Abraham Maslow on Self-Actualization, Motivation and Humanistic Theory

“Musicians must make music, artists must paint, and poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization” Abraham Maslow. http://toolstolife.com/articles/Abraham-Maslow-s-Self-Actualizer-380

Self- Actualization rests at the pinnacle of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Before reaching that pinnacle, the human being rises through the various strata of motivation beginning with the basic needs to survive. But does everyone reach that pinnacle? We will find that only a few who have paddled through the various strata will ultimately succeed in negotiating the entire hierarchy of needs. Some people, such as those ravaged by famine in a poor country, without the means to get beyond the next meal may never reach Maslow’s self-actualisation or transcendence. However, no one theory will fully explain human motivation, there are limitations associated with each theory.

Accordingly, in this essay, for a comparative and critical analysis, I will explore the Motivation theory of Maslow and the theory of Gordon Allport. Allport was considered to be the founding fathers of personality psychology, his works focusing on the human being who is identified by a series of traits, cardinal traits, central and secondary.

Accordingly, for the purpose of this essay I will focus on two schools of personality psychology, the Humanistic school of thought on motivation and Trait Psychology. I will compare and contrast the two theories to determine how they connected and find that there are subtle differences between them. Before I begin my analysis, it will be necessary to explore the definition of human motivation t...

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...population of impoverished populations and the fact that Gordon Allport’s studies were limited and constantly scrutinised as he never developed an empirically testable platform, it can be postulated that both theories provide a framework for understanding motivation in the human being, but neither provides a complete analysis or prototype. All the psychological theories built on the preceding psychologists’ views and research.

Going forward, it is recommended to take the positive aspects of all the theories of motivation and adopt what works. In terms of expanding the studies on motivation one must consider other theorists such as Carl Rogers in a humanistic approach and as previously mentioned, trait theorists such as Raymond Cattel and Hans Eysenk to establish a more scientific and accurate results in measuring motivation and testing personality differences.