Abraham Maslow's Concept of Self-Actualization
From the beginning, Maslow's proposed that we as humans are drive by what he called a hierarchy of needs. His belief was that if our psychological needs are met, we then try to satisfy our need for personal safety. Once that is satisfied, we seek love - to beloved, to love, and to love ourselves. Once the need for love is satisfied, we look for self-esteem. With self-esteem achieved, we lastly look for self-actualization, which is the process of fulfilling our full potential, and self-transcendence, which is meaning, purpose, and communion beyond the self. Basically, as one need was satisfied, a person continue to work towards satisfying the next need up on the hierarchy of needs, until they achieved self-actualization.
He developed this idea by studying healthy, creative people rather than troubled clinical cases. His description of self-actualization was based on a study of those who were notable for their rich and productive lives, among these individuals were Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Maslow said that these people shred certain things in common: they were self-aware, self-accepting, open, spontaneous, loving, caring, and were not paralyzed by others' opinions.
The people's interests were problem-centered rather than self-entered since they were secure in their sense of who they are. Their energies were focused on certain tasks, which they often regarded as their mission in life. Most of them enjoyed a few deep relationships rather than superficial ones. Another notable characteristic was they had been moved by a spiritual or personal peak experience, which surpassed ordinary consciousness.
Maslow qualified these as being "mature adult qualities", and that are found in those who have learned enough about life to be compassionate, have surpassed their mixed feelings towards their parents, to have encountered their calling, and to have "acquired enough courage to be unpopular."
He developed this idea by studying healthy, creative people rather than troubled clinical cases. His description of self-actualization was based on a study of those who were notable for their rich and productive lives, among these individuals were Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Maslow said that these people shred certain things in common: they were self-aware, self-accepting, open, spontaneous, loving, caring, and were not paralyzed by others' opinions.
The people's interests were problem-centered rather than self-entered since they were secure in their sense of who they are. Their energies were focused on certain tasks, which they often regarded as their mission in life. Most of them enjoyed a few deep relationships rather than superficial ones. Another notable characteristic was they had been moved by a spiritual or personal peak experience, which surpassed ordinary consciousness.
Maslow qualified these as being "mature adult qualities", and that are found in those who have learned enough about life to be compassionate, have surpassed their mixed feelings towards their parents, to have encountered their calling, and to have "acquired enough courage to be unpopular."
How do these ideas exemplify the humanistic perspective and how do the relate to personality development?
The humanistic perspective focuses on the fact that people need to grow, learn, and form meaningful relationships. Maslow's perspective and his hierarchy of needs focuses on just that. There are certain things you need first (physiological) before other things come into play. He also believed that people were always growing at any age and would never reach self-actualization (the motivation to fulfill one's potential), the final level. It relates to personality development because, from what his theory tell us, we never stop growing. People change as they age; they become more mature with time and with new needs that need to be satisfied.