Abraham Maslow Guta Mihai-Alexandru !gr. 123 FABIZ

Who was he ?

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Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist and a a psychology professor at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University. He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a "bag of symptoms."

Major theories and concepts

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Maslow was concerned with questions such as, "Why don't more people self-actualise if their basic needs are met? How can we humanistically understand the problem of evil?""

Humanistic psychologists believe that every person has a strong desire to realise his or her full potential, to reach a level of "self-actualization" by their own means . Maslow did not conduct his studies on mentally ill person , but focused on analysing the behaviour and reactions of healthy individuals instead.

1) Qualities of self-actualising people

Self-actualising people tend to focus on problems outside themselves; have a clear sense of what is true and what is false; are spontaneous and creative; and are not bound too strictly by social conventions."

According to Maslow, self-actualising people share the following qualities :"

• Truth!

• Goodness!

• Beauty!

• Wholeness!

• Aliveness !

• Unique !

• Perfection !

• Necessity !

• Completion!

• Justice!

• Order!

• Simplicity!

• Richness !

• Self-sufficiency

2) Dynamics of self-actualisation

Maslow based his theory partially on his own assumptions about human potential and partially on his case studies of historical figures whom he believed to be self-actualised, including Albert Einstein and Henry David Thoreau. Consequently, Maslow argued, the way in which essential needs are fulfilled is just as important as the needs themselves. Together, these define the human experience."

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Maslow used Einstein's writings and accomplishments to exemplify the characteristics of the self-actualised person. But Ruth Benedict and Max Wertheimer were also Maslow's models of self-actualisation .

Hierarchy of Needs - Importance for Management

Maslow saw human beings' needs arranged like a ladder. The most basic needs, at the bottom, were PHYSICAL -- air, water, food, sex. Then came SAFETY needs -- security, stability -- followed by PSYCHOLOGICAL, or SOCIAL needs -- for belonging, love, acceptance. At the top of it all were the SELF-ACTUALISING needs -- the need to full-fill oneself, to become all that one is capable of becoming.

Maslow's Pyramid of Needs

According to Maslow's theory, when a human being ascends the levels of the hierarchy having fulfilled the needs in the hierarchy, one may eventually achieve self-actualisation. "

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Maslow felt that unfulfilled needs lower on the ladder would inhibit the person from climbing to the next step. Someone dying of thirst quickly forgets their thirst when they have no oxygen, as he pointed out."

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This fact , as proved by Maslow , represents a fundamental principle that every good manager should be aware of . So , the management process has to be done in the correct order , starting from accomplishing the easier tasks on the bottom , climbing from there to the more complex activities situated in the upper part. "

Most significant writings

•! A Theory of Human Motivation (1943)."

•! Motivation and Personality (1st edition: 1954, 2nd ed: 1970, 3rd ed: 1987)"

•! Religions, Values and Peak-experiences, (1964)."

•" Eupsychian Management (1965) ; rep. as Maslow on Management, (1998)"

•! The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance (1966); "

•! Toward a Psychology of Being (1st edition, 1962; 2nd edition, 1968)"

•" The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (1971)

Criticism and scepticism

Maslow's ideas have been criticised for their lack of scientific rigour. He was criticised as too soft scientifically by American empiricists. Basing his studies upon biographical data , the interpretation might turn to be subjective - not what a scientific research needs to be. "

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Furthermore, the Hierarchy of Needs has been accused of having a cultural bias—mainly reflecting Western values and ideologies. From the perspective of many cultural psychologists, this concept is considered relative to each culture and society and cannot be universally applied.

– A. H. Maslow (Psychology of Science)

"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail "