Humanistic theory: Abraham

Maslow
Prof. Roomana N. Siddiqui
Chairperson, Dept. of Psychology
Aligarh Muslim University
 Humanistic psychology
Humans are free to be what they want to be. But having the freedom to choose does not
mean that one is going to make a wise choice. If this was the case then there would be
no misery, alienation, boredom, anxiety, guilt or other self imposed ailments.

Humanists believe that each individual is the chief determinant of his behaviour and
experience.

The most important concept is that of “Becoming”. A person is never static he is always
in a process of becoming something different.
It is the individuals responsibility to realize as many of his potentialities as possible.
People who refuse to become refuse to grow. They have denied themselves the full
potentialities of human existence.
Maslow believed that much of human behaviour can be explained by the individuals
tendency to seek personal goals that make life rewarding and meaningful.

Human being rarely reach a state of satisfaction. If one personal need is satisfied, then
another one arises to take its place. It is a typical characteristic of human beings that
they are never satisfied and are almost always desiring something.

Maslow proposed that human desires are innate and they are arranged in an ascending
hierarchy. There are five major needs: Physiological needs, Safety needs,
Belongingness and Love need. Self esteem needs and Self-actualization.

This five-stage model can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first
four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top level is
known as growth or being needs (B-needs).
Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when
they are unmet. Also, the motivation to fulfill such needs will become stronger the
longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without
food, the more hungry they will become.

Growth needs do not arise from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to
grow as a person. Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one
may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization.

Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a
level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure
to meet lower level needs.
1. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air,
food, drink, sex, sleep.

If these needs are not satisfied the human body cannot function optimally. Maslow
considered physiological needs the most important as all the other needs become
secondary until these needs are met.

These physiological needs are directly concerned with the biological maintenance of the
organism and must be fulfilled at the minimum level before the individual is motivated
by higher order needs.

If one of these needs remain unsatisfied then individuals get dominated by it, to the
extent that other needs become secondary. The chronically hungry person will not
compose music or build a new world.
2. Safety Needs: Once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for
security and safety become salient. The motivating force here is to ensure a reasonable
degree of certainty, order, structure, and predictability in one’s environment. These
needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g. police, schools, business and
medical care).

The preference for a job with tenure, emotional security, financial security (e.g.
employment, social welfare), law and order, freedom from fear, social stability,
property, health and wellbeing, the establishment of savings accounts and insurance
(e.g. safety against accidents and injury) are motivated by security needs.
3. Belongingness and Love needs - after physiological and safety needs have been
fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness.
An individual motivated at this level longs for affectionate relationships with others, for a
place in his or her family, or reference group. The need for interpersonal relationships
motivates behavior.

Due to the fast pace of urbanization and social mobility people are motivated by an
unsatisfied hunger for contact, intimacy, belongingness and by the need to overcome
feeling of alienation, loneliness, and strangeness due to the breakdown of traditional
groupings, scattering of families and disappearance of village face to face interaction and
shallowness of friendship.

Maslow rejected the Freudian notion that love and affection are derived from sublimated
sexual instinct according to him mature love involves a healthy, loving relationship
between two people based on mutual respect, admiration and trust.
4. Self-Esteem needs are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy - which Maslow
classified into two categories: (i) self respect and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect
from others.

Self respect includes the desire for competence, dignity, confidence, personal strength,
adequacy, achievement, independence, and freedom.
An individual should know that he or she is worthwhile and capable of mastering
challenges in life.
Esteem from others include prestige, recognition, acceptance, attention, status, fame,
reputation, and appreciation. In this case people need to be appreciated for what they can
do, that is, they may experience feelings of worth because their competence is recognized
and valued by significant others.

Maslow emphasized that the most healthy self esteem need is based on earned respect
from others based on our efforts rather than on fame, status or adulation.
 5. Self-actualization needs are the highest level in Maslow's hierarchy, and refer to
the realization of a person's potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and
peak experiences. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything
that one can, to become the best that one can be.

The person who has achieved the highest level tries to fully use and exploit his or her
talents, capacities and potentialities. Self actualization is an individuals desire for self
improvement.

To self actualize is to become the kind of person one wants to become –to reach the
peak of ones potential. A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must
write for others, it may be expressed creatively, in paintings, pictures, or inventions if
he or she has to be at peace with themselves. What a man can be he must be. He must
be true to his nature.
According to Maslow most of mankind needs and seeks inner fulfilment and the
tendency to realize one’s potential is both natural and necessary. But only the few and
gifted achieve it because people are simply blind to their potential as they neither know
that it exists nor understand the rewards of self enhancement. Some doubt or fear their
abilities and hence loose the chance for self actualization.

Another major obstacle to self actualization is provided by the safety needs. People are
only concerned about their lower order needs and hence do not give importance to higher
order needs.

Growth process demands a constant willingness to take risks, to make mistakes, to break
old habits. This requires courage.
Anything that requires risk involves fear and anxiety which may increase the
tendency to go back to safety and security needs. Realization of our full potential
therefore requires an openness to novel ideas and experiences.

Maslow maintained that children in a secure, warm and friendly atmosphere are
more apt to acquire a healthy desire for growth. In short under healthy conditions
growth is rewarding and the individual will strive to become the best that he or
she is capable to become.