Abraham H. Maslow

Cognition of Being in the Peak Experiences

(1959). Cognition of Being in the Peak Experiences. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Vol. 94, No. 1, pp. 43-66.

The Role of Dominance in the Social and Sexual Behavior of Infra-Human Primates: III. A Theory of Sexual Behavior of Infra-Human Primates

* Recommended by Gardner Murphy, accepted for publication by Carl Murchison of the Editorial Board, and received in the Editorial Office, December 5, 1935. 1 The writer wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Josephine Ball of the Carnegie Laboratory of Embryology for her criticisms and suggestions. Thanks are also due to Mr. Willard Helburn of Cambridge, Mass., for his suggestions and analogies with similar human behavior.

Preface to Motivation Theory

&NA; The integrated wholeness of the organism must be reemphasized. We should not take a localizable, somatic, partial drive as paradigm for motivation theory. The study of motivation should stress ultimate rather than partial goals, ends rather than means to ends. a) not only conscious but also unconscious motivations must be accounted for in a theory of motivation. There are, customarily, different cultural paths to the same goal. Therefore, conscious, specific, local desires are not so useful for motivation theory as fundamental, unconscious goals. Motivated behavior, either preparatory or consummatory, must be understood to be a channel through which many needs may be expressed or satisfied. Usually acts have more than one motivation. Practically all organismic states are to be understood as motivated. Man is a perpetually wanting animal; the appearance of a need rests on prior situations, on other prepotent needs; needs or desires must be arranged in hierarchies of prepotency. Lists of drives will get us no place for various reasons. Any classification of motivations must deal with the problem of level or specificity of classification. Classifications of motivations must be based upon goals rather than upon instigating drives. Motivation theory must be anthropocentric, not animalcentric. The situation or the field in which the organism reacts must be taken into account but it must be done with a dynamic interpretation of the situation or the field. Not only the integration of the organism must be taken into account but also the possibility of isolated, specific, partial or segmental responses must also be included.12

“Higher” and “Lower” Needs

(1948). “Higher” and “Lower” Needs. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 433-436.

The Authoritarian Character Structure

(1943). The Authoritarian Character Structure. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 401-411.

Conflict, frustration, and the theory of threat

Similar to frustration, there are two types of conflict situations: non-threatening and threatening. The former are quite unimportant, since ordinarily not pathogenic; the latter are important, because often pathogenic. The essential pathogenic characteristics of conflict and frustration are threat of thwarting of the basic needs of the organism, threat to its integrity, threat to its integration, and threat to its basic mastery of the world. The feeling of threat is in itself a dynamic stimulation to reactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Eupsychia—The Good Society1

were coming into the studio that these were rather peculiar times to be discussing Utopias. Utopian societies have traditionally been descriptions of economic achievement-a place where the material needs of food, clothing, shelter, were completely filled. Why, then, in America where we have apparently solved these material problems, do we still feel compelled to reach out, to define better societies? Why are we dissatisfied? Why do we go on imagining Utopias?&dquo; Dr. Maslow: &dquo;I think we’re simply witnessing a human phenomenon that has appeared down through the ages. What man does not have, he struggles for. When the need is fulfilled, he moves to a

Humanistic Education VS. Professional Education

The seminar Pete Christopher describes taught me the necessity of a sharper and more explicit distinction between traditional professional training and &dquo;humanistic education&dquo; (helping growth toward identity, toward self-actualization, toward awareness and acceptance of affect, of the preconscious and pre-verbal, etc.). The former is largely content and method-centered, a preparation for research, for becoming a scientist, etc. As Christopher points out, there is much extrinsic learning to be done; books to be read, researches to be examined and planned. There is the implicit assumption here (which we had better make explicit) that the student has already found his way and has committed himself to it; i.e., to a certain extent, it can be assumed that he has his identity. He is no longer seeking for it because presumably he has found it and now wants to be helped to become a more proficient, skilled, knowledgeable professional scientist.

Health as transcendence of environment

SummaryWhat these considerations can teach us about the theory of health is:1.We cannot obliterate the autonomous self or pure psyche. It must not be treated asonly an adaptational instrument.2.Even when we deal with our relations with environment, we must make a theoretical place for a receptive relation to the environment as well as a masterful one.3.Psychology is in part a branch of biology, in part a branch of sociology. But it is notonly that. It has its own unique jurisdiction as well, that portion of the psyche which isnot a reflection of the outer world or a molding to it. There could be such a thing as a psychological psychology.

How to Experience the Unitive Life

Edward Hoffman s (Editor) Note. In Abraham H. Maslows last years, he became increasingly interested in specific, practical ways to help people become more self-actualizing. He regarded how we can connect with our higher aspects of Being while functioning in the everyday, commonplace world as a key issue. In this provocative, unpublished paper written during the mid-1960s, Maslow outlined dozens of methods for overcoming ennui and “burnout,” thereby enriching our daily lives.