Abraham Maslow - Download as PowerPoint

							Abraham Maslow
ABRAHAM MASLOW
• April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970
• 1 of 7 children
• Jewish, parents uneducated
• Married Bertha Goodman, first cousin
• Received BA (1930), MA (1931) and
     PhD (1934) all from University of
     Wisconsin
• Professor at Brooklyn College (1937-51)
     and Brandeis University (1951-61)
• Considered to be the founder of
      humanistic psychology.
         Hierarchy of Needs
             hereditary component
 Instinctoid:
 Activate and direct human behavior
 We are not driven by all needs at the
  same time
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
Of Needs
                    Self-
                Actualization

               Esteem Needs

            Belongingness & Love
                   Needs

               Safety Needs

             Physiological Needs
                   Hierarchy of Needs
The hierarchy has five levels:

   Physiological Needs: oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, calcium and
    other minerals and vitamins, shelter and sleep etc.

   Safety Needs: security, stability, protection from physical and emotional
    harm

   Belongingness & Love Needs: affection, belonging, acceptance,
    friendship, community

   Esteem Needs: (Internal ones are need for self-respect, confidence,
    autonomy, and achievement. External ones are need for respect of others,
    status, fame, glory, recognition and attention.) Maslow feels these are the
    roots to many, if not most of our psychological problems.

   Self-actualization: (doing that which maximizes one’s potential and fulfills
    one’s innate aspirations)
        DEFICIT (D-NEEDS)
   If you don’t have enough of something you have a
    “deficit” (need)
       Maslow's hierarchy seems to follow the life cycle. A baby's
        needs are almost entirely physiological. As the baby grows, it
        needs safety, then love. Toddlers are eager for social interaction,
        attention and affection. Teenagers are anxious about social
        needs, young adults are concerned with esteem and only more
        mature people transcend the first four levels to spend much time
        self-actualizing.

       Under stressful conditions, or when survival is threatened, we
        can “regress” to a lower level need.
              Safety Needs
 Second  from bottom of hierarchy
 Structure, order, stability, predictability
 More important to children than normal
  adults
Belongingness and Love Needs
 Middle of hierarchy
 Intimate and social relationships
               Esteem Needs
 Fourth from bottom of hierarchy
 2 forms of esteem needs:
     From ourselves: feelings of self-worth
     From others: status, recognition, social
      success
           BEING NEEDS (SELF-
            ACTUALIZATION)
   Needs that do not involve balance

   Once engaged, they continue to be felt

   Continuous desire to fulfill potentials (“be all you can be”)

   You need to have lower needs taken care of, at least to a
    considerable extent

   Only a small percentage of the population is truly, self-actualizing
    (approximately 2%)
     Self-Actualization Needs
 Pinnacle   of hierarchy
 Maximum realization of potentials, talents,
  abilities
 Fullest personality development
 Even if satisfy all other needs, person will
  feel restless and discontent if not self-
  actualizing
Conditions for Self-Actualization
 Free of constraints
 Not distracted by lower needs
 Secure self-image and relationships
 Realistic knowledge of strengths and
  weaknesses
       Characteristics of Self-
            Actualizers
 Efficientperception of reality
 Acceptance of selves, others, nature
 Spontaneity, simplicity, naturalness
 Focus on problems outside of themselves
 Social interest
 Creativeness
      Characteristics of Self-
           Actualizers
 Peak  experiences: religious, mystical
  experiences
 Profound interpersonal relationships
 Resistance to enculturation
 Extremely rare- seen in less than 1% of
  the population
 Research in Malsow’s Theory
 Negative   correlation between high self-
  actualizing scores and alcoholism, mental
  disorders, neuroticism
 Meeting esteem needs: greater feelings of
  self-worth, self-confidence, competence
  (similar to Badura’s self-efficacy)
 Criticisms of Maslow’s Theory
 Weak    research methodology
     Small sample size
     Lack of empirical methods
 Vague    terms (peak experiences)
     Contributions of Maslow
 Further development of humanism in
  psychology
 Applicable to variety of disciplines
  (teaching, religion, business)
 Very optimistic- may be more appealing to
  some than behavioral or psychoanalytic
  approaches