Motivational Theorist Paper: Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow
“What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization.” (“Brainy Quote”) This quote by Abraham Harold Maslow is the foundation on which much of his work is based. Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 1, 1908, to a poor Jewish immigrant family from Russia. He was the first of seven children and since his parents wished for the best for their children they were very strong about academic achievement. Due to this push from his parents he became a very unsociable boy and found comfort in reading and studying books. His parents treated him very unfairly and were downright mean to him by telling him that he was ugly to physically beating him up. He came from a very stressed household, because his parents had no lover for him or the rest of the family. These different aspects of his young life built him to what he was and he got into college studying psychology. Studying psychology is where he would assess and study human needs and wants, and then come up his well-known hierarchy of needs triangle.
His college education began in 1925 when he first studied law in the City College of New York. After just three semesters there, he transferred to Cornell and then back again. Once back at the City College of New York, he married his first cousin Bertha Goodman and the couple would go on to have two daughters. Once 1928 came, Abraham and Bertha moved to Wisconsin in order for him to attend the University of Wisconsin. Here is where an interest for psychology was sparked and his studies began. While studying here, he worked much of his time with Harry Harlow who studied monkeys. He was very successful, and in 1930 he received his BA, in 1931 he received his MA...
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...oals and future. His hierarchy of needs is all very logical in that once the basic needs are met we can move up to the next needs, however this does not mean that any need would be exactly less important. We each can work our way up to the top and fill this potential that he speaks of to make our life the fullest. The famous hierarchy of needs is what assess the human needs and wants to show what everyone needs in their life. Thanks to Abraham Maslow, we have a diagram to clearly depict and show each level of these needs.
Works Cited
“Abraham Maslow”. Pbs.org. Web. 4 March 2014.
“Abraham Maslow Quotes”. Brainyquote.com. Web. 6 March 2014.
“Biography of Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)”. Psychology.about.com. Web. 4 March 2014.
Boeree, C. “Abraham Maslow”. Webspace.ship.edu. 2006. Web. 4 March 2014.
Emrich, Michelle. “Abraham Maslow”. Muskingum.edu. Web. 6 March 2014.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that includes a five level pyramid of basic human
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Psychologist Abraham Maslow created the hierarchy of needs, outlining and suggesting what a person need to reach self-actualization and reveal the true potential of themselves. In the model, Maslow propose that a person has to meet basic needs in order to reach the true potential of themselves. Biological/physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging need, esteem needs according to Maslow is the fundamental frame for reaching the peak of self. The last need to be met on the scale
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In 1954 an American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that all people are motivated to fulfill a hierarchical pyramid of needs. At the bottom of Maslow's pyramid are needs essential to survival, such as the needs for food, water, and sleep. The need for safety follows these physiological needs. According to Maslow, higher-level needs become important to us only after our more basic needs are satisfied. These higher needs include the need for love and 'belongingness', the need for esteem, and the need for self-actualization (In Maslow's theory, a state in which people realize their greatest potential) (All information by means of Encarta Online Encyclopedia).
Abraham Harold Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a humanistic psychologist and was best known for “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” (Good Therapy, 2015). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes the following five levels in ascending order: physiological needs at the base, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization at the apex of the pyramid. A person must meet their needs in each level before continuing up the pyramid. Those who reach self-actualization know who they want to become in terms of talents, skills, and abilities (Groff & Terhaar,
From 1937 to 1951, Maslow was a instructor at Brooklyn College. Here He met Ruth Benedict and Max Werthiemer, whom he admired greatly. These two were so accomplished, and such wonderful human beings in his opinion, that he began taking notes on them and their behavior. This was the beginning of his lifelong research on mental health and human potential. He wrote a great deal about the subject, borrowing from other theorist but adding significantly to them, especially the concepts of a hierarchy of needs, metaneeds, self-actualizing persons, and peak experiences. Maslow became the leader of the humanistic school of psychology that emerged in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Unlike many of his colleagues at the time who were focusing on psychopathology, or what is wrong with individuals, he focused on how individuals are motivated to fulfill their potential and what needs govern their respective behaviors (McLeod)). Maslow developed the hierarchy over time, adjusting from a rigid structure where needs must be met before being able to achieve a higher level, to where the individuals can experience and behave in ways across the hierarchy multiple times daily depending on their needs. The hierarchy is comprised of 5 levels; Physiological, Safety and Security, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization. The bottom two levels are considered basic needs, or deficiency needs because once the needs are met they cease to be a driving factor, unlike psychological needs. Loving and Belonging and Esteem needs are considered psychological needs, and are different from basic needs because they don’t stem from a lack of something, but rather the desire to grow. Maslow theorizes that individual’s decisions and behavior are determined based on their current level of needs, and the ideal level to achieve full potential culminates in self-actualization; however, operating on this level cannot be achieved until the preceding levels of needs have been
Abraham Maslow did studies of the basic needs of human beings. He put these needs into a hierarchical order. This means that until the need before it has been satisfied, the following need can not be met (Encyclopedia, 2000). For example, if someone is hungry they are not thinking too much about socializing. In the order from lowest to highest the needs are psychological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. The first three are classified as lower order needs and the last two are higher order (Hierarchy, 2000). Without meeting these needs workers are not going to be as productive as they could otherwise. The first three are considered to be essential to all humans at all times. The last two have been argued but are mostly considered to be very important as well.
Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who was not satisfied with the way things had always been done and he did not like the way other psychologists viewed people. He believed that individuals have great potential and thought that there had to be more to humans than simply rewards, punishments, and subconscious urges. To Maslow, people were full of positive potential. He developed humanistic psychology, which focuses on the potential of people to become all that they can be. Other psychologists helped develop different elements in humanistic psychology, but Maslow is largely considered to be the father of the humanist movement in psychology. Weiten (2013) mentioned that Maslow argued that humans have an innate drive towards personal growth that is, evolution toward a higher state of being (p. 377). Maslow wanted to understand what motivates an individual, believing that individuals possess a motivational system unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to attain certain needs. When one need is fulfilled, an individual seeks to fulfill the next one. Maslow 's greatest
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory of basic human needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His theory suggests that embedded in the very nature of each human being are certain needs that must be attained in order for a person to be whole physically, psychologically, and emotionally. First, there are phys...
Abraham Maslow wrote the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. This theory was based on fulfilling five basic needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization. Maslow believed that these needs could create internal pressures that could influence the behavior of a person. (Robbins, p.204)
The Hierarchy of needs theory, by Maslow, shows the basic and the advanced needs that the person should fulfill to reach his or her highest potential. That is why the theory is best depicted as a pyramid including seven stages. The first stage is physiological needs: water, body temperature, sleep, and sex. When one satisfies those needs, he or she can go to the next stage. Safety needs is the second stage. Here, the person is concerned about his safety and stability, so he tries to find a good job to support himself financially, and also find a good home in a safe place. The third stage is belongingness and love. To love and be loved and accepted becomes very important in this stage, so the person starts to worry about his relationships. Being accepted and loved will lead successfully to the fourth stage, which is esteem needs. In this level, the person is more concerned about achieving and gaining approval. Ones those needs are fulfilled, the cognitive needs come to be a priority. This fifth level is attained by seeking knowledge and explor...