Comparison Of Abraham Maslow's Theory

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Abraham Maslow’s theories made a significant contribution to modern particularly in the field of humanistic psychology. While his predecessor focused on the mentally ill and emotionally disturbed, Maslow focused on the ways in which optimal human performance could be achieved. Maslow contribution to modern psychology is the art of self-actualization which can be seen through his hierarchy of needs theory. The theory posits the view that there are the most necessary needs that have to be met before the highest human potential is achieved. At the lower level of the hierarchy is basic physiological needs which include food, air, temperature and shelters; these are needs that one need to survive. Secondly, there are the safety needs which can
Firstly, Maslow 's theory focused on the needs of human beings that make them realize their potential. Wundt, on the other hand, focused mainly on the human mind where the mind is seen as an activity, not a substance. Both concepts of structuralism and the hierarchy of needs, look at the aspect of human feelings. Maslow 's theory looks at human feeling in need of sense of belonging and self-esteem while Wundt also looked at how mental experiences are created through feelings where the process of excitations from stimulation of the sense organs, through sensory neurons to the lower and higher brain centers, and from these centers to the
Firstly, Maslow 's theory has been criticized for not being scientific because he decided who self-actualizes were, which were the characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as persons. and studied their stories in retrospect. For example, people can pretend to have achieved self-actualization even when lower needs have not been met. The other criticisms of the theory are that some basic needs are not necessary for survival. For example, there are people who still live in forests where they do not have clothes, but somehow they have managed to survive and procreate for generations. According to Kalat (2010), Maslow 's theory has also been criticizing for not taking into account the fact goals differ across each culture, and that some people will tend to achieve their goals without necessarily meeting all needs. For example, one may decide that by obtaining a higher education degree, they have achieved their full potential or have

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