Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow’s Accomplishments

Abraham Maslow was born in Brooklyn in 1908. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants who had six more children after Abraham. Growing up in Brooklyn, he experienced prejudice, discrimination, and racism. He spent lots of time in libraries since he loved reading. He married Bertha soon after high school, and they had two kids.

Several important things happened to Maslow during his college years. Alfred Adler mentored him, and Maslow's advisor for his doctorate was Harry Harlow. When Maslow was in college, behaviorism was the dominant field in psychology. Maslow felt like something important was missing in this perspective, though. He developed a positive view of psychology in reaction to behaviorism.

Even though we usually categorize Maslow’s works under humanistic psychology, Maslow called it “positive psychology.” Later, Martin Seligman built on Maslow’s ideas to create an entire field of positive psychology!

Maslow was a psychology professor and author. He helped get an academic journal started for humanistic psychology (1961) and another for transpersonal psychology (1969). In 1968, Maslow became the president of the American Psychological Association. He was also nominated for president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology earlier in 1963. Still, he turned down this honor so that others would have more voice in this new movement.

Maslow, wikimedia.commons.org

Abraham Maslow’s Contributions to Psychology

After the horrible things that happened during World War II, Maslow felt even more strongly about focusing on the good side of humanity. He wanted to know how people can achieve mental health and reach their fullest potential for success and goodness. His ideas became known as humanistic psychology.

There are two essential ideas in humanistic psychology: humans are fundamentally good and possess free will. Maslow believed in these ideas and wanted other psychologists to recognize and incorporate them. Most psychologists then focused on explaining and treating human struggles and problems. They pretty much wholly overlooked the positive side of human life.

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Most people probably immediately think of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory when they hear his name. This hierarchy is a series of steps that people try to climb in life to achieve their full potential. At the bottom, it starts with meeting basic needs like food and water. As you move up, the needs become more complicated, like achieving financial security and forming intimate relationships. If a person climbs all the steps, at the very top is happiness, health, and satisfaction with life.

Hierarchy of Needs, StudySmarter Original

The top level of Maslow's hierarchy is split into two extra levels. The first is cognitive or intellectual: the person works on meeting the need to learn and explore new things. The second is aesthetic, which means a search for beauty, order, and harmony in yourself and the world. These two extra levels help the person climb up to their fullest potential.

Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualization

What happens when you get to the top of the hierarchy? According to Maslow, not everyone makes it to the top. If you do, you will experience what he called self-actualization.

Self-actualization looks different for every person. It depends on what kind of talents and interests you have. It also depends on your personality and what you like or value.

Even though it will look somewhat different for each person, Maslow did come up with qualities he thought all self-actualized people would possess. He called these “being values” or “B-values,” because they are character traits that make up a human being. He believed that possessing these B-values would lead to mental health and happiness.

Maslow's B-Values, StudySmarter Original

It is important to note that Maslow's ideas about self-actualization are more of a philosophy than a scientific explanation. It is hard to objectively define and study self-actualization since it depends on personal beliefs about human beings and life. It is still a useful concept in psychology, and other psychologists besides Maslow are interested in the idea.

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Maslow was a massive contributor to humanistic psychology. Probably the most well-known psychologist in humanistic psychology is Carl Rogers, who was alive at the same time as Maslow. Both Maslow and Rogers believed that human beings are fundamentally good and want to become the best version of themselves.

Maslow was a professor and writer, but Rogers was a therapist. He developed a method of helping people overcome struggles and achieve their desires called client-centered therapy. It is about treating other people with warmth, kindness, and understanding. Rogers believed that creating a warm, accepting environment is the best way to help people achieve their full potential.