and be the best that they can be. Additionally, humanistic theory promoted a more logical, pragmatic approach in studying the whole person. Issues were viewed through the eyes of the individual who was experiencing them, the focus being on positive and satisfactory outcomes rather than identifying the source of negative attitudes and/or

While the constraints of brevity in paper length and the minimal knowledge held by the author of the life of Sigmund Freud does not do justice to the complex person that is Freud, we can still hopefully garner a better understanding of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the person that is Sigmund Freud. While concerning ourselves more with Freud the person, as opposed to how his work or theories might fit into Maslow's pyramid, let's move Freud through the five original levels of Maslow's hierarchy and see what we might learn of both Maslow's theory, and Sigmund Freud.