Abraham Maslow

Overview

Abraham Maslow began in experimental psychology, working with primates, and became one of the founders of humanistic psychology. His objection to the field was that it had built its picture of human nature from laboratory animals and from patients in distress, and had almost nothing to say about people working at their best. His 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation proposed that needs are organised so that lower ones, physiological and safety needs, generally take precedence over higher ones, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. The popular pyramid, which Maslow did not draw, hardened this into a rigid ladder that the paper itself does not claim; Maslow explicitly allowed for exceptions and overlapping needs. The empirical support is thin: the specific ordering has not been confirmed, and his account of self-actualisation was drawn from a small, hand-picked set of people he admired rather than from any systematic sample. Read the 1943 paper directly, since it is more careful than its reputation.

Where to start reading

• A Theory of Human Motivation 1943

  The paper that introduced the hierarchy of needs, with far more hedging about exceptions than the pyramid version retains.

• Motivation and Personality 1954

  The book-length development of the theory, including his study of self-actualising people.

• Toward a Psychology of Being 1962

  A shorter, more speculative statement of what a psychology built on health rather than pathology would look like.

Part of

• Humanistic psychology

Sources

1. A Theory of Human Motivation Classics in the History of Psychology, York University
2. Maslow's hierarchy of needs WikipediaIncludes the criticisms of the ordering and of the evidence base.
3. Abraham Maslow Wikipedia