As a leader of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow approached the study of personality by focusing on subjective

experiences, free will, and he innate drive toward self- actualization .

Biography of Abraham H. Maslow Abraham H. Maslow was born in New York in 1908, the oldest of seven children
of Russian Jewish immigrants. After two or three mediocre years as a college student, his work improved at about the
time he was married. He received both a bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin where he
worked with Harry Harlow conducting animal studies. Most of his professional career was spent at Brooklyn College
and at Brandeis University. Poor health forced him to move to California where he died in 1970 at age 62.

Critique of Maslow Maslow's theory has been popular in psychology and other disciplines, such as management,
nursing, and education. The hierarchy of needs concept seems both elementary and logical, which gives Maslow's
theory the illusion of simplicity. However, the theory is somewhat complex, with four dimensions of needs and the
possibility of unconsciously motivated behavior. As a scientific theory, Maslow's model rates high in generating
research but low in falsifiability. On its ability to organize knowledge and guide action, the theory rates quite high; on
its simplicity and internal consistency, it rates only average.

Concept of Humanity Maslow believed that people are structured in such a way that their activated needs are exactly
what they want most. Hungry people desire food, frightened people look for safety, and so forth. Although he was
generally optimistic and hopeful, Maslow saw that people are capable of great evil and destruction. He believed that as
a species, humans are becoming more and more fully
human and motivated by higher level needs. In summary, Maslow's view of humanity rates high on free choice,
optimism, teleology, and uniqueness and about average on social influences.

Critique of May May's psychology has been legitimately criticized as being antitheoretical and unjustly criticized as
being anti-intellectual. May's antitheoretical approach calls for a new kind of science-one that considers uniqueness and
personal freedom as crucial concepts. However, according to the criteria of present science, May's theory rates low on
most standards. Currently, his theory is very low on its ability to generate research, to be falsified, and to guide action;
low on internal consistency (because it lacks operationally defined terms), average on parsimony, and high on its
organizational powers due to its consideration of a broad scope of the human condition.

Concept of Humanity May viewed people as complex beings, capable of both tremendous good and
immense evil. People have become alienatedfrom the world, from other people, and, most of all, from themselves. On
the dimensions of a concept of humanity, May rates high on free choice, teleology, social influences, and uniqueness.
On the issue of conscious or unconscious forces, his theory takes a middle position.

Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to self-actualize - i.e. to fulfill
one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human-beingness' we can. Like a flower that will grow to its full
potential if the conditions are right, but which is constrained by its environment, so people will flourish and reach their
potential if their environment is good enough.

Biography of Gordon Allport Gordon W. Allport was born in Indiana in

1897. He received an undergraduate degree in philosophy and economics from Harvard, and taught in Europe for a
year. While in Europe, he had a fortuitous meeting with Sigmund Freud in Vienna, which helped him decide to
complete a Ph.D. in psychology. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard, Allport spent two years studying under some
of the great German psychologists, but he returned to teach at Harvard. Two years later he took a position at Dartmouth,
but after four years at Dartmouth, he again returned to Harvard, where he remained until his death in 1967.

Allport's Approach to Personality Allport believed that psychologically healthy humans are motivated by present,
mostly conscious drives and that they not only seek to reduce tensions but to establish new ones. He also believed that
people are capable of proactive behavior, which suggests that they can consciously behave in new and creative ways
that foster their own change and growth.
He called his study of the individual morphogenic science and contrasted it with traditional nomothetic methods.

Critique of Allport Allport has written eloquently about personality, but his views are based more on philosophical
speculation and common sense than on scientific studies. As a consequence, his theory is very narrow, being limited
mostly to a model of human motivation. Thus, it rates low on its ability to organize psychological data and to be
falsified. It rates high on parsimony and internal consistency
and about average on its ability to generate research and to help the practitioner.

Concept of Humanity Allport saw people as thinking, proactive, purposeful beings who are generally aware of what
they are doing and why. On the six dimensions for a concept of humanity, Allport rates higher than any other theorist
onconscious influences and on the uniqueness of the individual. He rates high on free choice, optimism, and teleology,
and about average on social influences.