He studied self-accepting, self-aware, spontaneous people (like Abe Lincoln) who knew how to be happy. Here's how to apply Maslow's hierarchy of needs to everyday life.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is also known as Maslow's motivation theory. His hierarchy of needs is about how to be happy and self-actualized. Once you move past the basic needs, you need to find your calling (Maslow's self-actualization). Self-actualization involves self-acceptance, self-awareness, unconditional positive regard, and a host of other wonderful positive qualities!
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs includes everything from chocolate to fear of intimacy.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's hierarchy looks like the Food Pyramid for Healthy Eating, but it's based on survival and growth, not food and nutrition (though the concepts are very similar). In this description below, #1 (Physiological needs) is the broad base of the pyramid. Self actualization (#5) is the pinnacle.
Love/belonging needs: family, friendship, sexual intimacy
Esteem needs: confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others.
Self-actualization: creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving, acceptance of reality, lack of prejudice.
Self-actualization
Maslow studied successful, productive, and wealthy people – who had found their callings – to determine how people fulfill their potential. Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein were some of his "lab rats".
Self-actualized people share certain characteristics:
Spontaneous in taking action and making decisions
Interested in solving problems
Creative in work, family, social, and recreational pursuits
Close with other people – strong support network (but not a vast one)
Strong morality system
Objective perspective, without prejudice
Focused energy on one particular task: their calling or mission in life
Figuring out who you are are is closely tied to self-actualization and growth.
To become self-actualized
Carl Rogers agreed with Maslow. His beliefs that people are basically good and able to self-actualize led him to postulate that there are three conditions that promote growth.
Genuineness. You've achieved self-actualization if you can be open with your thoughts and feelings – if your external behavior matches your internal thoughts – if you can drop the façade and be transparent, then you're on the road to actualization and growth. Being honest and real encourages others to be genuine as well.
Acceptance. Unconditional positive regard has been described as an "attitude of grace". When you offer it, you love someone without judging their actions, thoughts, or feelings. You're self-actualized when you value people even as you know their failings and dark sides. Nurturing acceptance and unconditional positive regard toward your own self is key to a happy, peaceful and fulfilled life.
Empathy. You recognize and can relate to another's emotions and experiences. You reflect their feelings and meanings nonjudgmentally; you can put yourself in another's shoes and feel what they're feeling. Self-actualization involves being empathetic.
According to Rogers, these three conditions are ideal for self-actualization. Nurturing genuineness, acceptance, and empathy can help you – and the people around you – find your true calling and fulfill your potential in life.
If you found Self Actualization in Action helpful, try:
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Comments
Mar 21, 2007 11:34 PM
redback :
Yep...I have some time for ol' Abe's theory of self actualisation. Freud and others came up with the alternative, more negative explanations for why we tarry or are trapped along the way.
From his bio:
<i>"..It is a curiosity that Maslow, the "father" of American humanism, began his career as a behaviorist with a strong physiological bent. He did indeed believe in science, and often grounded his ideas in biology. He only meant to broaden psychology to include the best in us, as well as the pathological!"</i>
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html
He was still alive when I started studying his theory and I note his birthday is on April Fools Day according to his bio.
Mar 22, 2007 5:18 AM
Pink :
. I think my life has been heavily influenced by Maslow's work. . Too bad we don't give more credance to such thinking as we raise our families. .
Mar 22, 2007 12:31 PM
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen :
I wonder why we don't give more credance to self-actualization stuff when we parent our kids? I don't have kids yet, and I know my mom didn't teach me about reaching my potential. We were too busy surviving the day-to-day to strive for more!
Mar 22, 2007 1:17 PM
Pink :
. Yup, and today we're too busy accumulating material wealth to pay much attention to self actualization. .
Mar 22, 2007 7:58 PM
redback :
Way back in my youth, I did a comparative analysis or is that contrasting...between Maslow and Freud..as one fond assignment of countless. Abnormal Psych gave me the most interesting collection of text books for bus/train trips. I enjoyed the weird looks I got. :) Back then, they were vocationally-focused Colleges of Advanced Education which have now been subsumed by the traditional university. And tertiary education was FREE. And my membership of the Uni Co-Op Bookshop remains current!
And my assignments et al were in handwriting. I don't think computers had been invented then, Laurie. ABC
I think my uni/CAE days WERE an intro to my self actualisation process (BA Life Management) but you did note Maslow allows us to "regress" ie I still needed to ensure the rent was paid eg during a period of unemployment.
I made several deliberate decisions to knock back much higher paying jobs. I lived off accrued annual leave for 2 years following retirement. I have this profound hope (ie no empirical evidence) that others of 'us' exist ie a different group to the 'we' who are pre-occupied with material wealth.
What part of the heirachy of needs brings us here?
Mar 23, 2007 3:51 PM
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen :
We're here (in these discussions) for love/belonging. - My first few university papers were hand-written, then typed (and retyped and retyped) on a typewriter....those poor professors, back in the day! Can you imagine reading hand-written essays? Well, actually, come to think of it, I DID read hand-written stuff because I taught grade 8 in Africa. One or 2 kids didn't have computers.....but even there the far majority had them. - No matter if you call it self-actualizing or employing the Law of Attraction, the bottom line is the same: be who you were meant to be! - Those it's so sad that not everybody seems to get the same chances.
Mar 23, 2007 9:09 PM
redback :
<i>"We're here (in these discussions) for love/belonging."</i>
There's that "we" again! ABC I went to the Ebenezer Scrooge School of Christmas Entertaining so maybe I AM looking for love in all the wrong places. :)
Reminiscing brings out all the "you think you had it tough" testimonies. I suspect Pink will easily outdo me. But in my day, we had typing pools to do our clerical work where one misspelt word or rethink meant the whole lot re-done. Punched cards were 'read' by machines to produce cheques. I finished uni in the 70s. From then, it's been countless intensive "short courses" primarily disability-based where missing a day puts one too far behind the 8-ball. My first pay was equiv to $AUD28 pf.
POOR?! Well...I was so poor I was a 3rd world country! ABC
Mar 24, 2007 4:02 AM
Pink :
. :) .
Mar 24, 2007 8:33 PM
redback :
<i>"...and blip! I pressed the "back" key and just like that it was GONE. Erased forever..."</i>
Congrats on your 100th article as FW, Laurie. Your comment quoted above reminds of another feature I'm sure suite101 have 'tampered' with. Of course, it doesn't seem to affect your potential to realise your full potential. And I read somewhere you're hanging out for your approaching summer as summer disappears off our radar.
