PERSONOLOGY – PYC4804 Chapter 11
The self-actualization theory of Abraham Maslow
Background
Idea that people achieve success through luck alone is unacceptable
Basic needs, values, goals and plans must all play a role
Environment is important for the fulfillment of basic needs and that is therefore people need
‘good’ societies to realize their ‘good’ potential
Maslow, the founder of the ‘third force’ of the humanistic movement
The view of the person underlying the theory
View of the person is essentially optimistic
Acknowledges the positive aspects of human nature – the person dignity, his/her active will do
develop and he stresses the person functioning as an integrated whole
Self-actualization is the motive that underlies all behavior
Human behavior can be explained in terms of need gratification
Human as a ‘yearning being’ who is seldom satisfied because no sooner is one need gratified,
than another surfaces
Basis for growth and the realization of an individual’s full potential through self-actualization
People have certain basic needs – biological, safety, love and esteem needs
These must be satisfied before the need for self-actualization
View of the person is an holistic one – person is an integrated whole and cannot be studied
piecemeal
The dynamics of the personality
Needs are arranged in a hierarchy means that the person’s development progresses through
successive stages of need gratification towards the goal of self-actualization
Lower needs must first be gratified before needs at a higher level manifest themselves
The basic needs are (lowest to highest)
Page 1 of 7
, PERSONOLOGY – PYC4804 Chapter 11
Self-
actualization
Self-esteem
needs
Affliliation & love needs
Safety needs
Physiological needs
When a specific set of needs is gratified regularly, the next set of needs becomes dominant
Deficiency motives: refer to the first four levels of the need hierarchy – directly related to the
basic needs (survival, hunger)
Growth motives: actualization needs
When a person’s behavior is being directed by deficiency motives his/her cognitive abilities are
actually being applied negatively because the objective is merely to evade unpleasant
circumstances and to survive
Type of motivation will not lead to the realization of a person’s true potential
1. Physiological needs
Have to do with survival (hunger, thirst, the need for oxygen)
Usually homeostatic and their gratification restores equilibrium inside the body
Most basic need and if they are not gratified regularly they dominate all other needs
2. Safety Needs
Physiological needs will be satisfied regularly, they lose their urgency
Safety needs are directed toward achieving security, stability, protection, structure, law, etc.
Needs for safety are especially apparent in young children because they are helpless and
dependent on other, and react uninhibitedly when they feel unsafe
Someone whose safety needs are acutely unfulfilled develop an obsessive-compulsive
neurosis in which s/he tries to arrange world precisely to prevent any possibilities of
experiencing insecurity
3. Need for affiliation & love
Need to belong somewhere and to belong with someone, to receive and to give love
Person not only needs to belong to others, but that identification with a home and
neighborhood also contribute to the gratification of affiliation needs
Unfulfilled needs for love may cause psychopathology
Page 2 of 7
The self-actualization theory of Abraham Maslow
Background
Idea that people achieve success through luck alone is unacceptable
Basic needs, values, goals and plans must all play a role
Environment is important for the fulfillment of basic needs and that is therefore people need
‘good’ societies to realize their ‘good’ potential
Maslow, the founder of the ‘third force’ of the humanistic movement
The view of the person underlying the theory
View of the person is essentially optimistic
Acknowledges the positive aspects of human nature – the person dignity, his/her active will do
develop and he stresses the person functioning as an integrated whole
Self-actualization is the motive that underlies all behavior
Human behavior can be explained in terms of need gratification
Human as a ‘yearning being’ who is seldom satisfied because no sooner is one need gratified,
than another surfaces
Basis for growth and the realization of an individual’s full potential through self-actualization
People have certain basic needs – biological, safety, love and esteem needs
These must be satisfied before the need for self-actualization
View of the person is an holistic one – person is an integrated whole and cannot be studied
piecemeal
The dynamics of the personality
Needs are arranged in a hierarchy means that the person’s development progresses through
successive stages of need gratification towards the goal of self-actualization
Lower needs must first be gratified before needs at a higher level manifest themselves
The basic needs are (lowest to highest)
Page 1 of 7
, PERSONOLOGY – PYC4804 Chapter 11
Self-
actualization
Self-esteem
needs
Affliliation & love needs
Safety needs
Physiological needs
When a specific set of needs is gratified regularly, the next set of needs becomes dominant
Deficiency motives: refer to the first four levels of the need hierarchy – directly related to the
basic needs (survival, hunger)
Growth motives: actualization needs
When a person’s behavior is being directed by deficiency motives his/her cognitive abilities are
actually being applied negatively because the objective is merely to evade unpleasant
circumstances and to survive
Type of motivation will not lead to the realization of a person’s true potential
1. Physiological needs
Have to do with survival (hunger, thirst, the need for oxygen)
Usually homeostatic and their gratification restores equilibrium inside the body
Most basic need and if they are not gratified regularly they dominate all other needs
2. Safety Needs
Physiological needs will be satisfied regularly, they lose their urgency
Safety needs are directed toward achieving security, stability, protection, structure, law, etc.
Needs for safety are especially apparent in young children because they are helpless and
dependent on other, and react uninhibitedly when they feel unsafe
Someone whose safety needs are acutely unfulfilled develop an obsessive-compulsive
neurosis in which s/he tries to arrange world precisely to prevent any possibilities of
experiencing insecurity
3. Need for affiliation & love
Need to belong somewhere and to belong with someone, to receive and to give love
Person not only needs to belong to others, but that identification with a home and
neighborhood also contribute to the gratification of affiliation needs
Unfulfilled needs for love may cause psychopathology
Page 2 of 7
