Abraham Maslow

by Katy Rose (2017)

Abstract

Abraham Maslow co-founded the fields of Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology to explore the many concepts that behaviorism and psychoanalysis platforms did not recognize, such as, the cultural and social aspects that influence behaviors, as well as, love, creativity and mysticism.

Maslow was brilliant and posed deep, thoughtful questions in these areas that still hold relevancy with social scientists today. Even though educated as a Behaviorist, Maslow later embraced Social and Personality Psychology during WW II, as tools to assist in healing the world’s complex grief associated with the war.

Although psychoanalytic theory greatly influenced Maslow, it did not define the full range of motivation behind human behavior nor the measurable differences between intellectual and intuitive relativity. His continued research resulted in creating the Hierarchy of Needs pyramid model:

5. Self- Actualization - living fulfilled personally and professionally in the sacredness of life

4. Esteem - respect, appreciation, recognition, strength, resilience, freedom

3. Belonging and Love - interconnectedness with faith, family and community

2. Safety Needs - safety, security and stability: structure, order and boundaries

1. Physiological Needs - food, drink, oxygen, sleep and other biological needs.

Maslow’s exploration of Self-Actualization, the top need within the hierarchy, led him into the transcendent reality motivating human behavior. He found either peak experiences or deep mystical moments were causing fundamental change to the individual perspective resulting in two distinct orientations: living as a pragmatist, fully engaged with life, mastering all of life’s richness for the highest good of all, or as one who transcends Self-Actualization living fulfilled in the sacredness of daily life. He named this new psychology, Transpersonal Psychology.

Introduction

Abraham Maslow investigated the psychology of positive experiences, rather than the broken, negative aspects of the personality.

His greatest contributions to the field of psychology hold three specific themes (Frager, 2013):

1. Human beings have an innate tendency to move toward higher levels of health, creativity, insight, and self-fulfillment

2. Neurosis is basically a blockage of the innate tendency toward self-actualization

3. Business efficiency and personal growth are not incompatible. In fact, the process of self-actualization brings each individual to greater efficiency, creativity, and productivity.

Spirituality in the Workplace was a class I enjoyed at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX in 2004. My paper explored business efficacy and personal growth in the workplace. My desire to write on this topic had been greatly influenced by:

Maslow's Self-Actualization Theory,

Joann Hungelmann’s Spiritual Well-Being in Older Adults: Harmonious Interconnectedness

Krista Kurth’s Expressive Aspects of Selfless Service at Work

Raymond D. Smith’s article, Management, Spirituality, Religion and Political Correctness published in the Academy of Management MSR Newsletter

Albert Schweitzer, an Alsatian-German/French theologian, doctor and humanitarian awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of "Reverence for Life."

Don Miguel Ruiz who authored the Toltec Wisdom Series: The Four Agreements, The Mastery of Love, The Voice of Knowledge, The Circle of Fire and The Fifth Agreement.

All these individuals understood and exemplified through their work and gifts of service the humanistic and transpersonal aspects of Maslow’s contributions in the understanding of human potential.

Body

Social anthropologist, William Sumner fascinated Maslow with his belief that human behavior could be defined by a particular society’s cultural patterns. Maslow also gleamed from Gestalt therapy the importance to effectively perceive and think in problem solving, it would be necessary to see from the whole perspective and its presenting patterns, rather than from its isolated parts.

Kurt Goldstein, a neurophysiologist, profoundly effected Maslow in his belief that the whole organism has reverberating effects when any part of itself has an occurrence. Goldstein first used the term “self-actualization” to describe the primary drive in every organism: “[The] organism is governed by the tendency to actualize, as much as possible, its individual capacities, its ‘nature,’ in the world" (Frager, 2013). Maslow dedicated his “Toward a Psychology of Being (1968) to Goldstein with respect for his influence on what Maslow later developed as his most influential contribution to the field of psychology: the hierarchy of needs pyramid which delineates the motivations behind human behavior.

Maslow believed the psychological drives of people in therapy did not accurately reflect the greater whole of the population. Neurosis and maladjustment were seen as deficiency diseases by him as they presented from a person lacking certain basic needs.

In his hierarchy of needs pyramid, Maslow integrated all known schools of psychology in relationship to their importance to an individual’s development. Self-actualization held top reign as the ultimate goal of the individual. The two base needs were physiological comfort and safety.  Once they were met the individual would graduate into exploring the needs of belonging, love and esteem.

Maslow described self-actualization “as an ongoing process in which one’s capacities are fully, creatively, and joyfully utilized” (Frager, 2013). Self-actualized people were clear thinkers, objective and emotionally sound without distortion or need to utilize ego defenses as they also were generally dedicated to serving others in the greater whole of society. Maslow defined the four characteristics of a self-actualized person to be awareness, honesty, freedom and trust developed from cultivating eight specific behaviors: concentration, growth choices, self-awareness, honesty, judgment, self-development, peak experiences and lack of ego defenses.

Concentration would involve full immersion into life with awareness, growth choices are life choices in which each decision holds value for personal growth, self-awareness is about responding with integrity from our own inner nature and honesty speaks from Soul integrity. These first four steps define the quality and integrity of how one will discriminate wisely in life as the individual will then trust their own judgment, feel confident in self-development of potentialities, embrace peak experiences as individual moments of self-actualization, since we can love and be more accepting of others without fear or anxiety, and personally strong enough to recognize when an ego defense is no longer serving our highest and best good.

Maslow viewed peak experiences as “the best moments of the human being, for the happiest moments of life, for experiences of ecstasy, rapture, bliss, of the greatest joy” (Frager, 2013). They can be deep mystical experiences or simply the feeling in watching a beautiful sunset. Peak experiences are in the moment and may illicit a fundamental change in attitude and behavior creating a freshly, deepened appreciation and aliveness in the awareness of the world. Maslow called this fundamental change a plateau experience. He found that self-actualizing people experience many peak experiences with two distinct differences in orientation: pragmatic vs. sacred integration into their lives. The pragmatist lives in the world with fulfillment and mastery of utilizing its richness for good purpose, whereas, the individual oriented towards the sacred transcends self-actualization “tend to think more holistically than “merely healthy” self-actualizers; they are better able to transcend the categories of past, present, and future, and good, and evil, and to perceive a unity behind the apparent complexity and contradictions of life” (Frager, 2013). Transcending self-actualizers live in the sacredness of life, the spiritual realm while fully present in the current reality of daily activity.

Maslow also believed in the concept of enlightened management which perceives the employee as a creative and productive individual who should be encouraged and supported rather than dictated too from an authoritarian perspective that denies promising individuality in commitment to the company’s life goals. Traditionally, the work culture only addresses the first 3 levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but now the consciousness is evolving to incorporate a more holistic view of the employee. The synergy, or cooperative interpersonal harmony creates unity between thought and action, thus, a work environment, or any society or culture will integrate as a healthy whole presence.

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer. “Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.” – Miguel Ruiz

References

Cousins, N. (1984). The words of Albert Schweitzer. New York, NY: New Market.

Frager, R. & Fadiman, J. (2013). Personality and personal growth. (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson

Hungelmann, J. (1985). “Spiritual well-being in older adults: Harmonious interconnectedness.”  Journal of Religion and Health. 24 (p. 147-153).

Kurth, K. (1994). Expressive aspects of selfless service at work.

Ruiz, D. M. (1999). The mastery of love. San Rafael, CA: Amber Allen Publishing.

Smith, R. D. (2004). “Management, spirituality, religion and political correctness.” Academy of Management MSR Newsletter. Winter.