Abraham Maslow

1908-1970

Who was he?

• An American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs- a theory of self-actualization.

• Maslow was a psychology professor at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University.

• He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a bag of symptoms.

Maslows’ Hierarchy of needs

• He began his theory back in 1934.• It is a theory he proposed in 1943 called ‘A

Theory of Human Motivation.’• His work looked into the behaviours of people

to help describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through.

• He categorised these as:

• Physiological• Safety • Belongingness and Love• Esteem• Self-Actualization needs

These can be seen in the following hierarchy.

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself.

• Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.

• Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.

• Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization.

• Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences including divorce and loss of job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of he hierarchy.

• Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs.

• When he used individuals to make his studies and theories he chose to avoid any mentally ill, or unhealthy people.

• He opted for the top 1% in a college population where he based his study.

Famous Quotes

‘If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.’

‘If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.’

‘If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I'd still swim. And I'd despise the one who gave up.’

Presented to you by:

• Denika Walsh• Phil Adey• Seb gregory