chapter 9

• Holistic-Dynamic Theory


  Assumes the whole person is constantly being motivated by one need or another and that people have the potential to grow toward psychological health, i.e. self-actualization
• Self-actualization


  To attain this, people must satisfy lower level needs such as hunger, safety, love, and esteem. Only after they are relatively satisfied in each of these needs can they reach self-actualization
• Maslow's theory


  • Accepted some tenets of psychoanalysis and behaviorism but criticized them for their limited views of humanity and inadequate understanding of the psychologically healthy person. Believed humans have a higher nature than these theories suggest.
• Maslow referred to his theory as a holistic-dynamic theory
• Other names for Maslow's theory


  • Humanistic theory
  • Transpersonal theory
  • The third force in psychology
  • The fourth force in personality
  • Needs theory
  • Self-actualization theory
• Maslow spent the latter years of his life trying to discover the nature of psychologically healthy individuals
• Hierarchy of Needs


  Lower level needs (e.g. hunger, safety, love, esteem) must be relatively satisfied before one can reach self-actualization
• Aesthetic Needs


  Needs for beauty, symmetry, order, etc.
• Cognitive Needs


  Needs to know, understand, and explore
• Neurotic Needs


  Unhealthy needs that stem from deprivation or frustration of basic needs
• Maslow's View of Motivation


  • People are constantly motivated by one need or another, and have the potential to grow toward psychological health (self-actualization)
• Self-Actualization


  • Maslow's quest to discover the nature of psychologically healthy, self-actualizing individuals. Criteria, values, and characteristics of self-actualizers.
• Jonah Complex


  Maslow's term for people's fear of their own greatness
• Maslow's psychology and philosophy of science
• Measuring self-actualization
• Psychotherapy according to Maslow
• Related research: Mindfulness and self-actualization, Positive psychology
• Concept of Humanity


  Maslow believed humans have a higher nature than psychoanalysis or behaviorism would suggest
• Key Terms and Concepts


  • Holistic-Dynamic Theory
  • Self-Actualization
  • Hierarchy of Needs
  • Aesthetic Needs
  • Cognitive Needs
  • Neurotic Needs
  • Jonah Complex
• Maslow, 1979: 'Maslow recorded his thoughts, opinions, feelings, social activities, important conversations, and concerns for his health at intervals'
• Despite achieving fame during the 1960s, Maslow became increasingly disenchanted with his life at Brandeis
• Some students rebelled against Maslow's teaching methods, demanding more experiential involvement and less of an intellectual and scientific approach
• Maslow suffered a severe but nonfatal heart attack in December of 1967
• Maslow learned that his strange malady more than 20 years earlier had been an undiagnosed heart attack
• Maslow accepted an offer to join the Saga Administrative Corporation in Menlo Park, California where he had no particular job and was free to think and write as he wished
• On June 8, 1970, Maslow suddenly collapsed and died of a massive heart attack at the age of 62
• Maslow received many honors during his lifetime, including his election to the presidency of the American Psychological Association for the year 1967–1968
• At the time of his death, Maslow was well known, not only within the profession of psychology, but among educated people generally, particularly in business management, marketing, theology, counseling, education, nursing, and other health-related fields
• Maslow's personal life was filled with pain, both physical and psychological
• As an adolescent, Maslow was terribly shy, unhappy, isolated, and self-rejecting
• In later years, Maslow was often in poor physical health, suffering from a series of ailments, including chronic heart problems
• Maslow, 1979: 'In his last journal entry (May 7, 1970), a month before his death, Maslow complained about people expecting him to be a courageous leader and spokesperson. He wrote: "I am not temperamentally 'courageous.' My courage is really an overcoming of all sorts of inhibitions, politeness, gentleness, timidities—and it always cost me a lot in fatigue, tension, apprehension, bad sleep"'
• Holistic approach to motivation


  The whole person, not any single part or function, is motivated
• Motivation is usually complex


  A person's behavior may spring from several separate motives
• Motivation may be unconscious or unknown to the person


  The motivation for a behavior may mask the need for dominance, power, etc.
• People are continually motivated by one need or another
• When one need is satisfied, it ordinarily loses its motivational power and is then replaced by another need
• All people everywhere are motivated by the same basic needs
• Hierarchy of needs


  Lower level needs must be satisfied or at least relatively satisfied before higher level needs become motivators
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs


  • Physiological
  • Safety
  • Love and belongingness
  • Esteem
  • Self-actualization