Abraham Maslow
By: Jennifer Carter &
Carleigh Sanderson
Introduction:
• Born April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn New York
• Died in 1970 from a heart attack
• Maslow married his first cousin, Bertha
Goodman, against his parents wishes
• they had two daughters
• Studied law at the City College of New York
(CCNY)
Introduction con’t…
• But later transferred to Cornell and once
again back to CCNY
• He became interested in psychology after
the birth of his children
• Received his BA, MA, and PhD in
psychology from the University of
Wisconsin
Field of Research:
Humanistic Psychology
• Humanistic psychology is a modern psychology
that emphasizes human individuality and
regards psychology as a human science rather
than as a bio-physical science.
• Humanistic psychology rejects behaviorism
since it objects to treating human persons as
biological mechanisms. Instead, it takes into
account human intentions, motivation as well as
education.
*Abraham Maslow was one of the first psychologists
to make this approach popular.
Important Contributions:
• While working with monkeys early in his career,
Maslow learnt that some common needs took
precedence over others.
• i.e. If you are hungry and thirsty, you will tend to
try and satisfy the need for fluids first. Also, if
you are extremely thirsty, but someone has got
you in a choke hold and you can’t breath, what
would you take care of first? Cleary breathing,
because you can‘t live without it. With this idea
Maslow created the “Hierarchy of Needs.”
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Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological Needs
Safety and Security Needs
Love and Belonging Needs
Esteem Needs
Need for Self Actualization
Important Contributions con’t…
• Maslow defined many terms in his career but the
most recognized are:
• B-Motivation- involves the motivation for psychological growth,
and developing and fulfilling our potentials.
• D-Motivation- deficiency motivation takes place when we lack
something and try to require it.
• Homeostasis- bodily equilibrium. Maslow used
this definition when referring to needs. He
believed that when you regress in your needs,
other needs will take place to balance it out.
• Instinctoid-needs that are required for survival.
They are needed for good health, and they are
instinctively sought out.
Maslow is important in our study
of Social Sciences because…
• inspired Humanistic Psychology
• developed the Hierarchy of Needs
• the Hierarchy of Needs can relate to any part of
society. The rich and the poor, the black and the white
all need the same basic needs.
• also if these needs aren’t met, society’s can fall apart.
• i.e. Africa doesn’t have enough to meet the basic
needs, and its society is severely struggling.
• created the idea of Self-Actualization
• defined D-motivation, B-motivation,
homeostasis and instictoid needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs
1. The Physiological Needs
• Are the needs for oxygen, vitamins and
minerals, rest, sleep, sex, activity and to get
rid of wastes (CO2, sweat etc.) They also
include the need to sustain a pH balance
and a regular temperature.
• Maslow also believed that a lack of any
vitamins or minerals (e.g. vitamin C) makes a
person crave a food that offers that vitamin or
mineral (e.g. orange juice.)
2. The Safety and Security Needs
• Once the physiological needs are taken care of, this
second layer will take priority.
• This need makes people want to find stability and
protection.
• People may develop a need for structure, order and
limits.
• Looking at this negatively, people become concerned
with fears and anxiety as opposed to hunger and
thirst.
• i.e. In an common Canadian this need gives them the
urge to buy a home in a safe neighbourhood, find a
job with security, have insurance plans, retirement
plans etc.
3. The Love and Belonging Needs
• With the other two needs taken care of
people begin to feel a need for friends,
companions, children and community.
• i.e. Joining church groups, gangs, clubs etc.
4. The Esteem Needs
• People begin to search for self-esteem.
• Maslow considered two versions of esteem needs, a high
and low one.
• The lower one is the need for respect from others, the need for
status, fame, glory, attention, reputation etc.
• The higher form involves the need for self-respect, selfconfidence, achievement, independence, freedom etc.
• The negative version of this need is low self-esteem and
inferiority (inadequacy) complexes. Maslow believed that
this is what the root is in most psychological problems.
5. Self-Actualization
• This need occurs when the other four have been satisfied.
• It involves realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment,
seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
• He concluded that people who became self-actualized
shared a number of common personality characteristics.
Efficient Perception of Reality
Acceptance of Self and Others
Spontaneity
Autonomy
Continued Freshness of Appreciation
Identification with Humanity
Deep Interpersonal Relationships
Democratic Character Structure
Strong Ethics
Creativeness
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Comparing Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs TO the UN’s
“Overspending on weapons V.S people” pyramid
V.S
Provide Clean, safe energy
$50 Billion
Retire Developing
$30 Billion
Prevent soil Erosion
$24 Billion
Provide Health Care
and AIDS Control
$21 Billion
Eliminate starvation
and malnutrition
$19 Billion
Provide safe, clean water
$10 Billion
Prevent Global Warming
$8 Billion
Stop Deforestation
$7 Billion
Refugee Relief
$5 Billion
Build Democracy
$2 Billion
Provide shelter
$21 Billion
Stabilize Population
$10.5 Billion
Prevent Acid Rain
$8 Billion
Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
$7 Billion
Stop Ozone Depletion
$5 Billion
Eliminate Illiteracy
$5 Billion
Remove Landmines
$2 Billion
"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a
poet must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What
a man can be, he must be. This is the need we may call
self-actualization ... It refers to man's desire for
fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become
actually in what he is potentially: to become everything
that one is capable of becoming ..." - Abraham Maslow
THANK YOU!