Abraham Maslow's theory of personality

Throughout the history of psychology, many psychologists have formulated theories of personality. One of the acquaintances is Abraham Maslow, along with Carl rogers, for being the greatest exponents of what is known as the third force of psychology, humanism. This current arose in opposition to Psychoanalysis and Behaviorism.

Unlike these schools, humanism sees the person from a holistic and positive vision, where the center of attention is the subjective experience of the subject. People are active beings who have the capacity to develop, and their basic instinct and dignity lie in their self-confidence.

• Related article: "60 quotes from Abraham Maslow (and human needs)”

Who was Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who was born in Brooklyn (New York) on April 1, 1908. His parents were non-Orthodox Jews from Russia who came to the land of opportunity in the hope of a better future for their children. Abraham Maslow was never a very sociable guy, and as a child, he took refuge in books.

Before becoming interested in psychology, he first studied law at the City College of New York (CCNY). After marrying Berta Goodman, his older cousin, he moved to Wisconsin to attend Wisconsin college. It was here that he began studying psychology. He worked with Harry Harlow, famous for his experiments on baby monkeys and attachment behavior. After graduating and receiving his doctorate in this discipline, he returned to New York to work with E.L. Thorndike at Columbia University, where he became interested in sexuality research human. In this period of his life, he began to teach at Brooklyn College and came into contact with many European psychologists who came to the United States, for example, Adler or Fromm.

Carl Rogers' Humanist Theory

Humanistic psychology is undoubtedly one of the most important currents of thought in psychology. But to know what it is about, it is necessary to know the work of another great figure from this school. It is difficult to understand humanism without Rogers and Maslow. Therefore, before delving into Maslow's theoretical proposals, we are going to delve into Carl Rogers' theory.

If he freudian psychoanalysis I saw the person from their problem behaviors and behaviorism visualized people as passive beings, that is, they did not have too many options to influence the environment. The vision of Carl Rogers and humanism, on the other hand, was totally different, because the human being is seen as an active individual and owner of his own realization. For Rogers, a person who pays attention to the organic assessment process is a fully functional or self-actualizing person.

Rogers emphasizes the freedom of individuals to take the course of their lives. According to this, the personality of people can be analyzed according to how it approaches or moves away from what it considers a highly functional individual.

The person who is fully functional, that is, healthier, when he has a series of characteristics. They are as follows:

• Existential experience: People open to experience have a better chance of living fully.
• Organic trust: These people rely on their inner experience to guide behavior.
• Freedom experience: The person is free to choose.
• Creativity: The person is creative and always finds new alternatives to live. They are mentally inflexible.

You can delve into Rogers' ideas in this article: "The Personality Theory proposed by Carl Rogers”

Maslow's personality theory

Maslow adds to Rogers' theory his concept of needs. The theory of this psychologist revolves around two fundamental aspects: our needs and our experiences. In other words, what motivates us and what we seek throughout life and what happens to us on this path, what we are living. This is where our personality is formed. In fact, Maslow is considered one of the great theorists of motivation.

Maslow's theory of personality has two levels. One biological, the needs that we all have and another more personal, which are those needs that they have that are the result of our desires and the experiences that we are living.

Undoubtedly, Maslow is associated with the concept of self-realization, because in his theory he speaks of the needs that people have to develop ourselves, to seek our maximum potential. And it is that, according to this, people have an innate desire to self-fulfill, to be what they want to be, and they have the ability to pursue their goals autonomously and freely.

In a certain way, the way in which an individual approaches her self-realization will correspond to the type of personality that he manifests in his day to day life. This implies that for Maslow the personality is related to motivational aspects that have to do with the objectives and situations that every human being experiences; it is not something static that remains inside people's heads and manifests itself unidirectionally, from within outward, as could be criticized by some reductionist and deterministic conceptions of this psychological phenomenon.

The implications of this are clear: to study personality, one must also know the context in the that people inhabit and the way in which it responds to the motivational needs of individuals. Simply focus on administering multiple tests To obtain a score, it does not give us an accurate view of this, since it starts from a bias when considering that personality is what can be captured by these data collection tests. This is a point of view similar to that applied to the field of mental capacities by psychologists such as Howard Gardner Y Robert J. Sternberg, critical of the psychometric conception of intelligence.

The Self-Realized Personality

Maslow believes that meeting the needs of self-actualization is in everyone's hands, yet few do. People who meet their needs for self-actualization are self-actualizers.. Now, Maslow affirms that less than 1% of the population belong to this class of individuals.

Self-actualized people are characterized by:

• They show a high level of self-acceptance
• They perceive reality more clearly and objectively
• They are more spontaneous
• They think the causes of problems are external
• They enjoy solitude
• They have a curious and creative mindset
• They enjoy peak experiences
• They generate genuine ideas
• They have a great sense of humor
• They have a great critical spirit and are governed by ethical values
• They are respectful and humble
• They are tolerant, non-judgmental, and enjoy the presence of others

If you want to know more about these types of people, you can read our article:

• ”13 characteristics of self-actualized people according to Abraham Maslow”

The Pyramid of Human Needs Theory

Maslow is famous for his Pyramid of Needs theory because, according to him, needs follow a hierarchy, from the most basic to the most complex, and its pyramid is built on five levels.

At the base of this figure are the first ones and the second ones at the top. From bottom to top these are the different levels of needs:

• Physiological needs: eat, breathe, drink ...
• Security needs: physical security, employment, income ...
• Affiliation need: getting married, being a member of a community ...
• Recognition needs: respect for others, status, reputation ...
• Self-actualization needs: moral and spiritual development, search for a goal in life ...

Needs must be met in order to aspire to the higher level. For example, if we do not have the physiological needs covered, we cannot aspire to the affiliation needs. At the top level are the needs for self-actualization. It is this hierarchy that according to Maslow marked the way in which the personality adapts to the circumstances, depending on each situation experienced. It is, in short, a conception of personality that encompasses very extensive psychological aspects and that goes beyond the psychometric approach that dominated in its time.

• You can learn more about the theory of human needs in our post: "Maslow's pyramid: the hierarchy of human needs"

Bibliographic references:

• Maslow, Abraham. (1964). Ohio State University Press, ed. Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences.
• Städler, Thomas. (1998). Lexikon der Psychologie, Stuttgart: Kröner.