Module 21 - The Humanistic Approach: Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow, was one of the pioneers of the Humanistic approach along with Carl Rogers.
During the 1950s, Maslow became one of the founders and driving forces behind the school of
thought known as humanistic psychology. The most significant impact on his theory of universal
growth potential amongst individuals, was heavily influenced by Gestalt psychologist Max
Wertheimer and anthropologist Ruth Benedict. They were such exceptional influences on
Maslow’s life that that he chose to unravel the factors and conditions which were responsible for
their attaining great personal and professional heights. This analysis further served as the basis
for his theories and research on human potential. His theories including the hierarchy of needs,
self-actualization and peak experiences became fundamental concepts in the humanist
movement. Maslow felt that Freud's psychoanalytic theory and Skinner's behavioural theory
were too focused on the negative or pathological aspects of existence and neglected the
immense capacity for potential and creativity that human beings possess. At a time when most
psychologists were engaged in deciphering the dark, abnormal and mechanistic aspects of human
nature, Abraham Maslow shifted focus to look at the positive sides of mental health. His interest
in human potential, conscious striving for peak experiences and improving mental health by
seeking personal growth had a lasting influence on psychology. Metaphorically speaking ‘Man’
was free again to choose goodness and redirect his life away from the depths of instinctual
pressures into a promising and positive mindscape. Wittingly Maslow remarks "The story of the
human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short."

The process of self-actualization became the salient feature around which the whole theory
revolved. He defined this tendency as "the full use and exploitation of talents, capacities,
potentialities, etc." To elaborate the idea, people are constantly in the process of striving to reach
their full potential. Self-actualization is not an endpoint or a destination rather it is an ongoing
process by which people continue to stretch themselves and achieve new heights of well-being,
creativity, and fulfilment. Maslow believed that self-actualizing people possess a number of key
characteristics. Some of these include self-acceptance, spontaneity, independence and the ability
to have peak experiences. Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggested that people have a number of
needs, and as these needs are met, they are able to pursue higher order needs. The needs at the
base of this hierarchy are more basic in nature, gradually evolving into more social, emotional
and growth-oriented needs while moving up the hierarchy.

Some important works:

1. The Farther Reaches of Human Nature NY: Viking, 1971. Harmondworth, Eng.:
PenguinBooks,1973. Content.
 2. Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow (Ed: Edward Hoffman) CA:
Sage Publications, 1996. Contents.
3. Religions, Values and Peak-Experiences NY: Penguin Books, 1964, 1976. Harmondsworth,
Eng.: Penguin, 1964, 1976, 1978, 1986. Contents.
4. Toward a Psychology of Being NY: Van Nostrand, 1962. Second Ed. NY: Van Nostrand,
1968. Contents. Third Ed. NY: Wiley, 1998.

Abraham Maslow acknowledged the existence of evil and destructiveness in the world, yet
Maslow’s primary focus of interest was in the more positive aspects of human experience. His
views about aggression and hostility in children clearly show him as an advocate of humanism,
since he highlighted that although childhood has been represented as a stage of manipulation
instead of innocence in psychoanalysis, there was a remarkable lack of scientific evidence to
support that. (Maslow, 1970). Maslow condones the selfishness and innate destructiveness of
childhood, and proposes instead more positive qualities such as keen interest to explore and
unravel one’s potential. Maslow stresses the central role of parents in the child’s psychological
development. In addition to this, he focuses on the formative influence of parents, and on the
need for positive emotional experiences in childhood. Relationships, and the need to be valued
by others, was a central theme of Maslow’s work, and in this respect, it echoed the approaches
described by Adler, the ego psychologists and, of course, the work of the object relationists.
Although Maslow did not set up his own specific school of therapy or counselling, his influence
on all contemporary approaches is considerable. In addition to this, he was certainly interested
in ideas connected with therapy generally, and he was concerned to offer his own views about
the helping process and the factors which facilitate or hinder it. The following is an outline of
some of the contributions which Maslow has made to our understanding of human motivation,
personality and the nature of the helping relationship:
• the hierarchy of needs
• self-actualisation
• self-actualising people
• psychotherapy and other helping relationships.

The hierarchy of needs Maslow formulated a theory of human motivation and outlined a series
of innate needs which, he believed, gave purpose, satisfaction and meaning to life. These are
arranged in a hierarchy and include physiological, safety, relationship, esteem and finally self-
actualisation needs. Obviously, those needs which are lowest in the hierarchy (hunger, thirst and
so on) must be satisfied before any of the higher needs can be pursued. People living in
circumstances of extreme poverty and privation, for example in certain third world countries, are
unlikely to be concerned about self-actualisation needs when they are preoccupied with basic
survival instead. This is not to say that people in these situations do not have the higher order
needs which Maslow refers to. Indeed, their self-actualisation needs may simply take a different
form. To produce healthy children and to live on through one’s family is one example of a self-
actualisation variant which might well be applicable to different cultural groups. Maslow was,
however, concerned to describe what he perceived to be the needs of people in America and
other western cultures. In any case, the point which he wished to make was that satisfaction of
basic needs is generally important if people are to be motivated to achieve those higher up.
A person may want to be all he/she can be, however, there are some other more potent needs
that take precedence, which if not met, can effectively block the possibility of Self-Actualization
altogether in a person’s life and there is no shortage of people who go through life oblivious of
what they are truly capable of achieving. For Maslow, a person is always in the process of
becoming and never remains static in life. He saw the Self-Actualized person as different from
the norm and referred to them as healthy individuals, but not perfect. Maslow (1971) proposed
a distinct type of motivation called Metamotivation (sometimes called B-motivation or being
motivation) for Self-Actualizers which separated them from the motivational states of normal
population. Metamotivation implied a condition where traditional motivation plays no role, as
Self Actualizers are not motivated to strive for particular extrinsic goals instead they are said to
be developing from within. Human needs have been categorised into two groups by Maslow
terming them as deficiency needs (D-needs) and being needs (B needs) in the context of Self
Actualization (Goble, 1970). Maslow described the motivation of non-self-actualizers as D-
motivation which implies striving for something that is lacking in an individual. Maslow (1970)
beyond any doubt believed that these lower needs have to be fulfilled may be only fractionally
before higher needs are expressed. Thus D-needs need not be necessarily fulfilled before
becoming meta-motivated.
Maslow (1943) proposed that the path towards Self-Actualization passes through various
physiological and psychological needs which are hierarchically situated. The growth towards Self-
Actualization refers to the need for personal growth and discovery that is present throughout a
person’s life.

Self-Actualization in Need Hierarchy: Need hierarchy as proposed by Maslow (1943) can be

understood in two contexts: firstly, in the context of need fulfilment, and, secondly, as a way of
life. Self-Actualization is not so much relevant in the context of need fulfilment as in the realm of
life goal-directedness. According to Maslow, there are four types of needs or drives that must be
optimally fulfilled, satiated before person can actually move forward in the growth processes.
The individual moves upward by satisfying one set of needs at a time. The genius of Maslow's
hierarchy is its concept of prepotency. A prepotent need is the one that has the greatest influence
or power over our actions. Maslow claimed that everyone has a prepotent need, that differ
among individuals. An individual’s prepotent need is the lowest unmet need in the hierarchy. The
most basic drives are physiological, the body craves food, water, oxygen, sleep, sex, freedom of
movement and a moderate temperature, when any of these are in short supply, we feel the
distressing tension within. Then comes the level of psychological needs, in that context comes
the need for safety. Once an individual has managed a certain level of physical comfort then he
will seek to establish a certain level of consistency and stability in this chaotic world. Then the
desire for love and belongingness, this need comes into view which combines the twin urges to
give and receive love and then comes the quest for self-esteem, which take expression in two
ways, one is the result of competence and mastery of skills which is better described by David
McClelland as “the need for achievement”. Another is seeking attention and recognition from
others. Need for such an admiration from others is described by McClelland as “the need for
power”.
Maslow stated that an individual is drawn to meet the higher growth needs if and only if the
lower deficiency needs are met. We’re driven to satisfy the needs lower in the hierarchy, but
we’re drawn to meet the higher ones. It may not be very true to call higher order needs as needs
since they are not as compelling as a motive would be. When initially conceptualising the
hierarchy of needs, Maslow included only one growth need i.e., Self-Actualization but with time
he differentiated the growth need of Self Actualization further into two parts as the general levels
of Self Actualization (Maslow & Lowery, 1998) and one part beyond that general level that
focusses on even a higher level of growth that goes beyond an individual's self (Maslow, 1971),
is the Cognitive need, which explains the desire of an individual to know, comprehend, explore
and analyse. Next higher level of growth he termed as Aesthetic need, this need described the
need of the individual to relate to symmetry, beauty and order. Then comes Self Actualization, it
was the desire of an individual to become more and more of what one is or to become everything
that a person is capable of becoming. Self-Transcendence, was the highest need in the hierarchy
and it describes those people who help others attain Self Actualization. Basically, Maslow wants
to state that as one attains the level of Self Actualization and self-transcendence, one becomes
wiser to choose growth and options in a wide variety of situations. Maslow (1968) stated that an
average individual is motivated by deficiencies .i.e., he is seeking to fulfil his most basic needs for
hunger, safety, love, respect and esteem while a healthy individual is motivated to actualize his
fullest potentialities and capacities. Daniels (2001) suggested that the ultimate conclusion by
Maslow about the highest levels of Self-Actualization being transcendent in nature could be one
of his most important contributions to the study of motivation and human behaviour.

Peak experience and Self Actualization:

Of particular interest to Maslow were peak experiences which according to him were “fairly
common” among his advanced subjects. He felt that “any person in any of his peak experiences
took on temporarily many of the characteristics which he found in Self Actualizing individuals”.
He referred to them as peak experiences because they were commonly valued as moments of
deep inspiration and high elevation clearly set apart from ordinary life. He described peaks as
periods of “transcendent ecstasy”, as the “healthiest moments” (1968), or “tremendous
intensification of any of the experiences in which there is loss of self or transcendence of it”
(1970). Maslow held that in Self-Actualizers, “these episodes came far more intensely, frequently,
and perfectly than in average people” (1968).
Although capacity for peak experiences was considered one of the common characteristics of
Self-Actualizing individuals, but in his last work Maslow (1976) presented a new theory “Z”, which
proposed that two “degrees” or kinds of Self-Actualizing people can be identified: “Peaker” who
frequently have transcendental experiences, and “non-Peaker” who rarely or never have them.
The “merely healthy” Self-Actualizing individuals live happily in the world, “they lead it, master
it, use it for good purposes....”. In contrast, the “transcenders” have their “centre of gravity in
the values of B-realm, giving them a superior perspective on the D-realm and its unnecessary
evils” (Wulff, 1991). Maslow found them to perceive more intuitively and be saintlier and more
awe-inspiring. Rogers (1961, 1963) and Maslow (1954, 1968) both have suggested that highly
actualizing people are much less predictable than less actualizing individuals.

Self-actualisation:
A significant emphasis which Maslow places is on psychological health and well-being. Many of
the others, including Freud, were preoccupied with illness or pathology. This switch of attention
from illness to health is evident in Maslow’s concept of self-actualisation. A truly healthy person
is one who is capable of developing innate talents and achieving maximum potential. In Maslow’s
opinion it is impossible to understand human motivation if we look at it purely from a
psychotherapist’s viewpoint (Maslow, 1970). Any motivational theory, he believed, must
consider the ultimate potential of healthy people, as well as looking at the problems and neurosis
of those who are ill or debilitated. True understanding of human development and motivation is
only achieved through a more comprehensive and holistic appraisal of humanity generally. These
ideas, expressed by Maslow, are similar to those articulated by Rogers, and indeed the self-
actualisation concept is common to both of them. This is not surprising since both men worked
together and in 1962 helped to found the Association for Humanistic Psychology along with other
colleagues (Rollo May). Maslow’s definition of self-actualisation is that it is a process whereby
each person strives to become what they are actually intended to be. People with specific talents
like art or music, for example, must develop these abilities in order to be psychologically healthy
and at peace with themselves. The need to self-actualise may of course take various forms. These
include excellence in sport, success in parenting or caring for others, or indeed achievement in
any other personal area which has meaning and importance for the individual. One difficulty
which clients often express in counselling is that they are unable (for various reasons) to develop
the skills and natural talents which they feel they possess. This inability to fulfil potential can
cause a great deal of suffering. Maslow studied a group of healthy people in order to identify
their characteristics and to show how they differed from other, less fulfilled individuals. Maslow
described his work as ‘a study of psychological health’ (Maslow, 1970) and selected his subjects
from his personal acquaintances and friends. However, he also included a selection of public and
historical figures whom he studied through biography. Among these were the philosopher
Spinoza, Aldous Huxley, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. Maslow’s
study points to several significant characteristics which his selected group of people seemed to
share. These include the following:
• the ability to perceive reality clearly – this includes the ability to judge people and
situations accurately
• acceptance of self and of others – this includes acceptance of one’s own human nature,
without too much concern about personal shortcomings
• spontaneity in thinking and behaviour, as well as a sense of humour the capacity to be
problem-centred rather than ego-centred – this means the ability to look outside oneself
to the problems of the wider world
• a quality of detachment and an ability to be self-contained when alone
• the ability to resist cultural pressure without being deliberately unconventional
• the capacity to appreciate the good things of life, including everyday experience
• the capacity for heightened or transcendent experience
• interest in social issues and the welfare of other people
• the ability to form deep and satisfying relationships, although these may not be as
numerous as those of other people
• originality and creativity and a willingness to experiment with new ideas
• the ability to tolerate uncertainty.

The significance of Maslow’s work in relation to counselling:

Maslow is at pains to point out that the self-actualising people he describes, are, in fact, also
imperfect in many ways (Maslow, 1970). Many of these people are, he says, sometimes boring,
silly, vain, irritating, depressed and quite capable of losing their tempers. These qualifications
are helpful, since they indicate that Maslow’s self-actualising people are, after all, human.
Without these qualifications it would be impossible to look at the qualities listed without feeling
slightly intimidated by them. However, what Maslow proposes is that there are people who are
capable of developing their potential to a very high level, while at the same time remaining
essentially human. This, of course, highlights the point that a great many people never achieve
this kind of development, and there are others whose innate potential is inhibited for a variety
of reasons. There are many reasons for this kind of inhibition and clients who come into
counselling frequently exhibit some, if not all, of them. If we look at the list again, it becomes
clear that the qualities Maslow describes are strikingly absent when people are distressed or
emotionally upset, as clients often are. Distressed people find it very difficult to tolerate
uncertainty, for example, and they frequently lack spontaneity, creativity and a sense of humour.
Perceptions of reality may be very distorted, while acceptance of self and others may be lacking
too. Autonomy and self-reliance are easily impaired when problems seem insurmountable, and
relationships with other people, if not actually the cause of difficulties, may well suffer as a result
of them. Appreciation of life experience is often diminished and there may be no interest
whatever in wider social issues. Transcendent or heightened experiences, which are in any case
associated with psychological well-being, may be non-existent during a time of crisis or emotional
upheaval. However, implicit in the work of both Maslow and Rogers is the belief that people can
be helped to overcome their problems, so that some measure of self-actualisation can then be
achieved.

Role of Therapy:

One way of helping people to realise their potential is through a truly therapeutic relationship,
although this is by no means the only route to self-actualisation. Maslow points out that
psychotherapy has always existed in one form or another (Maslow, 1970). These forms of helping
include shamanic healing, religion, the physician and the wise man or woman within
communities. Common to all these is the ability to help people heal themselves, and Maslow
outlines what he believes to be the therapeutic characteristics of such relationships. He also
highlights the point that many people are helped by untrained workers who are, nevertheless,
often effective in the work they do. These untrained therapists may include nurses, teachers,
social workers, psychology graduates and so on. This is not to suggest that counselling and
therapy training is superfluous; on the contrary, it should encourage us to look more closely at
those skills and natural abilities which effective helpers do possess.
In Maslow’s opinion, clients appear to make more progress when the following factors are
present in the helping relationship:

• the helper shows real interest in the client, and a willingness to listen
• there is obvious concern for the client
• the helper’s efforts are clear to the client, which assures the client that he is worthwhile
as a person
• the client feels safe and protected, and feelings of vulnerability and anxiety are
diminished
• there is an absence of judgmentalism on the helper’s part
• the helper is accepting
• the helper is frank and encouraging
• the helper is kind
• the client perceives that the helper is on her side
 • the client feels the helper’s respect.

The helper’s attitude:

Maslow makes the further point that it is not what is said or done by the helper which seems to
make the difference. Rather, it is the presence of certain helper attitudes, unconsciously
transmitted, which appear to encourage clients in the process of therapy. There is a close
similarity between attitudes discussed by Maslow, and those proposed by Carl Rogers in the
person-centred approach. If we analyse Maslow’s attitudes, we can see that he refers to
Rogerian-type conditions which are implicit in terms such as interest, frankness, accepting,
respect, concern and absence of judgmentalism. Furthermore, the idea that the helper’s
partiality should be perceived by the client is one which clearly echoes the Rogerian concepts of
unconditional positive regard and empathy.
The only skill which is mentioned by Maslow is that of listening. This also ties in with Rogers’ view
that therapeutic progress results from the relationship between client and counsellor, and may
have little to do with any ‘verbal interchange’ which takes places between them (Rogers, 1951).
There are clear implications here for counselling and counsellor training, since it illustrates the
importance of self-development and self-awareness as prerequisites for admission to, and
progress through, any training programme. Counselling skills can certainly be learned, but
personal characteristics are much more difficult to acquire and sustain. Therapeutic life
experience It is worth pointing out once again, that therapy and counselling are not the only
helping activities which facilitate change when people are in crisis or emotional distress. Maslow
was at pains to remind us that helpers from diverse backgrounds are also effective in these
situations, and some
of these have been mentioned in this section. As well as the helping relationships discussed,
however, Maslow also points to the fact that certain life experiences are in themselves
therapeutic. Among these are the experiences of friendship, good intimate relationships,
education, job satisfaction, overcoming difficulties, creative activities and family security
(Maslow, 1970). However, Maslow does concede that certain clients, especially those who suffer
from long-term and intractable problems, need the kind of help which can only be given by
trained therapists or counsellors. Furthermore, he is concerned to point out that it should be
possible to extend such training to those untrained professionals who already work effectively
with clients. This is, in fact, what is currently happening in many areas like social work, nursing,
occupational therapy, teaching and church ministry.

While Maslow’s work fell out of favour with many academic psychologists and some suggest
his hierarchy might be due for an update, his theories are enjoying a resurgence due to the rising
interest in positive psychology.