Maslow summary

Jul 4, 2008 11:23 AM

Maslow Summary was written by someone at Sonoma State   www.sonoma.edu

HUMANISTIC OR "THIRD FORCE" PSYCHOLOGY stresses what is positive and hopeful in us. It was in part a reaction against the behaviorists' mechanistic, determanistic emphasis, and the gloomy, destructive character of psychoanalysis with its emphasis on the dark and destructive sides of human nature

MASLOW'S PSYCHOLOGY: He wanted to develop a psychology that would deal with the best and highest potentials in human nature. He emphasized belongingness, love, affection respect for others, and building self-respect, noting that "all of these are largely outside the money economy altogether; they can be given to the poorest family."

EMERGENCE AND PRESENCE OF NEEDS. As in the Gestalt concept of figure-ground, just one need emerge into the foreground at a given time.

<ul>

<li>Belongingness and love needs. Intimate, caring relationships; affiliation with a group.</li>

<li>Esteem needs: Esteem from others, he thinks, precedes self-esteem.It's hard to think well of ourselves unless we believe that others think well of us.</li>

<li>Need for self-actualization: The Army slogan "Be all you can be" borrowed from Maslow's view. The full use of all our qualities and capacities, the full development of our abilities.</li>

<li>Needs to know and understand. Appeared in Maslow's later writings.</li>

<li>(Perhaps related to having studied under Harry Harlow, for whom curiosity and the exploratory motive was a central interest.)</li>

</ul>

ESTEEM AND SELF-ESTEEM NEEDS ARE UNIVERSAL. Everyone prefers to feel important, needed, useful, successful, proud, respected, rather than unimportant, interchangeable, autonomous, wasted, unused, expendable, disrespected.

B-MOTIVATION (BEING MOTIVATION) (also called growth motivation) involves the motivation for psychological growth, and developing and fulfilling our potentialities. Being or growth is an intrinsic motive. Gratification brings increased motivation, and heightened excitement and activity. It is a rewarding prodcess for its own sake.

"B-Psychology. . .is, in part, a study of ideal conditions, end-states, peak experiences, ideal conditions of work, play, and social living."

"METANEEDS" ARE THE "BEING NEEDS." Failure to satify them, thought Maslow, is harmful just as is failure to satisfy the lower needs. Frustration of metaneeds produces metapathology.

EXAMPLES OF B-VALUES AND RELATED METAPATHOLOGY: Beauty is a B-value. Vulgarity, loss of taste, restlessness, bleakness are the metapathology. Wholeness is a B-balue; Disintegration is the metapathology. Playfulness is a B-value; Grimness, depression, loss of zest in life are metapathologies.

PEAK EXPERIENCES. Characteristics: Often the whole world is perceived as an integrated and unified whole, that it is all of a piece and we are part of it, belong to it, experienced in a profound and deep way. Nature is more easily seen as being for itself, rather than just put there for hjuman purposes. Perception can be ego-transcending, unselfish. The normal consciousness of time and space can dissolve. The world is seen as beautiful and good. Even bad times in life are accepted more easily. There tends to be a transient loss of fear, anxiety, inhibition, defense and control, perplexity, confusion, conflict, delay and restraint. Sometimes the changes in perspective that occur are enduring.

EMPHASIS ON SELF-ACTUALIZING PERSONS

we should study the psychologically healthiest persons. Metaphor: if we want to understand great athletic performance, we will study Olympic gold medal winners, not average athletes. So he conducted a study of people whom he termed "self-actualizing."

CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF-ACTUALIZERS

<ul>

<li>. An accurate perception of reality. Healthy persons see the world as it is, rather than as distorted by their needs and beliefs. Maslow writes, "The neurotic is not emotionally sick; he is cognitively wrong." Unhealthy persons fit the world to fit the shapes of their fear, needs, and values.</li>

<li>A general acceptance of nature, others, and oneself.</li>

<li>Acceptance of both one's shortcomings and strengths, but without a lot of worry about them.</li>

<li>Spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness. Not pretentious, display their emotions honestly. But are also thoughtful and considerate of others. Can play the required social games when necessary to avoid hurting someone's feelings, but don't do so otherwise.</li>

<li>A focus on problems outside themselves. Commitment to their work. Dedication to work, absorption in it, satisfaction from it.</li>

<li>A need for privacy and independence. Neurotics, by contrast, are usually highly emotionally dependent on others.</li>

<li>Autonomous functioning. Able to be relatively independent of their social and physical environments.</li>

<li>"Freshness of appreciation." Ability to appreciate experiences as if they were new. They tend to continue to be grateful for what they possess and can experience.</li>

<li>Some self-actualizers have many peak experiences.</li>

<li>Social interest (Alfred Adler's term.) Deep feelings of empathy and affection for all human being. Feeling of kinship with all people, even with other living beings.</li>

<li>Ability to maintain strong, rich relationships.</li>

<li>A democratic character structure. Self-actualizers are not authoritarian, do not want "power over" others or to be subjugated by others. Acceptance of all people regardless of class, education, ethnic differences, etc.. They don't act superior toward anyone, but are ready to learn from anyone.  Distinguish clearly between means and ends, and also between right and wrong. They have a clear sense of ethics, rather than being governed by expediency.</li>

<li>Have an unhostile sense of humor.</li>

<li>Creativeness. Original, inventive, and innovative in whatever their realm of life may be. Creativeness is more an attitude, an expression of psychological health, and is concerned with how we perceive and react to the world.</li>

<li>Self-sufficiency and autonomy. Resistant to social pressures about how to think or act. Maintain an inner detachment, guided by themselves. But not rebellious for the sake of rebellion.</li>

</ul>

PEAK EXPERIENCES AND SELF-ACTUALIZERS. Times of overwhelming ecstacy, bliss, awe, etc. Some self-actualizers have many peaks of strong intensity and others who have fewer, milder peaks. He called them "peakers" and "nonpeakers." The latter tend to be more efficient and practical in the world. May be leaders or executives. The former tend to be esthetic, mysical, poetic, and religious. More likely to be discoverers and innovators.

PERSON AND COMMUNITY/SOCIETY Maslow was interested in self-realization through community. Society should be set up, he held, to maximize synergy. The better person and group are causes and effects of each other, and the better group and society are causes and effects of each other. An increase in intrapsychic synergy in one person is at the same time a move in the direction of increased synergy in others, the team, the organization, the society, etc.

SCIENCE has been too mechanistic, positivistic, reductionistic, too desperately trying to be value-free. This attitude dooms science to be mere technology, amoral and non-ethical. A larger science will examine ethics and values, to determine which serve us best, in what ways.

RELIGION too often cuts itself off from facts, knowledge and science, to the point of saying essentially that they have nothing more to learn. Religions too often claim that their founding revelation was complete, perfect, final, and eternal, that they have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing more to learn. Faith can degenerate into blind belief, unquestioning obedience, and last ditch loyalty no matter what that produces sheep rather than men.

Maslow summary

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