Unit 10—Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic Theory

Front 1

List and explain Maslow's five assumptions regarding motivation.

Back 1

1. Motivation is holistic in nature. In other words, the entire person is motivated not just one individual part.

2. Motivation is complex because your behaviour can stem from a number of different motivations. Motivation may also be rooted in our unconsciousness.

3. As people we are constantly being driven by one need or another. If our need is satisfied the motivational strength is weakened, however it is replaced by another need.

4. Universally, the basic needs that motivate people are the same across cultures.

5. Needs are organized and met in a specific ranked order.

Front 2

List and explain the five needs in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

(1) physiological needs

(2) safety needs

(3) love and belongingness needs


(4) esteem needs

(5) self-actualization needs,

Back 2

Maslow held that lower level needs have prepotency over higher level needs; that is, lower needs must be satisfied before higher needs become motivators. Maslow's hierarchy includes:

1) such as oxygen, food, water, and so on;

2) which include physical security, stability, dependency, protection, and freedom from danger, and which result in basic anxiety if not satisfied;

3) including the desire for friendship, the wish for a mate and children, and the need to belong;

4) which result from the satisfaction of love needs and which include self-confidence and the recognition that we have a positive reputation; and

5) which are satisfied only by the psychologically healthiest people. Unlike other needs that automatically are activated when lower needs are met, self-actualization needs do not inevitably follow from the satisfaction of esteem needs. Only by embracing such B-val

Front 3

Distinguish between conative, aesthetic, cognitive, and neurotic needs.

a. Conative Needs

b. Aesthetic Needs

c. Cognitive Needs

Back 3

Universal needs that can be described to have a motivational character.

b. Motivated by beauty and aesthetically pleasing experiences. Not a universal need. People who are motivated by this need strive to have an environment that is both pleasing to the eye and neat. The preference leans toward beauty versus ugliness. If placed in a messy environment can become physically and/or spiritually ill.

c. Wish to find the answers to mysteries, desire to comprehend and are actively curious.
Knowledge is required to satisfy all 5 of the cognitive needs. According to Maslow, healthy people urn to know more and understand how things work in a greater depth.

Front 4

Define instinctoid needs.

Back 4

Are defined as needs that are innately determined, however through learning they can be modified. Sex is an example. Ways differ from noninsintictoid needs are:

1. If an individual is unable to satisfy this kind of need they will experience frustration. And the level of pathology at this point is an important criteria that sets it apart.

2. Persistent in nature. The kind of needs that if satisfied lead to psychological health.

3. Specific needs that are only found in one kind of species.

4. Environmental forces can modify and change these needs.

Front 5

Describe Maslow's criteria for identifying self-actualizers.

Back 5

Four criteria must be met:

(1) absence of psychopathology
(2) satisfaction of each of the four lower level needs
(3) full realization of one's potentials for growth
(4) acceptance of the B-values. Values include: justice, beauty, humor, simplicity, truth.

Front 6

List and describe the characteristics of self-actualizing people.

Back 6

Maslow listed 15 qualities that characterize self-actualizing people, although not all self-actualizers possess each of these characteristics to the same extent. The characteristics of self-actualizing people are:
(1) more efficient perception of reality; they often have an almost uncanny ability to detect phoniness in others, and they are not fooled by sham
(2) acceptance of self, others, and nature
(3) spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness; they have no need to appear complex or sophisticated
(4) problem-centered; they view age-old problems from a solid philosophical position
(5) the need for privacy, or a detachment that allows them to be alone without being lonely
(6) autonomy; they have grown beyond dependency on other people for their self-esteem
(7) continued freshness of appreciation and the ability to view everyday things with a fresh vision and appreciation
(8) frequent reports of peak experiences, or those mystical experiences that give a person a sense of transcendence

Front 7

List and describe the characteristics of self-actualizing people. con't

Back 7

Maslow listed 15 qualities that characterize self-actualizing people, although not all self-actualizers possess each of these characteristics to the same extent.

con't...
(9) Gemeinschaftsgefühl, that is, social interest or a deep feeling of oneness with all humanity
(10) profound interpersonal relations but with no desperate need to have a multitude of friends
(11) the democratic character structure, or the ability to disregard superficial differences between people
(12) discrimination between means and ends, meaning that self-actualizing people have a clear sense of right and wrong, and they experience little conflict about basic values
(13) a philosophical sense of humor, or humor that is spontaneous, unplanned, and intrinsic to the situation; (14) creativeness; they possess a keen perception of truth, beauty, and reality
(15) resistance to enculturation; they have the ability to set personal standards and to resist the mold set by the dominant culture.

Front 8

Describe the Jonah complex.

Back 8

This an obstacle that prevents a person from achieving self-actualization. It is defined as the fear of reaching our potential, aka fear of success. Running away from greatness is characteristic behavior. This occurs in the majority of the population. Maslow thought this was due to the fact that our bodies are not physically designed to sustain euphoric feelings for length of time. He also thought that people tended to compare their abilities with successful individuals and were unable to believe they had the same level of skill. Humility kicks in and people attempt to demote their skills/creativity and work to avoid the limelight by shyly moving toward perfection.

Front 9

Discuss Maslow's philosophy of science

Back 9

According to Maslow value-free science is not capable of being the best tool in the exploration of human personality. He thought that a more humanistic, holistic approach was required. Meaning the researchers should be compassionate and show express empathy toward the subjects in the research studies. He felt strongly that individual studies should be carried out over large groups. Maslow also thought subjective reports should be completed over objective ridigd ones. He thought that the person as whole should be considered. In his view he thought scientists should be willing to resacralize science. In other words, scientists should instill human values, emotions and rituals in their practice. Maslow thought one should view the mystery of personality with a sense of awe. He also thought that people must first be healthy themselves and be willing to accept ambiguity and the unknown.

Front 10

Discuss Maslow's concept of humanity

Back 10

Maslow believed that all of us can be self-actualizing. Humans have potential for being a good human being.
Fail to satisfy our self-actualization needs when our lower level needs become blocked. Hierachy of basic needs exist... must be satisfied regularly before we become fully human.

Every person has potential
Self-actualizing people are ordinary people with nothing taken away.
Optimistic and hopeful.
Evil stems from frustration of basic needs.
Basic needs not met - steal, cheat, lie.
Society and people can be improved. People doomed to wish for what they don’t have.
Truth, love, beauty are instinctoid. Are basic to human needs. just like hunger.

Front 11

Explain the implications of Maslow's theory for psychotherapy

Back 11

The hierarchy of needs concept has obvious ramifications for psychotherapy. Most people who seek psychotherapy probably do so because they have not adequately satisfied their love and belongingness needs. This suggests that much of therapy should involve a productive human relationship and that he job of a therapist is to help clients satisfy love and belongingness needs.

Front 12

Summarize research on self-actualization

Back 12

RESEARCHER: Reiss & Havercamp
HYPOTHESIS: measured need fulfillment to test the idea in Maslow’s theory that lower order needs must be met early in life while higher order needs such as self-actualization are fulfilled later in life.
RESULTS: Their results supported Maslow’s theory on this point.

RESEARCHERS: Lyubomirsky, Sousa, and Dickerhoof
RESULTS: found additionally that while simply thinking about past positive experiences did not confer physical health benefits, it did result in participants’ reporting greater well-being than those who wrote about the positive experiences. This recent research in positive psychology supports Maslow’s prediction that peak experiences often have a lasting impact on people’s lives.

con't

Front 13

Summarize research on self-actualization.. con't

Back 13

HYPOTHESIS: Implicit in Maslow's theory of self-actualization is the assumption that psychologically healthy people become more self-actualizing as they grow older.
RESEARCHERS: Jack Bauer and Dan McAdams
PARTICIPANTS: college students and middle-age and older community volunteers.
METHOD: Their procedure called for measuring two kinds of growth—extrinsic and intrinsic.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS: External growth includes an interest in money, fame, and physical appearance, whereas intrinsic growth focuses on happiness and healthy interpersonal relations.
RESULTS: As hypothesized, Bauer and McAdams found that older participants had higher intrinsic goals, whereas college students tended to report needs for extrinsic goals.

Front 14

Name two characteristics that make physiological needs different from other needs.

Back 14

1. Physiological Needs: Needs required to survive. For example: Food, water and oxygen.

Differ from other needs in two ways:
1. Only needs that can be fully satisfied.
2. Needs that repeatedly need to be met.

Front 15

Explain the difference between:

1) reputation

2) self-esteem

Back 15

According to Maslow there are two levels of esteem needs:

1. the perception of being successful in the eyes of others.

2. is our own internal gauge of our self worth. It is based on our own competence and skills not other people’s opinions of our skill set.

Front 16

Explain the differences between:

1) Expressive

2) Coping

Back 16

1) Normally unconscious behaviour that occurs naturally. There is no end goal or aim. It is simply the person’s form of expression. Includes actions, gestures, voice and one’s gait. It is behaviour that innate and occurs spontaneously. Forces within the person influence our expressive behaviour versus external environmental forces.

2) Conscious behavior that is exhibited with effort and is learned. The external environment influences this behave. One’s desire to fulfill our needs is the driving force behind this behavior with an aim or goal to satisfy the need.

Front 17

Explain the difference between instinctoid and noninstinctoid needs.

Back 17

1. If an individual is unable to satisfy an instinctoid need they will experience frustration. And the level of pathology at this point is an important criteria that sets it apart.

2. Persistent in nature. Instinctoid needs are the kind of needs that if satisfied lead to psychological health.

3. Instinctoid needs are specific needs that are only found in one kind of species.

4. Environmental forces can modify and change instinctoid needs.

Front 18

List three criteria used to identify self-actualizing people.

Back 18

1. An important criteria is an individual is free from psychopathology. In other words, they are not psychotic nor are they neurotic.

This is important to note because certain neurotic and psychotic individuals have characteristics that fit the self-actualization description. Including: heightened sense of reality, creativity and detachment from individuals.

2. The person had moved through and fulfilled the various needs in the hierarchy of needs.
They have a well balanced sense of self and able to take criticism. They are capable of loving others without fear of rejection.

3. The third criteria is the individual must embrace the B-values. Values include: justice, beauty, humor, simplicity, truth.

4. The final criteria identifying a self-actualizer is that they have fulfilled their desire to develop because they have reached the potential of what they can become.

Front 19

According to Maslow, why might a person have a Jonah complex?

Back 19

This an obstacle that prevents a person from achieving self-actualization. It is defined as the fear of reaching our potential, aka fear of success. Running away from greatness is characteristic behavior. This occurs in the majority of the population. Maslow thought this was due to the fact that our bodies are not physically designed to sustain euphoric feelings for length of time. He also thought that people tended to compare their abilities with successful individuals and were unable to believe they had the same level of skill. Humility kicks in and people attempt to demote their skills/creativity and work to avoid the limelight by shyly moving toward perfection