Hierarchy of Human Needs - Essay Example

Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow is a great psychologist. He takes psychology to a different dimension where the human being is seen under a new light. His "Hierarchy of Human Needs" is the most important achievement in the study of the human psyche. Abe Maslow has great expectations for the human beings. His approach to psychology has motivated eupsychology, for example, a new way of doing psychology as a science and as a therapy. Abraham Maslow is thus a humanistic psychologist. Above all he is a humanist, because he places the human being at the center of his studies, at the center of the world. His faith in the human being is reflected on his own conclusions about the human race. In this paper we will take a look a his life and work. PBS Online relates his life in the following terms: "He was born and raised in Brooklyn, the eldest of seven children. He was smart but shy, and remembered his childhood as lonely and rather unhappy. Maslow attended City College in New York. His father hoped he would pursue law, but he went to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin to study psychology. While there, he married his cousin Bertha, and found as his chief mentor Professor Harry Harlow. At Wisconsin he pursued an original line of research, investigating primate dominance behavior and sexuality. He went on to further research at Columbia University, continuing similar studies. He found another mentor in Alfred Adler, one of Freud's early followers." (PBS Online, 1998). Maslow dedicated most of his life to studies in psychology. He was really an academic professional as he took part in different universities throughout his career. PBS Online goes on narrating his life: "From 1937 to 1951, Maslow was on the faculty of Brooklyn College. In New York 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." (PBS Online, 1998). The Wikipedia deals with his life in a slightly different way: "Abraham Maslow (April 1, 1908 - June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist. He is mostly noted today for his proposal of a hierarchy of human needs. () Born in Brooklyn, New York, Maslow was the first of seven children of Jewish immigrants from Russia. His parents were uneducated, but they insisted that he study law. At first, Abraham acceded to their wishes and enrolled in the City College of New York. However, after three semesters he transferred to Cornell, then back to CCNY. After he married, he moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin from which he received his B.A. (1930), his M.A. (1931), and his Ph.D. (1934) in psychology. While in Wisconsin, Maslow studied with Harry Harlow, who was known for his studies of rhesus monkeys and attachment behavior. A year after graduation, Maslow returned to New York to work with E. L. Thorndike at Columbia." (Wikipedia, 2006). It is important to note that the Wikipedia doesn't say that Maslow married his first cousin. Maybe they didn't want to get too personal. The Wikipedia continues speaking about Maslow's life in the following manner: "Maslow began teaching full time at Brooklyn College. During this time he met many leading European psychologists, including Alfred Adler and Erich Fromm. In 1951, Maslow became the chairman of the psychology department at Brandeis University, where he began his theoretical work. There, he met Kurt Goldstein, who introduced him to the idea of self-actualization. He retired to California, where he died of a heart attack in 1970 after years of ill health." (Wikipedia, 2006). PBS Online makes emphasis on Maslow's works on the Hierarchy of Human Needs, especially about the "peak experiences" and "self-actualization". Let's see: "Peak experiences are 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." (PBS Online, 1998). On the other hand, PBS Online also emphasizes Maslow's contributions in humanistic psychology in opposition to the then predominant way of doing 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." (PBS Online, 1998). Alan Chapman dealt with the Hierarchy of Human Needs in his own studies about Abraham Maslow. Chapman sums up this psychological theory as follows: "Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs." (Chapman, 1995-2005). Next, Chapman looked at the different scales built around this model: First Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1954): "1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. 3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. 4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences." (Chapman, 1995-2005). 1970's adapted hierarchy of needs model: "1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. 3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. 4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc. 6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. 7. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences." (Chapman, 1995-2005). 1990's adapted hierarchy of needs: "1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. 3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. 4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc. 6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. 7. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. 8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization." (Chapman, 1995-2005). AllPsych gives the following opinion about Maslow in relation to his conclusions on human motivation and the Hierarchy of Human Needs: "He believed that we are driven to understand and accept ourselves as fully as possible, and are motivated to this end. He also stated that nobody ever reaches the top of the pyramid and the goal should be getting as close as possible rather than achieving the top of the hierarchy." (AllPsych, 2003). On the other hand, Dr. C. George Boeree from the Shippensburg University took a look at Maslow's works. Speaking about his theoretical contributions, Dr. Boeree states the following: "One of the many interesting things Maslow noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his career 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!" (Boeree, 1998-2006). Homeostasis is a very significant biological process that helps us understand some of Maslow's theories as Dr. Boeree stated when studying Maslow's contributions to the field of humanistic psychology: "He also talks about these levels in terms of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the principle by which your furnace thermostat operates: When it gets too cold, it switches the heat on; When it gets too hot, it switches the heat off. In the same way, your body, when it lacks a certain substance, develops a hunger for it; When it gets enough of it, then the hunger stops. Maslow simply extends the homeostatic principle to needs, such as safety, belonging, and esteem, that we don't ordinarily think of in these terms." (Boeree, 1998-2006). Dr. Boeree also takes into account metaneeds and metapathologies in the work of Maslow. It is interesting to know that Maslow himself was aware of the relevance of his psychological movement as Dr. Boeree states it: "Toward the end of his life, he inaugurated what he called the fourth force in psychology: Freudian and other "depth" psychologies constituted the first force; Behaviorism was the second force; His own humanism, including the European existentialists, were the third force. The fourth force was the transpersonal psychologies which, taking their cue from Eastern philosophies, investigated such things as meditation, higher levels of consciousness, and even parapsychological phenomena." (Boeree, 1998-2006). Dr. Boeree also makes some criticisms about Maslow's theories like the following. "Another point is that he asks that we pretty much take care of our lower needs before self-actualization comes to the forefront. And yet we can find many examples of people who exhibited at very least aspects of self-actualization who were far from having their lower needs taken care of. Many of our best artists and authors, for example, suffered from poverty, bad upbringing, neuroses, and depression. Some could even be called psychotic!" (Boeree, 1998-2006). But Maslow works are really important and his contributions are real. He has the merit of being a humanistic psychologist. Dr. Boeree emphasizes this last point with the following remarks: "Maslow has been a very inspirational figure in personality theories. In the 1960's in particular, people were tired of the reductionistic, mechanistic messages of the behaviorists and physiological psychologists. They were looking for meaning and purpose in their lives, even a higher, more mystical meaning. Maslow was one of the pioneers in that movement to bring the human being back into psychology, and the person back into personality!" (Boeree, 1998-2006). Abraham Maslow lived a relatively short life. He died being 62. But his influence has been very strong in today's psychological movements like eupsychology. His humanistic approach is valued by many new psychologists who see in his optimistic views about human nature a different light on the horizon. So they continue Maslow's studies bringing shedding new light into the psychological theoretical and practical spectrum thanks to the deep influence of Abraham Maslow in their present psychological works. Works Cited AllPsych. "Abraham Maslow". (8 August 2003). Psychology Biographies. Heffner Media Group, Inc. 29 January 2006. . Boeree, Dr. C. George. "Abraham Maslow". (1998-2006). In Personality Theories. Shippensburg University. Psychology Department. 30 January 2006. . Chapman, Alan. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs". (1995-2005). 29 January 2006. PBS Online. "Abraham Maslow". (1998). A Science Odyssey. People and Discoveries. 29 January 2006. . Wikipedia. "Maslow, Abraham". (27 January 2006). 30 January 2006. . Read More