Abraham Maslow

Who was he? An American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs- a theory of self-actualization. Maslow was 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.

Maslows’ Hierarchy of needs He began his theory back in It is a theory he proposed in 1943 called ‘A Theory of Human Motivation.’ His work looked into the behaviours of people to help describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through. He categorised these as:

Physiological Safety Belongingness and Love Esteem Self-Actualization needs These can be seen in the following hierarchy.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.

Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences including divorce and loss of job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of he hierarchy. Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs.

When he used individuals to make his studies and theories he chose to avoid any mentally ill, or unhealthy people. He opted for the top 1% in a college population where he based his study.

Famous Quotes ‘ If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.’ ‘If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.’ ‘If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I'd still swim. And I'd despise the one who gave up.’

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