Maslow vs Tiger Woods

686 Words2 Pages

Tiger Woods: remarkable golfer, talented, family man. . . cheater? Over the past few years, Tiger Woods’ behavior has been questioned and examined. His reputation as an extraordinary athlete has taken the backseat to his overwhelming secret life. Tiger’s “sex-capades” were displayed all over the media: television, magazine articles, and the radio. The world was given the opportunity to look past the “greatest golfer alive” persona and see the damaged human being on the inside. We all were consumed with the shock of his antics as numerous women spoke out about having sexual relations with Mr. Woods. His scandalizing actions have us all wondering about what led to these shocking events. In the following paragraphs, I will be comparing Tiger’s behavior to Abraham Maslow’s humanistic theory.

Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs; he thought that people had to meet two types of needs, basic and growth, to accomplish self-actualization and cognitive understanding of one’s self. Basic needs, from most important to least, are physiological (breathing, food water, sleep), safety (health, property, resources), love/belonging (friendship, family), and esteem (confidence, achievement, respect). It’s obvious that Tiger’s love and belonging needs were not being met. He established alternative ways to temporarily satisfy his desires. According to Wikipedia:

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large

social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations,

sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners,

mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually ...

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... to guide his behavior.

Tiger Woods undoubtedly has his flaws and has to face the consequences of his actions but I think with the right support system and therapist he can make a complete turnaround. He is oblivious of the correct way someone should love; it should be unconditional and nonjudgmental. I think that if he refuses to seek proper help he will continue down this past of empty, futile sex with an abundant of women. It will be his demise. I hope that he can find his way to self-actualization where he can learn to grow and be happy.

Works Cited

Prager, Karen J. “Maslow & Research Based on Humanistic Theories”. Fall 2002.

http://www.utdallas.edu/~kprager/chpt%2012.htm.

Ryckman, Richard, M.(2008). Theroies of Personailty. 9th ed. Wadsworth, Cenage Learning.

214-251.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

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