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Abraham Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist. He is mostly noted today for his proposal of a hierarchy of human needs.

[edit] Biography

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Maslow was the first of seven children of Jewish immigrants from Russia. His parents were uneducated, but they insisted that he study law. At first, Abraham acceded to their wishes and enrolled in the City College of New York. However, after three semesters he transferred to Cornell, then back to CCNY. After he married, he moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin from which he received his B.A. (1930), his M.A. (1931), and his Ph.D. (1934) in psychology. While in Wisconsin, Maslow studied with Harry Harlow, who was known for his studies of rhesus monkeys and attachment behavior. A year after graduation, Maslow returned to New York to work with E. L. Thorndike at Columbia.

Maslow began teaching full time at Brooklyn College. During this time he met many leading European psychologists, including Alfred Adler and Erich Fromm. In 1951, Maslow became the chairman of the psychology department at Brandeis University, where he began his theoretical work. There, he met Kurt Goldstein, who introduced him to the idea of self-actualization.

He retired to California, where he died of a heart attack in 1970 after years of ill health.

[edit] Work

Diagram of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with more primitive needs at the bottom.

Maslow's primary contribution to psychology is his Hierarchy of Human Needs, which he often presented as a pyramid. Maslow contended that humans have a number of needs that are instinctoid, that is, innate. These needs are classified as "conative needs," "cognitive needs," and "aesthetic needs." "Neurotic needs" are included in Maslow's theory but do not exist within the hierarchy.

Maslow assumed our needs are arranged in a hierarchy in terms of their potency. Although all needs are instinctive, some are more powerful than others. The lower the need is in the pyramid, the more powerful it is. The higher the need is in the pyramid, the weaker and more distinctly human it is. The lower, or basic, needs on the pyramid are similar to those possessed by non-human animals, but only humans possess the higher needs.

The first four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D-needs:" the individual does not feel anything if they are met, but feels anxious if they are not met. Needs beyond the D-needs are "growth needs," "being values," or "B-needs." When fulfilled, they do not go away; rather, they motivate further."

The base of the pyramid is formed by the physiological needs, including the biological requirements for food, water, air, and sleep.

Once the physiological needs are met, an individual can concentrate on the second level, the need for safety and security. Included here are the needs for structure, order, security, and predictability.

The third level is the need for love and belonging. Included here are the needs for friends and companions, a supportive family, identification with a group, and an intimate relationship.

The fourth level is the esteem needs. This group of needs requires both recognition from other people that results in feelings of prestige, acceptance, and status, and self-esteem that results in feelings of adequacy, competence, and confidence. Lack of satisfaction of the esteem needs results in discouragement and feelings of inferiority.

Finally, self-actualization sits at the apex of the original pyramid.

In 1970 Maslow published a revision to his original 1954 pyramid ([1]), adding the cognitive needs (first the need to acquire knowledge, then the need to understand that knowledge) above the need for self-actualization, and the aesthetic needs (the needs to create and/or experience beauty, balance, structure, etc.) at the top of the pyramid. However, not all versions of Maslow's pyramid include the top two levels.

Maslow theorized that unfulfilled cognitive needs can become redirected into neurotic needs. For example, children whose safety needs are not adequately met may grow into adults who compulsively hoard money or possessions (see[2]). Unlike other needs, however, neurotic needs do not promote health or growth if they are satisfied.

Maslow also proposed that people who have reached self-actualization will sometimes experience a state he referred to as "transcendence," in which they become aware of not only their own fullest potential, but the fullest potential of human beings at large. He described this transcendence and its characteristics in an essay in the posthumously published The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. (see flow).

In the essay, he describes this experience as not always being transitory, but that certain individuals might have ready access to it, and spend more time in this state. He makes a point that these individuals experience not only ecstatic joy, but also profound "cosmic-sadness" (Maslow, 1971) at the ability of humans to foil chances of transcendence in their own lives and in the world at large.

Maslow's theory of human needs draws strongly on the pioneering work of Henry Murray (1938). This provides the basis for wide-ranging and extensively validated work relating to achievement, affiliation, power and ambition."We move toward self actuaalization". This quote brings in Maslow's theory of motivation, tying along with the growth, happiness and satisfaction of every person. He believes to be motivated that it is not driven by reducing tension or avoiding frustration that people look for a positive view.

[edit] See also

• Henry Murray
• Carl Rogers
• Clayton Alderfer
• Colin Wilson
• Douglas McGregor
• Frederick Herzberg
• Rollo May
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs
• David McClelland
• Victor Vroom
• Organizational behavior
• Humanistic psychology
• Human Potential Movement
• Positive Disintegration
• Post-materialism

[edit] Publications

[edit] Books

• Maslow, A H (1938) Cases in Personality and Abnormal Psychology (New York: Brooklyn College Press, 1938).
• Maslow, A H & Mittelmann, B (1941) Principles of Abnormal Psychology: The Dynamics of Psychic Illness. (New York: Harper and Brothers
• Maslow, A H (1954) Motivation and Personality. New, York: Harper & Row.(2nd edition: 1970)
• Maslow, A H & Mittelman, B. (1951) Principles of Abnormal Psychology (Revised Edition) New York: Harper & Row,.
• Maslow, A H (1959) (Ed), New Knowledge in Human Values.New York: Harper & Row.
• Maslow, A H (1962) Toward a Psychology of Being. Princeton, N.J.: D. Van Nostrand Co.
• Maslow, A H (1964) Religions, Values and Peak-experiences Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press,
• Maslow, A H (1968) Toward a Psychology of Being, 2d ed., Van Nostrand.
• Maslow, A H & Hung-Min Chiang (1969) The Healthy Personality: Readings. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
• Maslow, A H (1970) Motivation and Personality. Rev. ed. New York: Harper & Row.
• Maslow, A H (1971) Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York: Viking Press.

[edit] Chapters in Books

• Maslow, A H (1937) Personality and patterns of culture. In Stagner, Ross, Psychology of Personality (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1937).
• Maslow, A H (1951) Social Theory of Motivation. In M. Shore (Ed.), Twentieth Century Mental Hygiene (New York: Social Science Publishers, 1950).
• Maslow, A H & MacKinnon, D. (1951) Personality In H. Helson (Ed.), Theoretical Foundations of Psychology ( New York: D. Van Nostrand Co.,1951) .
• Maslow, A H (1956) Personality problems and personality growth. In C. Moustakas (Ed.), The Self (New York: Harper & Row, 1956).
• Maslow, A H (1956) Power relationships and patterns of personal development. In A. Kornbauser (Ed.), Problems of Power in American Democracy (Detroit: Wayne University Press, 1957).
• Maslow, A H (1953) Love in Healthy People. In A. Montagu (Ed.), The Meaning of Love (New York: Julian Press, 1953), pp. 57-93.
• Maslow, A H (1959) Creativity in self-actualizing people. In H. H. Anderson (Ed.), Creativity & Its Cultivation (New York: Harper & Row, 1959).
• Maslow, A H (1959) Mental health and religion. In Religion, Science and Mental Health, Academy of Religion and Mental Health (New York: University Press, 1959).
• Maslow, A H & Diaz- Guerrero, R. (1960) Juvenile delinquency as a value disturbance. In J. Peatman and E. Hartley (Eds.), Festschrift for Gardner Murphy (New York: Harper & Row, 1960).
• Maslow, A H (1960) Resistance to being rubricized. In B. Kaplan and S. Wapner (Eds.), Perspectives in Psychological Theory (New York: International Universities Press, 1960).
• Maslow, A H (1961) Some frontier problems in mental health. In A. Combs (Ed.), Personality Theory and Counseling Practice. Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida Press.
• Maslow, A H (1962) Some basic propositions of a growth and self-actualization psychology. In A. Combs (Ed.), Perceiving, Behaving, Becoming: A New Focus for Education 1962 Yearbook of Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Washington, D.C.
• Maslow, A H (1968) Toward the Study of Violence. In Ng, Larry (Ed.), Alternatives to Violence, Time-Life Books.
• Maslow, A H (1969) A Holistic Approach to Creativity. In Taylor. C. W. (Ed.), A Climate for Creativity: Reports of the Seventh National Research Conference on Creativity, University of Utah.

Maslow, A H (1968) Human Potentialities and the Healthy Society. In Otto, Herbert (Ed.), Human Potentialities, Warren H. Green, Inc., St. Louis, Mo.

• Maslow, A H (1968) The New Science of Man. In Papers on The Human Potential for the Twentieth Century Fund, New York.

[edit] Tests

• Maslow, A H (1942) The Social Personality Inventory: A Test for Self-esteem in Women (with manual). (Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1942).
• Maslow, A H (1951) The S-I Test (A measure of psychological security-insecurity.) (Palo Alto, Calif.: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1951).

[edit] Papers

• A Theory of Human Motivation (1943, originally published in Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. Available online.)

• Maslow, A H, Harlow,HF and Uehling. (1932) Delayed reaction tests on primates from the lemur to the Orangoutan. Jour. Comparative Psychol., 13: 313-43.
• Maslow, A H, & Harlow,HF (1932) Delayed reaction tests on primates at Bronx Park Zoo. Jour. Comparative Psychol., 14: 97-107.
• Maslow, A H (1932) The "emotion" of disgust in dogs. Jour. Comparative Psychol., 14: 401-07.
• Maslow, A H (1933) Food preferences of primates. Jour. of Comparative Psychol., 16: 187-97.
• Maslow, A H & Groshong, E (1934) Influence of differential motivation on delayed reactions in monkeys. Jour. Comparative Psychol., 18: 75-83.
• Maslow, A H (1934) The effect of varying external conditions on learning, retention and reproduction. Jour. Experimental Psychol., 17: 36-47.
• Maslow, A H (1934) The effect of varying time intervals between acts of learning with a note on proactive inhibition. Jour. Experimental Psychol., 17: 141-44.
• Maslow, A H (1935) Appetites and hungers in animal motivation. Jour. Comparative Psychol., 20: 75-83.
• Maslow, A H (1935) Individual psychology and the social behavior of monkeys and apes. Int. Jour. of Individ. Psychol., 1: 47-59.
• Maslow, A H (1936) The role of dominance in the social and sexual behavior of infrai-human primates 1. Observations at Vilas Park Zoo. Jour. Genetic Psychol., 48: 261-277.
• Maslow, A H & Flanzbaum, S (1936) II. An experimental determination of the dominance behavior syndrome. Jour. Genetic Psychol., 48: 278-309.
• Maslow, A H (1936) A theory of sexual behavior of infra-human primates. Jour. Genetic Psychol., 48: 310-38.
• Maslow, A H (1936) IV. The determination of hierarchy in pairs and in groups. Jour. Genetic Psychol., 49: 161-98.

1937

• Maslow, A H (1937) The comparative approach to social behavior. Social Forces, 15: 487-90.
• Maslow, A H (1937) The influence of familiarization on preferences. Jour. Experimental Psychol., 21: 162-80.
• Maslow, A H (1937) Dominance-feeling, behavior and status. Psychological Review, 44: 404-29.
• Maslow, A H & Grether, W (1937) An experimental study of insight in monkeys. Jour. Comparative Psychol., 24: 127-34.
• Maslow, A H (1939) *Maslow, A H (1932) Dominance-feeling, personality and social behavior in women. Jour. Social Psychol., 10: 3-39.
• Maslow, A H (1940) Dominance-quality and social behavior in infra-human primates. Jour. Social Psychol., 11: 313-24.
• Maslow, A H (1940) A test for dominance-feeling (self-esteem) in college women. Jour. Social Psychol., 12:255-70.
• Maslow, A H (1941) Deprivation, threat and frustration. Psychol. Review , 48: 364-66.
• Maslow, A H (1942) Liberal leadership and personality. Freedom, 2: 27-30.
• Maslow, A H (1942) The dynamics of psychological security-insecurity. Character and Personality. 10: 331-44.
• Maslow, A H (1942) A comparative approach to the problem of destructiveness. Psychiatry, 5, 517-22.
• Maslow, A H (1942) Self-esteem (dominance-feeling) and sexuality in women. Jour. Social Psychol. 16, 259-94.
• Maslow, A H (1943) A preface to motivation theory. Psychosomatic Medicine, 5, 85-92.
• Maslow, A H (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-96.
• Maslow, A H (1943) Conflict, frustration and the theory of threat. Jour. of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 38, 81-86.
• Maslow, A H (1943) The dynamics of personality organization 1. & II., Psychological Review, 50 , 514-39, 541-58.
• Maslow, A H (1943) The authoritarian character structure. Jour. of Social Psychol. 18,401-11.
• Maslow, A H (1944) What intelligence tests mean. Jour. of General Psych. 31: 85-93.
• Maslow, A H , Birsh, E., Stein, M., and Honigman, I. (1945) A clinically derived test for measuring psychological security-insecurity. Jour. of General Psychology, 33: 21-41.
• Maslow, A H (1945) A suggested improvement in semantic usage. Psychological Review , 52: 239-40.
• Maslow, A H (1945) Experimentalizing the clinical method. Jour. of Clinical Psychology , 1: 241-43.
• Maslow, A H & Szilagyi-Kessler, I. (1946) Security and breast-feeding. Jour. of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 41:83-85.
• Maslow, A H (1946) Problem-centering vs. means-centering in science. Philosophy of Science, 13: 326-31.
• Maslow, A H (1947) A symbol for holistic thinking. Persona. 1: 24-25.
• Maslow, A H (1948) "Higher" and "lower" needs. Jour. of Psychology , 25: 433-36.
• Maslow, A H (1948) Cognition of the particular and of the generic. Psychological Review , 55: 22-40.
• Maslow, A H (1948) Some theoretical consequences of basic need-gratification. Jour. of Personality, 16: 402-16.
• Maslow, A H (1949) Our maligned animal nature. Jour. of Psychology , 28: 273-78.
• Maslow, A H (1949) The expressive component of behavior. Psychol. Review , 56: 261- 72.
• Maslow, A H (1950) Self-actualizing people: a study of psychological health. Personality Symposia : Symposium # 1 on Values, 1950, pp. 11-34 (New York: Grune & Stratton).
• Maslow, A H (1951) Higher needs and personality, Dialectica (University of Liege), 5, 257-65.
• Maslow, A H (1951) Resistance to acculturation, Jour. of
• Maslow, A H (1951) Social Issues , 1951, 7, 26-29.
• Maslow, A H & Sakoda, J. (1951) Volunteer-error in the Kinsey study. Jour. Abnormal & Social Psychology , 1952, 47, 259-62.
• Maslow, A H & Zimmerman, W. (1953) College teaching ability, scholarly activity and personality. J. Educ. Psychol. , 1953, 47, 185-189.
• Maslow, A H (1954) The instinctoid nature of basic needs. Jour. of Personality, 1954, 22,326-47.
• Maslow, A H (1954) Normality, health and values, Main Currents, 1954, 10, 75-81.
• Maslow, A H & Mintz, N. (1956) Effects of esthetic surroundings: I. Initial effects of three esthetic conditions upon perceiving "energy" and "well-being" in faces. J. Psychol., 1956, 41, 247-54.
• Maslow, A H (1932) Defense and growth. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1956, 3, 36-47.
• Maslow, A H (1956) A philosophy of psychology, Main Currents, 1956,13, 27-32.
• Maslow, A H & Bossom, J. (1956) Security of judges as a factor in impressions of warmth in others. J. Abn. Soc. Psychol., 1957, 55, 147-8.
• Maslow, A H (1956) Two kinds of cognition and their integration. General Semantics Bulletin, 1957, Nos. 20 & 21, 17-22. Reprinted in New Era in Home and School, 1958, 39, 202-5.
• Maslow, A H (1958) Emotional Blocks to Creativity. Journal of Individual Psychology, 1958, 14, 51-56.
• Maslow, A H (1959) Cognition of being in the peak experiences. J. Genetic Psychol., 1959, J4, 43-66.
• Maslow, A H (1959) Critique of self-actualization. I. Some dangers of Being-cogni- tion, J. Individual Psychol., 1959, 15, 24-32.
• Maslow, A H (1960) Remarks on existentialism and psychology. Existentialist Inquiries, 1960, 1, 1-5.
• Maslow, A H, Rand, H. and Newman, S. (1960) Some parallels between the dominance and sexual behavior of monkeys and the fantasies of patients in psychotherapy. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 1960, 131, 202-212.
• Maslow, A H (1961) Health as transcendence of the environment. Jour. Humanistic Psychology, 1961,1,1-7.
• Maslow, A H (1961) Peak-experiences as acute identity experiences. Amer. Journ. Psychoanalysis, 1961, 21, 254-260.
• Maslow, A H (1961) Eupsychia - The good society, Journ. Humanistic Psychology, 1961,1,1-11.
• Maslow, A H (1961) Are our publications and conventions suitable for the Personal Sciences? Amer. Psychologist, 1961, 16, 318-19.
• Maslow, A H (1961) Comments on Skinner's attitude to science. Daedalus, 1961, 90, 572-73.
• Maslow, A H (1961) Notes Toward a Psychology of Being. WBSI Report No. 7.
• Maslow, A H (1962) Lessons from the peak-experiences. Journ. Humanistic Psychology, 2, 9-18.
• Maslow, A H (1962) Notes on Being-Psychology Journ. Humanistic Psychology, 2,47-71.
• Maslow, A H (1962) Was Adler a disciple of Freud? A note. Journ. Individual Psychology, 18,125.
• Maslow, A H (1963) The need to know and the fear of knowing. Journ. General Psychol., 1963, 68, 111-25.
• Maslow, A H (1963) The creative attitude. The Structurist, No. 3, 4-10.
• Maslow, A H (1963) Fusions of facts and values. Amer. Journ. Psychoanalysis, 23,117-31.
• Maslow, A H (1963) Criteria for judging needs to be instinctoid. Proceedings of 1963 International Congress of Psychology (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishers, 1964), 86-87.
• Maslow, A H (1963) Further notes on Being-Psychology. Journ. Humanistic Psychology, 3,120-35.
• Maslow, A H (1963) Notes on innocent cognition. In L. Schenk-Danzinger and H. Thomae (Eds.), Gegenwartsprobleme der Entwicklungs Psychologic: Festschrift fur Charlotte Buhler, Verlag fur Psyehologie, Gottingen, 1963.
• Maslow, A H (1963) Notes on unstructured groups. Human Relations Training News, 7, 1-4.
• Maslow, A H (1964) The superior person. Trans-action, 1964, 1, 10-13.
• Maslow, A H & Gross, L. (1964) Synergy in society and in the individual. J. Individual Psychol., 20, 153-64.
• Maslow, A H (1964) Further notes on the Psychology of Being, J. Humanistic Psychology, 4, 45,58.
• Maslow, A H (1965) Observing and Reporting Education Experiments. Humanist 25: 13.
• Maslow, A H (1965) Foreword to Andras Angyal, Neurosis & Treatment: A Holistic Theory, Wiley, v-vii.
• Maslow, A H (1965) The Need for Creative People. Personnel Administration 28:3-5, 21-22.
• Maslow, A H (1965) Critique and Discussion. In Money, J. (Ed.), Sex Research: New Developments. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 135-143, 144- 146.
• Maslow, A H (1965) Humanistic Science and Transcendent Experiences. Jour. Humanistic Psychol. 5: 219-227.
• Maslow, A H (1965) Criteria for Judging Needs to be Instinctoid. In Jones, M. R. (Ed.), Human Motivation: A Symposium, Univ. Nebraska Press, 33-47.
• Maslow, A H (1965) Eupsychian Management: A Journal. Irwin-Dorsey.
• Maslow, A H & R. Morant,R (1965) Art judgment and the judgment of Others: A Preliminary Study. Jour. Clinical Psychol. 21: 389-391.
• Maslow, A H (1966) Isomorphic Interrelationships between Knower and Known. In Kepes, G. (Ed.), Sign, Image, Symbol, Braziller.
• Maslow, A H (1966) The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance. New York: Harper & Row.
• Maslow, A H (1966) Toward a Psychology of Religious Awareness. Explorations 9: 23-41.
• Maslow, A H (1966) Comments on Dr. Frankl's Paper. Jour. Humanistic Psychol. 6: 107-112.
• Maslow, A H (1967) Neurosis as a Failure of Personal Growth. Humanitas 3: 153-169.
• Maslow, A H (1967) Synanon and Eupsychia Jour. Humanistic Psychol. 7: 28-35.
• Maslow, A H (1967) A Theory of Metamotivation: The Biological Rooting of the Value-life. Jour. Humanistic Psychol. 7: 93-127.
• Maslow, A H (1967) Self-actualizing and Beyond. In Bugental, J. F. T. (Ed.), Challenges of Humanistic Psychology, McGraw-Hill.
• Maslow, A H (1968) Music Education and Peak-experiences. Music Educators Jour. 54: 72-75, 163-171.
• Maslow, A H (1968) The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. Jour. Transpersonal Psychol. 1: 1-9.
• Maslow, A H (1968) Some Educational Implications of the Humanistic Psychologies. Harvard Educational Review 38: 4, 685-696.
• Maslow, A H (1968) Goals of Humanistic Education. Esalen Papers.

"*Maslow and Self-actualization" (film). Psychological Films, Santa Ana, Calif.

• Maslow, A H (1968) Some Fundamental Questions That Face the Normative Social Psychologist. Jour. Humanistic Psychol. 8.
• Maslow, A H (1969) Theory Z. Jour. Transpersonal Psychol. 1 (2): 31:47.
• Maslow, A H (1969) Various Meanings of Transcendence. Jour. Transpersonal Psychol. 1: 56-66.
• Maslow, A H (1969) Toward a Humanistic Biology. American Psychologist 24: 724-735.
• Maslow, A H (1969) Humanistic Education vs. Professional Education. New Directions in Teaching 2: 6-8.
• Maslow, A H (1970) Humanistic Education vs. Professional Education. New Directions in Teaching 2: 3-10.

[edit] Further reading

• The Right to be Human by Edward Hoffman
• The Founders of Humanistic Psychology by Roy Jose DeCarvalho
• Wahba, M.A. & Bridwell, L. G. (1976). Maslow Reconsidered: A Review of Research on the Need Hierarchy Theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 15, 212-240

[edit] External links

• Comprehensive bibliography
• Abraham H. Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (1955-1957)

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