Abraham Maslow

• Humanism


  • Draws on existential philosophy
  • Uniqueness of human beings
  • Emphasised active role of human beings
  • Positive view of humans - innately driven towards goodness/growth
• Humanism is a reaction to psychoanalysis
• Clients, not patients


  Therapist as expert vs client as expert
• Maslow tended to not like diagnostic labels
• Humans as future oriented


  Motivated by future goals
• Maslow's view of human nature

  • Interested in everyday normal happiness
  • Positive and forward looking - contrast with psychoanalysis
  • Existential philosophy influence: "being in the world"
  • Instinctoid tendencies: path to healthy growth and development
• Personality development (humanistic view)


  • Humans have an innate drive to develop, fuelled by motivational needs
  • Humans innately good
  • Phenomenological approach
• Deficiency Motives (D-motives)


  • Basic physiological needs (e.g. hunger, thirst, need to be loved)
  • Create a negative state which needs to be alleviated by need being met
  • "Drive reduction"
• Growth Motives (B-motives)


  • Gain in intensity regardless of whether they are met or not
  • Exciting and rewarding therefore drive forward
• Hierarchy of Needs


  • Life long journey
  • Dynamic journey - move up and down
  • Need to move through lower levels sufficiently to achieve higher ones
  • Order may be different for different people
  • Needs do not have to be completely achieved but deficiencies will be reflected in behaviour
  • Some behaviours cross over multiple levels of hierarchy (e.g. sex)
  • Lower or basic needs generalise from animals to humans
  • Higher order needs (e.g. self actualisation) only present in humans
• Physiological Needs


  • Most are deficiency needs (D-motives)
  • Exceptions: sexual drives, need for elimination and sleep (B-motives)
  • Need to be sufficiently satisfied before moving onto the next
• Safety and Security


  • Safe circumstances to live in, self protection, law abiding society
  • Important for children - reason for rules and boundaries
  • Secure regarding health, emotions, etc.
  • Double edged sword - safe option may stifle growth
• Belongingness and Love Needs


  • Social beings, need to be rooted in a community
  • How we interact with those around us – takes into account emotion and social networks
  • Expands further than romantic love
  • D-Love (deficiency need, meet our own emptiness)
  • B-Love (love in a non-possessive and unconditional way - not about curing something in me but about growing together)
• Esteem Needs


  • Confidence, strength, achievement, self-esteem, personal and social acceptance
  • Two components: positive evaluation from other people (lower esteem needs), need to feel within ourselves that we are competent and successful (higher esteem needs)
• Self Actualisation


  • Personʼs desire for self-fulfilment, to become actualized in what he is potentially
  • Specific form varies greatly from person to person
  • Highest level to be achieved
  • Develop self to achieve full potential
  • Metaneeds (aesthetic and moral needs; beauty, truth, justice, ethics)
  • Self actualisers are creative, take pleasure in the everyday, non-judgemental, accepting oneself, others and the world (B-cognition)
• Psychopathology


  • A result of failure to meet needs
  • The lower level the unmet need the worse the psychopathology
  • Maslow used a combination of therapies (psychoanalysis - severe disturbance, behavioural interventions - milder problems, group work for healthy people to lead them towards self actualisation)
• Personality Development (Development)


  • Children need rules and boundaries
  • Socialising very important
• Importance of attachment bonds 


  • Childhood and adult attachment to significant others
  • Adult attachment styles determine interpersonal interactions, social support, feelings of loneliness, relationship problems
  • Attachment security linked to positive psychological outcomes
  • Attachment insecurity related to poorer psychological outcomes and in some cases poorer responses to psychotherapy