1. 1908 -1970

5. Born April 1,1908, in a slum in Brooklyn, NY
His parents, Samuel and Rose (Schilofsky) were
Russian Jews(he faced anti-Semitism as a child and in
academia)
He was the oldest of 7 children
Described as smart but very shy
With my childhood, it's a wonder I'm not psychotic. I was the little Jewish boy in
the non-Jewish neighborhood. It was a little like being the first Negro enrolled in the all-white
school. I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends.
Both my mother and father were uneducated. My father wanted me to be a lawyer.
He thumbed his way across the whole continent of Europe from Russia and got here at the age
of 15. He wanted success for me. I tried law school for two weeks. Then I came home to my
poor father one night after a class discussing "spite fences" and told him I couldn't be a lawyer.
"Well, son," he said, "what do you want to study?" I answered: "Everything." He was uneducated
and couldn't understand my passion for learning, but he was a nice man. He didn't understand
either that at 16, I was in love.
As interviewed by Psychology Today, 1968

6. According to Maslow's own recollections, his
father loved whiskey, women, and fighting, and regarded
his son as ugly and stupid. He even publicly announced
that his son was repulsively ugly.
His father's cutting comments negatively
impacted his self-image. Because he too thought of
himself as disgusting, Maslow would often look for empty
cars when riding the subway so that no one else would
have to come in contact with his detestable image.

7. Maslow deeply loathed his mother and wanted no interaction
with her whatsoever. His intense hatred originated from the fact that
she kept a bolted lock on the refrigerator door. She only removed the
lock when she was in the mood. On another occasion, Maslow found
two abandoned kittens on the street. He decided to take them home
and care for them. One evening, his mother discovered him giving the
hungry kittens some milk in the families' basement. She immediately
became enraged and smashed the kitten's heads against the basement
wall right before the youngster's eyes.
Maslow perceived his mother as being entirely insensitive and
unloving. She exhibited no sign of affection or love for anyone she
encountered, even her own family.

8. “During all my first twenty years, I was
depressed, terribly unhappy, lonely,
isolated (and self-rejecting).”

9. He attended the Boys High
school where he was a member of several
academic clubs and officer to different
school organizations.
He also edited the Latin
Magazine and the school’s Physics paper
for a year.
He was bullied by his teachers
and classmates because of his religion.
He has few friends and was close to his
cousin Will.
He spent more time in libraries
than in socialization
Boys High School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

10. Time Line of Maslow's Education & Career Life & Influences
1925- Enrolled at the City College of New York evening classes at the Brooklyn Law School
1926- Transferred to Cornell University, became a student of Edward B. Titchener
1928- Transferred to the University of Wisconsin; took up Psychology w/ experimental behaviorism as his field of study;
He developed a strong positivist mindset due to his experience with behaviorism; married Bertha Goodman.
1930- at 22, received his BA from the University of Wisconsin , worked with Harry Harlow on attachment behavior
1931- at 23, received his MA from the University of Wisconsin
1934- at 26, received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin and continues to teach there
1935- Moved to Columbia University as a Carnegie fellow & work with Edward Thorndike; interested & began research
on human sexuality
1937- (1951) Moved and taught full-time at the Old Brooklyn College >> Adler, Fromm, Horney, etc.. he was heavily
influenced by Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer and anthropologist Ruth Benedict. Maslow believed that they
were such exceptional people that he began to analyze and take notes on their behavior. This analysis also served as
the basis for his theories and research on mental health & human potential.
1941 – WWII, the horrors of wars, inspired a vision of peace in him influencing his psychological ideas and helped him
develop the discipline of humanistic psychology.
1943 - Proposed a theory of needs hierarchy in his paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ in ‘Psychological Review’. This
theory was explained in detail in his 1954 book ‘Motivation and Personality’.
1947- at 39, suffered a heart attack , took on medical leave & relocated to Pleasanton, California
1949 – recuperated & went back to Brooklyn College
1951- (1969) at 43, moved to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to serve as chairman of Psychology dept.
>>met Kurt Goldstein (The Organism, 1934), became interested in Humanistic Psych
1954- Motivation and Personality was published , he was 46
1961 – W/ Tony Sutich, they founded the ‘Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The journal continues to publish academic
papers till date.
1962- Established the American Association of Humanistic Psychology; went to Non- Linear Systems, Inc., as a visiting
fellow; Toward a Psychology of Being was published
1964- Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences is published
1966- The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance was published, became President of American Psychological Asso.
1967- American Humanist Association Humanist of the Year; had a near fatal heart attach.
1968- Toward a Psychology of Being published; offered a fellowship by the Saga Administration Corporation; retired
became a fellow at the Saga Administrative Corp.
1970- June 8, he died in Menlo Park, California of heart attack, he was 62.
1971- The Farther Reaches of Human Nature was published; received the American Psychological Foundation's Gold
Medal Award . http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/maslow.htm

11. One of the many interesting things Maslow
noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his
career (1930’s under Harry Harlow, UW) 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! Thirst is a “stronger” need than
hunger.
Likewise, if you are very, very thirsty, but
someone has put a choke hold on you and you
can’t breath, which is more important? The need
to breathe, of course. On the other hand, sex is
less powerful than any of these. Let’s face it, you
won’t die if you don’t get it!

12. 1937 to 1951 – Brooklyn College, NY, 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.
Humanistic Psychology -
focused on each individual's
potential and stressed the
importance of growth and self-actualization.
The fundamental
belief of humanistic psychology is
that people are innately good and
that mental and social problems
result from deviations from this
natural tendency. Rather than
focusing on deficiencies,
humanistic psychologists argue in
favor of finding people's strengths.

13. Growth Needs/B-needs/Metaneeds
Psychological Needs >>>
D-Needs >>>>
“A Theory of Human Motivation”
Motivation & Personality

15. The realization or fulfillment of one's
being, his talents and potentialities
fully realized; especially considered as
a drive or need present in everyone.
“What a man must
be, he must be”
These are needs that do not involve balance or
homeostasis. Once engaged, they continue to be felt. In fact, they are
likely to become stronger as we “feed” them! They involve the
continuous desire to fulfill potentials, to “be all that you can be.” They
are a matter of becoming the most complete, the fullest, “you” -- hence
the term, self-actualization.

16. Expanded Hierarchy of Needs
It is important to note that Maslow's
(1943, 1954) five stage model has
been expanded to include cognitive
and aesthetic needs (Maslow, 1970)
and later transcendence needs
(Maslow, 1970).
Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and
include a seven-stage model and a eight-stage model, both
developed during the 1960's and 1970s.
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter,
warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law,
stability, etc.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection
and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery,
independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial
responsibility, etc.
5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, of life, etc.
6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance,
form, etc.
7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment,
seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self
actualization.

17. The Concept of Self-Actualization
The growth of self-actualization
.
(Maslow, 1962) refers to the need for personal
growth and discovery that is present throughout
a person’s life. For Maslow, a person is always
'becoming' and never remains static in these
terms. In self-actualization a person comes to
find a meaning to life that is important to them.
As each person is unique the
motivation for self-actualization leads people in
different directions (Kenrick et al., 2010). For
some people self-actualization can be achieved
through creating works of art or literature, for
others through sport, in the classroom, or within
a corporate setting.

18. In Maslow’s Needs Theory, successfully working your way
up the hierarchy of need contributes to a healthy emotional
development. Fulfilling needs result in a more “stress-resistant”
personality.
Conversely, not fully meeting needs at any level of the
hierarchy results in an incomplete psychological growth and
development with resultant retarded emotional development.
Such people will carry around emotional “baggage” that can
lead to a “stress-prone” personality.
Coping With Stress in a Changing World, 4th Ed. 2007
By Richard Blonna

19. “ Self-actualized people are those who were fulfilled
and doing all they were capable of ”. (1943, 1954)

20. Education is learning to grow, learning
what to grow toward, learning what is
good and bad, learning what is
desirable and undesirable, learning
what to choose and what not to
choose.

21. Maslow was interested in human potential. He felt that all people
are born with unique qualities and the ability to maximize their
genetically determined potential. He was convinced that successful
people, those who seem to live life to its fullest, share certain unique
qualities that allow them to live to their fullest potential. He compile a
list of 48 of the most influential, historical, and contemporary figures of
his time; people he considered fully self-actualized.

23. Another way in which Maslow approach the problem of what is
self-actualization is to talk about the special, driving needs (B-needs,
metaneeds) of the self-actualizers. They need the
following in their lives in order to be happy:
Truth, rather than dishonesty.
Goodness, rather than evil.
Beauty, not ugliness or vulgarity.
Unity, wholeness, and transcendence of opposites, not
arbitrariness or forced choices.
Aliveness, not deadness or the mechanization of life.
Uniqueness, not bland uniformity.
Perfection and necessity, not sloppiness, inconsistency, or
accident.
Completion, rather than incompleteness.
Justice and order, not injustice and lawlessness.
Simplicity, not unnecessary complexity.
Richness, not environmental impoverishment.
Effortlessness, not strain.
Playfulness, not grim, humorless, drudgery.
Self-sufficiency, not dependency.
Meaningfulness, rather than senselessness.
When a self-actualizer
doesn’t get these needs
fulfilled, they respond w/
metapathologies -- a list
of problems as long as the
list of metaneeds!
“Let me summarize it by
saying that, when forced
to live without these
values, the self-actualizer
develops depression,
despair, disgust,
alienation, and a degree
of cynicism”.

24. Although people achieve self-actualization in their
own unique way, they tend to share certain
characteristics. However, self-actualization is a matter of
degree, 'There are no perfect human
beings' (Maslow,1970a, p. 176).
It is not necessary to display all 15 characteristics
to become self-actualized, and not only self-actualized
people will display them. Maslow did not equate self-actualization
with perfection.
Self-actualization merely involves achieving ones
potential. Thus someone can be silly, wasteful, vain and
impolite, and still self-actualize. Less than two percent of
the population achieve self-actualization.

25.  Maslow (1962) believed self-actualization could be
measured through the concept of peak
experiences. This occurs when a person
experiences the world totally for what it is, and
there are feelings of euphoria, joy and wonder.
It is important to note that self-actualization
is a continual process of
becoming rather than a perfect state one
reaches of a 'happy ever after' (Hoffman,
1988).

26. Beyond the routine of needs fulfilment, Maslow
envisioned moments of extraordinary and 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.
When Do Peak Experiences Occur?
"Think of the most wonderful experience of your life: the happiest
moments, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture, perhaps from being in
love, or from listening to music or suddenly 'being hit' by a book or
painting, or from some creative moment."
(Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being, 1962)
"Most of the peak experiences had occurred during athletic, artistic,
religious, or nature experiences, or during intimate moments with a friend
or family member. There were a number of peak experiences in which the
students achieved an important personal goal or collective goal. There
were also peak experiences in which the students overcame some
adversity or danger or helped someone in need."
(Polyson, Teaching of Psychology, 1985)

27. The Founding of Humanistic Psychology, 1962
Humanistic psychology emerged during the 1950s as a reaction
to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which dominated psychology at the
time. Maslow felt that psychology in the past had neglected to focus on normal,
fully functioning human beings. This new approach was later termed as the third
force. In 1962, Maslow founded the American Association of Humanistic Psychology
with such figures as Gordon Allport, George Kelly, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May. They
adhered to the following principles: (Hergenhahn & Olson, 1999)
1. The primary study of psychology should be experiencing the
person.
2. Choice, creativity, and self-realization, rather than mechanistic
reductionism, are the concern of the humanistic psychologist.
3. Only personally and socially significant problems should be
studied in significance, not objectivity, is the watchword.
4. The major concern of psychology should be the dignity and
enhancement of people.

28. Important Events in Humanistic Psychology
•1943 - Abraham Maslow described his hierarchy of needs in "A Theory
of Human Motivation" published in Psychological Review.
•1951 - Carl Rogers published Client-Centered Therapy, which
described his humanistic, client-directed approach to therapy.
•1962 - The American Association for Humanistic Psychology is formed
and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology was established.
•1966- Maslow became President of American Psychological Association.
*1967- American Humanist Association awarded him Humanist of the Year .
•1971 - Humanistic Psychology becomes an APA division.

29. Abraham Maslow published described his theory and the
humanistic psychology as the "third force" in psychology (Toward a
Psychology of Being, 1962). The first and second forces were
behaviorism and psychoanalysis respectively.
However, it is not necessary to think of these three schools of thought
as competing elements. Each branch of psychology has contributed to
our understanding of the human mind and behavior. Humanistic
psychology added yet another dimension that takes a more holistic
view of the individual.
In this theory the focus is shifted at the positive sides of
mental health. His interest in human potential, seeking peak
experiences and improving mental health by seeking personal growth
had a lasting influence on psychology.
While Maslow’s work fell out of favor with many academic
psychologists, his theories are enjoying a resurgence due to the rising
interest in positive psychology.

30. 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.

31. Maslow's (1968) hierarchy of needs theory has
made a major contribution to teaching and classroom
management in schools. Rather than reducing behavior
to a response in the environment, Maslow (1970a) adopts a holistic
approach to education and learning. Maslow looks at the entire physical,
emotional, social, and intellectual qualities of an individual and how
they impact on learning.
Applications of Maslow's hierarchy theory to the work of the
classroom teacher are obvious. Before a student's cognitive needs can be
met they must first fulfill their basic physiological needs. For example a
tired and hungry student will find it difficult to focus on learning.
Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted
within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential.
Maslow suggests students must be shown that they are valued and
respected in the classroom and the teacher should create a supportive
environment. Students with a low self-esteem will not progress
academically at an optimum rate until their self-esteem is
strengthened.

32. With Maslow’s theory, employers or managers have become
aware that by providing real meaning, purpose and true
personal development for their employees, they become
more effective not just for work, but for life as well.
Maslow saw these issues fifty years ago: the fact that -
employees have a basic human need and a right to strive for self-actualisation, just
as much as the corporate directors and owners do.
- Going beyond traditional work-related training and development, and of
course way beyond old-style X-Theory management autocracy, which still forms the
basis of much organised employment today.
- Provision of genuinely care, understanding, encouragement and enabling
their people's personal growth towards self-actualisation
- Provision of compassionate commitment to help people identify, pursue and
reach their own personal unique potential while building on company sustainable
success.
- When people grow as people, they automatically become more effective
and valuable as employees.
- The best modern employers recognise this and as such offer development
support to their staff in any direction whatsoever that the person seeks to grow
and become more fulfilled.
In fact virtually all personal growth, whether in a hobby, a special talent or
interest, or a new experience, produces new skills, attributes, behaviors and wisdom that
is directly transferable to any sort of job role.

33. Implications of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory for Managers
Physiological Needs
•Provide input for employee salaries and bonuses, incentives
Safety Needs
•Ensure the correct tools for the job are available.
•Create an environment where individuals are comfortable
Social Needs
•Schedule weekly project team meetings.
•Get the team together to celebrate project milestones.
• R & R
Esteem Needs
•Recognize team members for excellent contributions to the project. /Employee of the month
•Ensure each team member understands how important they are to the project.
•Award ceremonies
Self-Actualization Needs
•Take into account each team members professional goals when assigning tasks.
•Empower team members so that they can develop and grow.
•Staff development –further studies, relevant verticalized trainings & seminars
A person's behavior can focus on more than one need. For example, one of your team members may be
actively seeking promotion because it will lead to a higher salary (physiological need). But the promotion can also
satisfy esteem and self-actualization needs. Even though the needs are described as hierarchical, application of the
theory isn't as rigid.
The Maslow Theory of Motivation is a great tool for Project Managers to understand and use. It helps team
motivated as well as correct motivational issues.

34. The most significant limitation of Maslow's theory concerns his methodology. Maslow formulated the
characteristics of self-actualized individuals from undertaking a qualitative method called biographical analysis.
He looked at the biographies and writings of 18 people he identified as being self-actualized. From these sources
he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of this specific group of people, as opposed to humanity in general.
From a scientific perspective there are numerous problems with this particular approach. First, it could be
argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher.
Personal opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity f any data obtained. Therefore Maslow's operational
definition of self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as scientific fact.
Furthermore, Maslow's biographical analysis focused on a biased sample of self-actualized individuals,
prominently limited to highly educated white males (such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, William
James, Aldous Huxley, Gandhi, Beethoven).
Although Maslow (1970) did study self-actualized females, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa, they
comprised a small proportion of his sample. This makes it difficult to generalize his theory to females and individuals from
lower social classes or different ethnicity. Thus questioning the population validity of Maslow's findings.
Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow's concept of self-actualization in a way that causal relationships
can be established.
Another criticism concerns Maslow's assumption that the lower needs must be satisfied before a person can
achieve their potential and self-actualize. This is not always the case, and therefore Maslow's hierarchy of needs in some
aspects has been falsified.
Through examining cultures in which large numbers of people live in poverty (such as India) it is clear that
people are still capable of higher order needs such as love and belongingness. However, this should not occur, as according to
Maslow, people who have difficulty achieving very basic physiological needs (such as food, shelter etc.) are not capable of
meeting higher growth needs.
Also, many creative people, such as authors and artists (e.g. Rembrandt and Van Gough) lived in poverty
throughout their lifetime, yet it could be argued that they achieved self-actualization.
Contemporary research by Tay & Diener (2011) has tested Maslow’s theory by analyzing the data of 60,865
participants from 123 countries, representing every major region of the world. The survey was conducted from 2005 to 2010.
Respondents answered questions about six needs that closely resemble those in Maslow's model: basic needs (food, shelter);
safety; social needs (love, support); respect; mastery; and autonomy. They also rated their well-being across three discrete
measures: life evaluation (a person's view of his or her life as a whole), positive feelings (day-to-day instances of joy or
pleasure), and negative feelings (everyday experiences of sorrow, anger, or stress).
The results of the study support the view that universal human needs appear to exist regardless of cultural
differences. However, the ordering of the needs within the hierarchy was not correct.
"Although the most basic needs might get the most attention when you don't have them," Diener explains, "you don't need to
fulfill them in order to get benefits [from the others]." Even when we are hungry, for instance, we can be happy with our friends.
"They're like vitamins," Diener says on how the needs work independently. "We need them all."

35. 1. Methodology – biographical analysis is qualitative & subjective;
small biased samples, difficult to measure or test as to the causal
relationship, not scientific
2. Hierarchy or order of needs by closer look does not always
follow across people form all walks of life. (Tay & Diener, 2011)
there are many examples of highly-actualized people who were
deprived of other lower needs or that people physiologically
deprived are still capable of attaining higher order needs.

36. In his defense, Maslow expressed that he understood his
critics, and thought of his work as simply pointing the way. He
hoped that others would take up the cause and complete what he
had begun in a more rigorous fashion.
It is a curiosity that Maslow, the “father” of American
humanism, began his career as a behaviorist with a strong
physiological bent. He did indeed believe in science, and often
grounded his ideas in biology. He only meant to broaden
psychology to include the best in us, as well as the pathological!
“I have worked out a lot of good tricks for fending
off professional attacks. We all have to do that.”
At 60, he knew that time permitted him only to plant
seeds (in his own metaphor) of research and theory
and hope that later generations would live to see the
flowering of human betterment.
Overcoming Evil: An interview with Abraham Maslow, founder of
Humanistic Psychology.
By E. Hoffman published by Psychology Today January 01, 1992

37. In 1968 he went into retirement due to failing health. He
lived in California with his wife Bertha and 2 beloved children, Ann
and Ellen. He enjoyed a happy lifelong marriage with Bertha. It is
said that he remained modest and reportedly very humble, even
after he became famous.
He eventually became a public intellectual who wrote for a
general audience as well as influencing business leaders, Maslow's
ideas fed into the counter-culture movement. (he had links with the
psychedelic figurehead, Timothy Leary).
One morning in June 8, 1970, while slowly jogging in place
beside his pool he had a heart attack and died. He was 72.

38. 70 years after the emergence of his
movement his ideas and influence are still
relevant and continue to remain with us today.
So does his challenge for us to strive
to become more of what we are capable of
becoming.

39. Fin

40. References:
The Science of Psychology: an Appreciative View by Laura King pp. 379-380; 415-416
http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhmasl.html
Http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23902918
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/p/abraham-maslow.htm
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/maslow.htm

41. An Academic Discussion by:
May Flerida M. Culango, RGC
September 20, 2014