Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) is a theorist who inspired many in the theory of personality. He is also a psychologist who came from America and became a pioneer of the flow of humanistic psychology. He is famous for his theory of hierarchy of human needs.

Curriculum vitae

Abraham Harold Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 1 April 1908.Maslow raised in a family of Russian Jewish parents who do not have higher education. In his childhood, he was known as a child who is less developed than other children her age. He said that he was a Jewish boy who grew up in an environment populated by non-Jewish majority.


He felt isolated and unhappy at the time. He grew up in the library among the books. He was originally studying law, but in the end, he chose to study psychology and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. By the time he was attending college, he married his cousin named Bertha in December 1928 and met with the primary mentor Professor Harry Harlow. He obtained a bachelor's degree in 1930, master in 1931, and Ph.D in 1934. Maslow and deepen the research and studies at Columbia University and is still steeped in the same subject. There he met his mentor others are Alfred Adler, one of the early colleague of Sigmund Freud.


In 1937-1951, Maslow deepen their knowledge in the Brooklyn College. In New York, he met with two other mentor is an anthropologist Ruth Benedict, and a Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer, whom he admired professionally and personal.Kedua person is then in a deep concern to Maslow human behavior, mental health, and human potential . He wrote in these subjects in depth. Writing a lot of ideas borrowed from psychology, but with a significant development. Includes the addition of these particular hierarchy of needs, a wide range of needs, a person's self-actualization, and peak flow of pengalaman.Maslow be pioneers of humanistic psychology is formed in about 1950 to 1960-an.Pada this period, he was known as the "third force" in Besides the theory of Freud and behaviorism.


Maslow became a professor at Brandeis University from 1951 to 1969, and served as chairman of the psychology department there for 10 years. This is where he met Kurt Goldstein (who introduced her idea of ​​self-actualization) and began writing his own works. Here he also began to develop the concept of humanistic psychology.
He spent his retirement in California, until finally he died of a heart attack on June 8 1970.Kemudian, In 1967, the American Humanist Association confers Humanist of the Year title.


Humanistic Theory and Self Actualization

Abraham Maslow is known as a pioneer of flow humanistik.Maslow psychology believes that man driven to understand and accept himself as much as possible. His theory is very popular to this day is the theory of Hierarchy of Needs Hierarchy Kebutuhan.Kehidupan or her family and her life experiences influence the idea of ​​psychological ideas. After World War II, Maslow began to question how psychologists psychologists in advance about the mind manusia.Walau not deny completely, but he has his own idea to understand the way humans think.


Humanistic psychologists believe that every person has a strong desire to realize the potential of the potential in him, to achieve self-actualization level. To prove that humans do not just react to situations around them, but to achieve something more, Maslow studied a person with a healthy mental state, rather than studying a person with mental health problems.  This illustrates that the new man can experience " peak experiences "when humans are in harmony with himself and his surroundings. In view of Maslow, human beings actualize themselves, can have many peaks of human experience that is less than the actualization of himself.

Hierarchy of Needs



Interpretation of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs are represented in the form of a pyramid with the more basic needs at the very bottom
Maslow using the pyramid as a visual aid to visualize his ideas concerning the theory of Maslow's hierarchy kebutuhan.Menurut, people are motivated to meet the needs of those requirements have hidupnya.Kebutuhan-level or hierarchy, starting from the lowest (basic nature / physiological) to the highest ( self-actualization). The hierarchy of needs is as follows:


Physiological or basic needs
The need for security
Needs to be loved and cherished
Needs to be appreciated
The need for self-actualization


Maslow called the four needs ranging from physiological needs to self-esteem needs as homeostatic. Homeostasis is the principle that governs the workings of a thermostat (temperature control device). If the temperature is too cold, it will turn on the heating device, otherwise if the temperature is too hot, it will turn cold. Similarly, the human body, when people feel deprived of certain materials, he would feel he had enough memerlukannya.Ketika get it, a sense of need that was then stopped by itself.


Maslow expand the scope of this homeostatic principle to needs before, such as security, love and pride that we do not usually associate with the principle tersebut.Maslow consider the needs of the deficit was a need for bertahan.Cinta and true love is to clarify this requirement been there since birth exactly the same instinct.


Physiological Needs


At a local level, there are physiological needs (the need for air, food, drinks, etc.) are characterized by a deficiency (defisi) something in the body of the person concerned. This requirement is also called the basic needs (basic needs) which if not met in a very estrim (eg hunger) can be human in question lost control of their own behavior because of all the human capacities are mobilized and focused only to meet their basic needs were Conversely, if the need This base is relatively adequate, there was a higher requirement is the need for security.


Requirement of Security


The second type of requirement is related to security, stability, protection, structure, order, a situation that one might expect, free from fear and anxiety and so on. Because the need is the [[human [[make regulations, laws, develop confidence, create systems, insurance, pensions and sebagainya.Sama case with basic needs, safety needs that are too long and too many are not met, then one's view about their world could be affected and in turn any behavior will tend towards the increasingly negative.


Loved and cherished needs

Once basic needs are met and relative safety, then arises the need to belong and be loved (belongingness and love needs). Everyone wants to have a warm and intimate relationships, even intimate with others. He wants to love and be loved. Everyone wants and needs kesetiakawanan.Setiap loyal friend anyone wants to have his own group, wanted to have "roots" in masyarakat.Setiap people need to be part of a family, a village, a clan, dll.Setiap people who have no family will feel alone, while those who are not school and not working do not feel themselves unemployed berharga.Kondisi like this will lower the price of the concerned person.


Needs Self-Esteem


On the other hand, if the need for third-degree relative has been fulfilled, it became necessary to have self-esteem. [There are two kinds of needs will diri.Pertama prices, are the needs for power, mastery, competence, confidence and independence. While the second is the need for respect from others, status, fame, domination, pride, are considered important and appreciation of others. The people who met their need for self-esteem will appear as a confident, independent of others and always ready to evolve continue to reach the next highest need of self-actualization (self actualization).


Self-actualization needs

This requirement is a requirement contained 17 meta needs that are not arranged in a hierarchy, but each mengisi.Jika various meta needs are not met there will be a meta pathologies such as apathy, boredom, despair, no sense of humor anymore, alienation, self-centered, loss of appetite and so on.



According to Maslow, needs to actualize themselves meta consists of:


Truth
Goodness
Beauty or beauty
Whole (unity)
Dichotomy-transedensi
Bohemian (proceed, but remained essentially unchanged)
Uniqueness
Perfection
Necessity
Completion
Justice
Regularity
Simplicity
Wealth (many variations, compound, there is nothing hidden, all equally important)
Without difficulty (relaxed, not tense)
Play (fun, recreation, humor)
Self-sufficient


Meta Pathology

If the various meta needs are not met there will be a meta pathologies such as:
Apathy
Boredom
Despair
Do not have a sense of humor anymore
Alienation
Selfish
Loss of appetite, etc.


Criticism

In its development, this theory is also criticized. This is because of a jump on the pyramid of Maslow's highest needs, namely the need to achieve self-actualization. It needs a totally different with the four other needs, which are logically easy to understand. As if there is a missing link between the pyramid to the top of the pyramid-4. As if there leaps of logic.