HOLISTIC-DYNAMIC
THEORY
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MASLOW: HOLISTIC-
DYNAMIC THEORY
◆ Overview of Holistic-Dynamic Theory ◆ Maslow’s Psychology and Philosophy
◆ Biography of Abraham H. Maslow of Science
◆ Maslow’s View of Motivation ◆ Measuring Self-Actualization
Hierarchy of Needs ◆ The Jonah Complex
Aesthetic Needs ◆ Psychotherapy
Cognitive Needs ◆ Related Research
Neurotic Needs ◆ Empirical Testing and an Evolutionary Update to the Hierarchy of Needs
General Discussion of Needs ◆ Positive Psychology
◆ Self-Actualization ◆ Critique of Maslow
Maslow’s Quest for the Self-Actualizing Person ◆ Concept of Humanity
Criteria for Self-Actualization ◆ Key Terms and Concepts
Values of Self-Actualizers
Characteristics of Self-Actualizing People
Love, Sex, and Self-Actualization
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«THIRD FORCE»
PSYCHOLOGY
• Force 1: Psychoanalysis
Critics: Emphasis on mentally disturbed people
• Force 2: Behaviorism
Critics: Reduces humans to machines or animals
TWO BRANCHES OF THIRD FORCE
• Existential psychology (roots in Europe)
• Humanistic psychology (roots in America)
ABRAHAM MASLOW
(1908-1970)
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BIOGRAPHY OF ABRAHAM H.
MASLOW
• Maslow's childhood was marked by loneliness and misery, growing up in
Brooklyn with intense feelings of shyness, inferiority, and depression.
• He had a difficult relationship with his parents, particularly harboring deep-seated
animosity towards his mother, whom he described as selfish and lacking in love.
• Initially lacking confidence, Maslow attended City College of New York instead of
Cornell University. He struggled academically but found interest in philosophy
and psychology.
• Maslow's interest in psychology grew during his graduate studies at the University
of Wisconsin, where he worked with Harry Harlow on primate research. He was
influenced by European psychologists and anthropologists he encountered in
New York during the 1930s and 1940s.
• Maslow made significant contributions to psychology, particularly in his theory of
self-actualization and hierarchy of needs. He held various academic positions and
eventually became the chairman of the psychology department at Brandeis
University.
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MASLOW’S VIEW OF
MOTIVATON
1. Holistic approach to 4. Universal nature of basic needs
motivation
5. Hiearchy of needs
2. Complexity of motivation
3. Continual motivation by
needs
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HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that certain needs
must be fulfilled before others become motivators.
• Lower level needs must be satisfied, or at least
relatively satisfied, before higher level needs come into
play.
• Conative Nature of Needs:
• The five needs in Maslow's hierarchy are conative,
meaning they drive behavior and have a
motivational character.
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HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
• Arrangement of needs:
• Maslow conceptualized the hierarchy as a staircase,
with each step representing a higher need but one
less essential for survival.
• Prepotency of Lower Level Needs:
• Lower level needs have prepotency over higher
level needs, meaning they must be satisfied before
higher level needs become motivators.
• Order of Needs:
• Maslow listed the needs in the following order of
prepotency: physiological, safety, love and
belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization.
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PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
Physiological needs are the Physiological needs are the
most basic requirements for most prepotent of all needs,
human survival and include meaning they take precedence
necessities like food, water, air, over other needs.
and maintenance of body
temperature.
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SAFETY NEEDS
Safety needs refer to the desire for physical security,
stability, protection, and freedom from threats such as
violence, illness, fear, and chaos.
Individuals with unresolved safety needs may exhibit
behaviors driven by fear and anxiety, as they strive to
create secure environments for themselves.
Some adults may continue to grapple with irrational
fears from childhood, leading to excessive efforts to fulfill
safety needs and experiencing what Maslow termed as
basic anxiety.
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LOVE AND BELONGINESS
NEEDS
Love and belongingness needs - Impact of early experiences and
variability in responses:
arise once individuals have
partially satisfied their - Individuals who have had their love
and belongingness needs adequately
physiological and safety needs. fulfilled from an early age tend to have
These needs encompass desires confidence in their social acceptance.
for friendship, romantic They are less devastated by rejection
from others.
relationships, family bonds, and
a sense of belonging to social - Those who have never experienced
love or belongingness may struggle to
groups. give love themselves and may devalue
the importance of love due to its
absence in their lives.
- Some individuals may have received
love and belongingness only in small
doses, leading to strong motivations to
seek affection and acceptance.
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ESTEEM NEEDS
Esteem needs arise after individuals • Maslow identified two levels of esteem needs:
have sufficiently satisfied their love reputation and self-esteem.
and belongingness needs. These needs
encompass the desire for self-respect,
• Reputation: It refers to how a person is perceived
confidence, competence, and the
by others in terms of prestige, recognition, or
recognition of one's worth by others.
fame.
Path to Self-Actualization: • Self-esteem: It involves a person's internal
feelings of worth and confidence, independent of
Once individuals meet their esteem others' opinions.
needs, they approach the threshold of
self-actualization, the highest level of
fulfillment according to Maslow.
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SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS
After satisfying lower level - Role of B-Values:
needs, individuals may not
- The transition to self-
automatically progress to self-
actualization depends on
actualization. While Maslow
whether individuals embrace
initially assumed that self-
B-values such as truth, beauty,
actualization needs become
and justice. Those who highly
potent once esteem needs are
respect these values tend to
met, he later observed
become self-actualizing after
discrepancies among
fulfilling their esteem needs,
individuals' paths to self-
while others may struggle to
actualization
reach this level despite
satisfying basic needs.
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SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS
- Self-actualization needs entail - Apart from the five conative
self-fulfillment, the realization needs, Maslow identified three
of one's full potential, and a other categories of needs:
desire for creativity in all aesthetic, cognitive, and
aspects of life. neurotic.
- Self-actualizing individuals
embody the essence of
humanity, expressing their
innate human needs without
inhibition or suppression by
societal norms.
AESTHETIC NEEDS
While not universal, aesthetic needs are
present across cultures, driving individuals
to seek beauty and pleasing experiences.
COGNITIVE NEEDS
- Most individuals possess a natural inclination
towards knowledge, problem-solving,
understanding, and curiosity.
- Cognitive needs play a crucial role in Maslow's
hierarchy, as knowledge is essential for fulfilling all
other needs. Understanding enables individuals to
satisfy physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-
actualization needs.
- When cognitive needs are consistently denied or
stifled, individuals may develop skepticism,
disillusionment, and cynicism, leading to
pathological behavior.
NEUROTIC NEEDS
- Neurotic needs, as described by Maslow
(1970), are nonproductive desires that
perpetuate an unhealthy lifestyle and
contribute to stagnation and pathology.
- Neurotic needs typically arise as reactions to
unmet basic needs. For instance, individuals
lacking safety may develop a strong inclination
towards hoarding money or possessions,
regardless of their actual security.
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GENERAL DISCUSSION OF NEEDS
• Maslow suggested that it's more accurate to view satisfaction levels as percentages rather than absolutes.
For instance, an average person might have physiological needs satisfied to about 85%, safety needs to
70%, love and belongingness to 50%, esteem to 40%, and self-actualization to 10%.
• The fulfillment of lower-level needs triggers the emergence of higher-level needs. As satisfaction in one
need category increases, the motivation for the next level need intensifies.
• Individuals are often motivated by needs from different levels simultaneously.
• Higher needs emerge later in both evolutionary and individual development and result in greater
happiness and fulfillment compared to lower needs.
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GENERAL DISCUSSION OF NEEDS
• Expressive and Coping Behavior: • Deprivation of Needs
• Maslow distinguishes between expressive behavior, • Instinctoid Nature of Needs
which is often unmotivated and serves as an end in
itself, and coping behavior, which is always motivated
and aimed at satisfying a need. Expressive behavior,
such as gestures or art, lacks a specific goal and occurs
naturally, while coping behavior involves conscious
efforts to deal with the environment to fulfill needs.
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SELF-ACTUALIZATION
• Absence of Psychopathology: Self-actualizing individuals are free from
neurotic or psychotic tendencies, distinguishing them from those with
psychological disturbances.
• Progression through the Hierarchy of Needs
• Embracing the B-Values
• Full Use of Talents and Potential
VALUES OF SELF-ACTUALIZERS
• Metamotivation:
• Self-actualizing people are motivated by B-
•
values, which represent psychological
health and are distinct from deficiency
needs that motivate others.
• B-Values (Being Values/Metaneeds):
• B-values include truth, goodness, beauty,
spontaneity, uniqueness, completion,
justice, simplicity, playfulness, and self-
sufficiency, among others.
• Metapathology:
• Deprivation of any B-values leads to
metapathology, characterized by the
absence of a meaningful philosophy of life.
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VALUES OF SELF-ACTUALIZERS
• Efficient Perception of Reality
• Acceptance of Self, Others, and Nature
• Spontaneity, Simplicity, and Naturalness
• Problem-Centering
• Needs for Privacy
• Autonomy
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VALUES OF SELF-ACTUALIZERS
• Peak Experiences
• Gemeinschaftsgefühl
• Profound Interpersonal Relations
• Democratic Character Structure
• Discrimination Between Means and Ends
• Philosophical Sense of Humor
• Creativeness
• Resistance to Enculturation
LOVE, SEX, AND
SELF-
ACTUALIZATION
• Self-actualizing individuals are capable of
giving and receiving love at a deeper level,
characterized by B-love, which is
unmotivated and expressive.
• Their love is not dominated by deficiencies
and allows them to be relaxed, open, and
nonsecretive in their relationships.
• They can tolerate the absence of sex and
other basic needs more easily, as they are not
motivated by deficiencies
MASLOW’S PSYCHOLOGY 29
AND PHILOSOPHY OF
SCIENCE
Maslow advocated for a Psychologists must be healthy
humanistic, holistic approach to individuals themselves, capable
science that is not value-free of tolerating ambiguity and
and cares about the people and uncertainty, and willing to
topics being studied. tackle important problems in
psychology.
He believed in placing more
emphasis on the study of
individuals and subjective
reports over rigidly objective
methods.
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THE JONAH
COMPLEX
• The Jonah complex refers to the fear of success and
greatness, characterized by a reluctance to fulfill
one's full potential.
• People often run away from greatness due to a
feeling of awe in the face of beauty and perfection,
as well as a fear of their own capabilities.
• This complex is present in nearly everyone to some
extent and can hinder self-actualization and
creativity.
• The Jonah complex is evident in neurotic people.
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PSYCHOTHERAPY
• Maslow believed that the aim of therapy should be to
help clients embrace B-values and move towards self-
actualization.
• Therapy should focus on freeing clients from
dependency on others so they can activate their natural
impulse toward growth and self-actualization.
• A warm, loving interpersonal relationship between
client and therapist is crucial for therapy to be
effective, allowing clients to gain confidence and self-
worth.
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POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
• Positive psychology integrates hope, optimism, and well-
being with scientific research and assessment, challenging
traditional psychology's focus on negative aspects. The
field draws inspiration from humanistic theorists like
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
• Maslow's concept of peak experiences, characterized by
awe, wonder, and reverence, has influenced positive
psychology's exploration of the benefits of recalling such
experiences.
• Studies have shown that reexperiencing positive events
through writing or thinking can enhance positive
emotion, coping resources, health, creativity, and prosocial
behaviors.
• Reflecting on and reliving peak experiences can have a
lasting impact on life satisfaction, aligning with Maslow's
prediction of the enduring significance of such
experiences.
CRITIQUE OF
MASLOW’S THEORY
What do you think? Let's hear from you
first.
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CRITIQUE OF MASLOW’S
THEORY
Speculative Nature: Maslow's Practical Utility: Maslow's theory
later speculations on self- offers valuable insights for
actualization lacked empirical practitioners. For example,
support, leaving his theory open psychotherapists can address clients'
safety needs before focusing on love
to criticism regarding evidence- and belongingness, while business
based claims. managers can use the theory to
Parsimony: Maslow's theory motivate employees effectively.
appears simplistic with its Falsifiability: Maslow's theory fares
hierarchy of needs model. poorly in terms of falsifiability. The
However, a deeper inability to operationalize self-
understanding reveals a more actualization and unclear sampling
complex framework, though it procedures hinder researchers'
remains moderately ability to replicate his studies
effectively.
parsimonious overall.
Res. Ass. Sevgi Tüccar
[email protected]
