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ITM Master 3. Sem. |
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Results - Eva on Holidays
MASLOW's PYRAMID
Everybody heard about this: Maslow created a visual aid to explain his theories; he called it the Hierarchy of Needs. It is a pyramid that depicts the levels of humanistic needs, psychological and physical. When a human being executes the steps of the pyramid then that individual will have reached self actualization. The bottom of the pyramid is the “Basic needs” of a human being, food and water. The next level is “Security and Stability.” These two steps are important to the survival of the person physically. Once the individual has basic nutrition and shelter then they instantly look to accomplish more. The third level is “Love and Belonging,” this is a psychological need, once the individual has taken care of themselves physically then they are ready to share themselves with others. The fourth step occurs when the person feels comfortable with what they have accomplished then they have reached the “Esteem” level. This level is success and status. The top of the pyramid is “Self-actualization” that occurs when it is believed that the individual has reached a state of harmony and understanding. (The Developing Person through the Life Span, (1983) pg. 44) Maslow looked at historical figures, also people who he knew, that he felt clearly met the standard of self actualization, to base his study on. He studied many people; Albert Einstein was one of those figures. Maslow looked at his writings and his accomplishments throughout his life time and began creating characteristics of the self actualized person. He realized that the individuals who he was studying had similar personality traits. They were all “reality centered” meaning that they were able to differentiate what was fraudulent from what was genuine. They also were “problem centered” meaning that they treated life’s difficulties as a problem that demanded a solution. These individuals also were all right being alone and their personal relationships were healthy. They had only a few close friends and family rather than a large amount of shallow relationships. While Maslow's theory was regarded as an improvement over previous theories of personality and motivation, it had its detractors. For example, in their extensive review of research which is dependent on Maslow's theory, Wahba and Bridgewell found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all.Wikipedia Also, we can find many examples of people who exhibited at very least aspects of self-actualization who were far from having their lower needs taken care of. Many of our best artists and authors, for example, suffered from poverty, bad upbringing, neuroses, and depression. Weren’t these people engaged in some form of self-actualization?
A western idea?
Maslow extended:
The pyramid in Asian societies:
John Ap (2006)
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Contact:
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS |
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