Self-Actualization: Becoming the Person You Were Meant to Be
Abraham Maslow, author of Toward a Psychology of Being and a principal advocate of the humanistic viewpoint in psychology, presented a large-canvas description of human motivation. This description is known as Maslow’s hierarchv of needs. Aocording to Mas low. human needs can be ranked in term; of ‘‘lower needs’’ and “higher needs.”
Imagine a pyramid in sis layers. The needs ascend from the lower needs at the base of the pyramid to the higher needs at the apes. The first layer of the pyramid represents physiological needs. These are the need for food., water., and so forth. These are associated with the biological drives.
The second layer of the pyramid represents safety needs. These include the need for shelter, protection from injury, and so forth. Safety needs are reflected in such individual behaviors as wearing a seat belt and such social behaviors as organizing : police force.
The third layer of the pyramid represents love and belongingness needs.
These include the need for affection, the need to love, and the need to be loved.
Love and belongingness needs are reflected in such behaviors as joining a dub. forming friendships., getting married., and having children. The importance of love and belongingness needs is evident in many popular songs. They frequently focus on the elation one feels w-hen a love relationship is going well or the despair one feels when such a relationship is going badly.
The fourth layer of the pyramid represents esteem needs. These indude the need to be esteemed by others and self-esteem. The need to be esteemed by others is reflected in behaviors such as seeking a higher rank within an organization or working for a prestigious award or degree. Self-esteem is the sense of value that one feels about oneself. It is a kind of inner psychological ranking.
Low- self-esteem is associated with depression and a pessimistic oudook on life.
High self-esteem is associated with a positive mood and an optimistic outlook on life.
The fifth layer of the pyramid represents cognitive needs. Cognitive needs indude the need for mental stimulation, the need to use one's intelligence, and the need to esercise creative abilities. Cognitive needs are reflected in such behaviors as reading a book, writing a story, working a crossword pu22le, taking a class, solving a problem, and so forth.
The sisth and top layer of the pyramid represents the need for selfactualization. Of all the needs, this is the one that is primarily associated with the thinking and research of Maslow-. Maslow- hypothesi2ed that this need is inborn. Also, it is emergent, meaning that it only becomes a pressing need when the other lower needs are relatively satisfied. The need for self-actuali2ation is the need to masimi2e one's talents and potentialities. It is sometimes informally phrased as “the need to become the person you were meant to be.”
The need for self-actuali2ation is reflected in such behaviors as working toward success in a vocational field or seeking way of life that represents one's own idea of personal fulfillment. There is no field of work or style of life that can be specified., because the individual's choice and perception are of particular importance.
For one person, self-actuali2ation might mean the pursuit of an acting career. For another person, self-actuali2ation might mean becoming a parent. The important thing, according to Maslow, is that the individual discovers what is right for himself or herself.
MasloW's research suggested that many, perhaps most, people are not selfactuali2ins The price paid for a failure to be self-actualizing is a sense of disappointment in life and in oneself.
On the other hand, if one is in fact self-actuali2ing. there are important psychological rewards associated with the process. First, one will tend to esperience both a general sense of psychological health and a pleasant day-to-day emotional tone. Second, the individual will from time to time have peak experiences.
These are moments or joy or ecstasy when a hurdle is overcome, a task is completed, or a goal is reached.
Note that a person is not referred to as self-actuali2ed, but as self-actuali2ing. Maslow is talking about the process of becoming, not an end state. Self-actualization as a process can be a rich source of psychological reward for most of one's life.
Maslow makes a distinction between deficiency motivation and being motivation. Deficiency motivation refers to those needs lowest on the hierarchy. We need to overcome deficiency states such as hunger, thirst, and danger in order to move upward toward the higher levels. Being motivation tends to be associated with the higher levels, particulady with the need for self-actuali2ation. The theme of being motivation is growth.