Abraham Maslow: An Architect of the Third Force - Term Paper Example

Abraham Maslow: An Architect Of The ‘Third Force’ Introduction Human being is one of the most mysterious being created by nature. His physical, mental, emotional and spiritual abilities make him completely different from other living beings on the earth. People in scientific fields thought that they will be able understand the mystery behind the mechanism of human mind by carrying out experiments on animals or by studying human behavior under ‘controlled’ situations. However, the truth is that no matter how much progress science or psychology made, they were not able to unravel the mystery of the beautiful way in which the human beings function. This is because psychologists ignored the importance of religion, spirituality and creativity while studying the human behavior. The most important aspect of man’s life is his spirit. If his spirituality and creativity are ignored, then he is reduced to a slave. Abraham Maslow was the only scientist who was able to adapt a holistic approach towards the development and growth of human beings by combining the essence of both, the science and the art, in his theories. Abraham Maslow, by developing a ‘human’ approach towards a growth and self actualization of human beings, contributed immensely to the field of psychology. How is Maslow different Before the nineteenth century, people who had authority over religious studies and philosophy were considered to be the representative of the subject of human psychology (Goble, 2004, p.11). Hence, at that time, psychology was not considered a separate subject from the religious teachings of how human being should behave or the philosophical outlook of human behavior. Rather, psychology was a part of spirituality and philosophy. After 19th century, with the spurt of scientific discoveries, psychology also began to be looked at as a part of ‘science’ rather than philosophy and slowly started forming its own identity (Goble, 2004, p.11). With the advent of scientific approach to psychology, different schools of psychology like psychoanalysis, behaviorism, gestalt and functionalism started spreading its roots (Goble, 2004, p.11). Freud’s Psychoanalysis and Watson’s behaviorism dominated the world of psychology at the time of publication of Maslow’s book ‘Motivation and Personality’, in 1954. However, Maslow’s book ‘Motivation and Personality’, changed the whole outlook of psychology. ‘Motivation and Personality’ proved to be a milestone in the field of psychology. It demanded that psychology should change its outlook towards human beings. Maslow portrayed a human being as a ‘whole’ and integrated being (“Abraham Maslow”, para 3). His outlook was different from psychoanalysis which considered human being as a slave to his ‘unconscious’ desires and also different from behaviorism, which considered human being as a mechanical device whose behavior can be controlled and who can be ‘trained’ to do anything (“Abraham Maslow”, para 3). Freud’s psychology was based on the clinical observations of the people suffering from mental disorders while the behaviorists drew their conclusions from the laboratory experiments of rats (Goble, 2004, p.18). This reduced the possibility of understanding the real essence of the human psychology as rather than understanding human being as someone having a spirit and someone who needed to be happy and satisfied, psychoanalysts and behaviorists limited him to a being who should be trained to do as ordered (Goble, 2004, p.21). Maslow’s outlook was more like an artist than a scientist (“Abraham Maslow”, para 3). He believed that people were complete beings and had a great potential for growth and satisfaction in life (“Abraham Maslow”, para 3). Maslow’s research was not based on the experiments done in controlled environment of a laboratory or a psychology clinic. His theories were based on his broad minded approach and the in depth study of the important personalities from different fields like Thomas Jefferson, Einstein, Schweitzer, Lincoln etc (“Abraham Maslow”, para 5). His effort was to make people realize that if it was possible for these eminent personalities to attain such great heights in their life, then it is possible for every human being to attain it. To explain the potential of the human being, he adopted the Goldstein’s term ‘self-actualization’ (Boa, 2004,p.113). Maslow’s theory on human motivation was very refreshing and it had a humanistic approach towards understanding human behavior (Goble, 2004, p.8). Rather than considering humans as mere ‘subjects’ in the clinical or laboratory experiments, he understood them as ‘humans’ who have emotions, spirit, desires and dreams. He developed a theory of human behavior keeping in mind not only the external and the environmental aspects of a human being but also his internal aspects like emotions, desires, drives, needs, feelings etc (Goble, 2004, p.8). It is believed that his theory has changed the course of the history as it gave hope and encouragement to people which the Freudian and the behaviorist theories were not able to give (Goble, 2004, p.9). The question is, how was Maslow able to develop theories that touched not only the psychologists but also those people who were not working in the field of psychology? Every human being has a history. His thinking and his attitude is shaped by his experiences and his personality. It won’t be wrong to say that Maslow’s childhood experiences were instrumental in him developing his theories which famously came to be known as the ‘third force’ of psychology. His life taught him to be human, and to treat other people as ‘humans’. Maslow’s life and his growth Abrham Maslow was born on April 1st, 1980 to a Jewish couple (“Abraham Maslow biography”, para 3). Maslow’s parents had migrated to the US from Russia to escape the socio-political turmoil in their country (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 3). Maslow’s parents believed that their harsh conditions were the result of their lack of education (“Abraham Maslow biography”, para 3). This belief led them to be very strict and pushy when it came to shaping their children’s performance (Boeree, n.d., para 1). Abraham being the eldest, they wanted him to succeed in his academic performance and gain respectable position in the society (Boeree, n.d., para 1). However, this made life a little difficult for Abraham. Due to the pressure for academic success as well as domestic responsibility of taking care of his brothers and sisters, he started to become lonely as a boy (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 4). He had to divide his time between long hours of studies and assistance to his father in his work (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 4). He hardly use to get any free time to play or to be with his friends (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 4). Also, coming from the Jewish ethnic background made it quite difficult for him to find friends (Goble, 2004, p.20). According to him, “it was a little like being the first Negro in an all-white school” (Goble, 2004, p.20). During these difficult times, what came to his rescue was the habit of reading (Goble, 2004, p.20). His family conditions and his parents expectations made him lonely and unhappy as a child (Goble, 2004, p.20). He found peace in the libraries and books (Goble, 2004, p.20). He started gaining interest in both, psychology and philosophy (Goble, 2004, p.20). Different philosophers like Alfred Whitehead, Henri Bergson, Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln, Plato and Spinoza had great impact on him (Goble, 2004, p.20). According to him, William Summer’s ‘Folkways’ was as a “Mount Everest” in his life (Goble, 2004, p.20).. He also developed an immense interest in psychology. It is important to note that even after spending so much time with books, he was not just a book worm. His family conditions made him to start working from early age (Goble, 2004, p.20). He started with delivering newspaper and also use to work in the family company during the summers (Goble, 2004, p.20). This developed a balance between the practical and the philosophical approach towards life. Abraham was not able to pursue education in his field of interest as his parents wanted him to study law (Boeree, n.d., para 2). However, after forcing himself through three semesters, he was not able to take it anymore (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 5). At the age of twenty, he decided to live the life that he wanted to and so, married his first cousin Bertha and chose to study psychology (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 6). Both the decisions were against his parents wish, but it proved to be a blessing for him as later, Maslow said that life really began for him when he moved to Wisconsin with his wife (Goble, 2004, p.21). It was in Wisconsin that his excited and profound journey in the field of psychology began. From a psychologist to the ‘humanistic’ psychologist. Abraham Maslow’s journey in the field of psychology began as any other person’s journey who is interested in psychology, i.e., by being completely overwhelmed by the theories of behaviorism and psychoanalysis (Goble, 2004, p.21). He started working under the guidance of Harry Harlow whose major work included experiments on monkeys and studies on attachment behavior (Boeree, n.d.). During this period, his increasing interest in psychoanalysis and gestalt psychology led to the decrease in interest of behaviorism (Goble, 2004, p.21). From the University of Wisconsin, he completed his PhD in the year 1934, in psychology (Boeree, n.d.mpara 4). In 1935, Maslow moved to New York to intensify his studies on animal behavior (“Abraham Maslow biography”). His move to New York was a result of the correspondence he had with Dr. Edward Thorndike who was a director of the psychology division in Columbia University, New York (“Abraham Maslow biography”). In 1937, Maslow moved to Brooklyn and started teaching psychology at Brooklyn college (“Abraham Maslow biography”, n.d., para 7). This period proved to be the most productive period of his life. However, the event that actually led to a massive shift in Maslow’s approach towards psychology was the birth of their first baby (Goble, 2004, p.21). The birth of their first baby made him realize that no matter how advanced or experts the psychologists think they are regarding human behavior, human life still remains a mystery and a miraculous thing in the world (Goble, 2004, p.21). Maslow’s experience of being a parent and observation of his baby changed his outlook towards psychology completely (Goble, 2004, p.21). He became certain that behaviorism and psychoanalysis are nothing less than the foolish approach towards understanding human behavior and human life (Goble, 2004, p.21). He found behaviorism approach to be so inhuman that he went to the extent of saying that “anyone who had a baby couldn’t be a behaviorist” (Goble, 2004, p.21). He realized that thinking of human beings as ‘subjects’ to be trained or experimented on, reduced the spirit and the creativity that the human being was made of. Hence, to find a ‘human’ and spiritual approach towards understanding the human psychology, he began his journey in search of a new path and a new ‘force’. THE BIRTH OF THE ‘THIRD FORCE’ Maslow’s outlook and approach towards psychology was more like a human than a psychologist (Maslow, 1993, p.xv). The two major forces in psychology at the time he started his career were the experimental approach of the behavioristic psychology and the psychoanalytical approach of the Freudian psychology (Boa, 2004,p.113). Maslow was dissatisfied with the lack of completeness in these forces and decided to bring psychology out of its conventional, mechanistic and ‘scientific’ barriers and give it a more revolutionary and human touch. He realized that only a creative and inventive approach towards psychology can give it a new life (Maslow, 1993, p.xv). Also, it is important to note that the birth of the ‘third force’ was a result of Maslow’s study of the maturation process of himself and study of those people who ‘embodied full humanness’ by being healthy, creative and most importantly, satisfied (Maslow, 1993, p.xvi). He described these people as self-actualized people (Goble, 2004, p.34). Maslow believed that rather than studying people who are suffering from depression, mental weakness and mental disorders, psychologists should study healthy and happy people (Boa, 2004,p.113) .According to him, studying healthy people “gives you a fresh and encouraging view of mankind” and shows the possibility of what can be achieved if human beings take the right path to achieve it (Maslow, 1993, p.xvi). This belief led Maslow to develop the theories of ‘Self-actualization’ and ‘the hierarchy of human needs’, which gave birth to the ‘third force’ in the field of psychology. ‘Self-actualization’ and ‘hierarchy of needs’ Maslow realized that human problems cannot be solved by studying people who were psychologically disturbed or studying people who utilized only average of their actual potential (Goble, 2004, p.35). He believed that to understand the complete potential of a human being, one has to study those people who have utilized all their talents, capabilities and potentials (Goble, 2004, p.35). According to Maslow, the self-actualized people feel content and fulfilled about their life by “doing the best that they are capable of doing” (Goble, 2004, p.35). Hence, to understand the complete potential of man, he studied those people who he considered self actualized. He studied their behaviors, lives, decision making patterns, habits etc. to know those characters which make them self actualized (Goble, 2004, p.36). The most important characters he found in the self actualized people are as follows: 1. The most common characteristic of self actualized people is the clarity they have regarding all the aspects of their life (Goble, 2004, p.37). That is, they understand what reality is and do not have illusions about it (Goble, 2004, p.37). 2. 2. Self-actualized people do not allow their hopes, wishes and dreams to distort their perception of the real life situations (Goble, 2004, p.37). This makes them objective and hence, mature (Goble, 2004, p.37). 3. They have the ability to judge people correctly which leads to healthy relationships in life (Goble, 2004, p.37). 4. They are decisive, have right judgment ability and hence, have fair amount of idea of the future events (Goble, 2004, p.37). Self-actualized people are appreciative about “art, music, politics and philosophy” (Goble, 2004, p.37). At the same time, they are humble and ready to learn from others (Goble, 2004, p.38). 5. Maslow found that self-actualized people are extremely passionate about their work (Goble, 2004, p.38). They find pleasure in their work (Goble, 2004, p.38). 6. The most common quality he found was that of creativity(Goble, 2004, p.38). All the self actualized people were creative by nature (Goble, 2004, p.38). However, Maslow realized that only those people who are able to fulfill their basic needs are able to reach the stage of self-actualization. To explain how and in what way the basic needs can be fulfilled, Maslow created a ‘hierarchy of needs’. According to him, if people are to function in a healthy way, the deficiency of the basic needs in the organisms must be fulfilled (Boa, 2004,p.113). Maslow noticed that some needs are more important than others and according to the necessity of the needs, he developed the hierarchy of needs (Boeree, n.d., para 9). The hierarchy of the needs is as follows: 1. The physiological needs, 2. The safety and security needs, 3. the love and belonging needs and 4. the esteem needs (Boeree, n.d.). Maslow says that for a person to think about growth and to achieve self-actualization, what is needed is the fulfillment of the physiological needs (Boa, 2004,p.115). With the theory of ‘self-actualization’ and ‘hierarchy of needs’, Maslow showed the world that desires and needs are not the enemies of human beings but are the natural part of their existence (Boa, 2004,p.114). He showed people how to befriend their needs and transcend them by fulfilling them, rather than resisting them and leading a mechanical and depressed life (Boa, 2004,p.114). By developing and introducing these two theories to the world, Maslow showed the world that success is possible only if we love ourselves and only when we enjoy a pleasurable and happy life. Conclusion Maslow’s contribution has proved to be important and helpful not only for people in the field of psychology, but also for all the people working in different walks of life. Maslow’s theories are not just ‘theories’ but are practical ways of understanding how a human being can reach the zenith of his potential by fulfilling his needs with the times. His theories and concepts were very revolutionary and visionary. Even today, his concepts help individuals and organizations to improve their performances (“Abraham Maslow”, n.d.). By providing a fresh vision to psychology, Maslow has changed the humanity and gave a new hope to the world that everyone has a potential to be self-actualized (“Abraham Maslow”,n.d.). By showing a practical and positive path towards the attainment of self-actualization, Maslow’s contribution to the field of psychology is immense and simply unforgettable. References “Abraham Maslow”. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.abraham-maslow.com/amIndex.asp “Abraham Maslow biography” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Biography.asp “Abraham Maslow: Motivation and Personlaity(1954)” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Motivation-and-Personality.asp Boa, K. (2004). Augustine to Freud: What theologians & psychologists tell us about Human Nature and why it matters. TN: B & H Publishing Group Boeree, C.G. (n.d.) “Abraham Maslow: Biography” Retrieved from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html Goble, F.G. (2004). The Third Force: The Psychology Of Abraham Maslow. CA: Maurice Bassett Publishing. Maslow, A.H.(1993). The Farther Reaches Of Human Nature. New York: Penguin Read More