Self-Actualization under Capitalism LO14033

Tadeems@aol.com
Sun, 22 Jun 1997 23:30:57 -0400 (EDT)

Replying to LO13998 --

> > I have often wondered why Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs doesn't
> > seem
> > to apply in contemporary USA.
>
> It seems to me I've read that Maslow's hierarchy of needs has been
> discounted by most disciplines except management, based on later research.

> I wish I had the reference, but I tossed it.
>

Bill, I don't have a reference, but have heard similar talk. As I
understand it, though, Maslow's theory of human nature and values (what
has come to be known as his theory of motivation or hierarchy of needs)
has not been validated quantitatively; it has, however, been validated
qualitatively time and time again, and I presume that is why it has
survived so many years. I don't know what "most disciplines" have
discounted his work, but know it is still widely used in education and
psychology.

The last time we discussed some of his work on this list, I mentioned his
later work on a level beyond self-actualization--that of
self-transcendence. This came about following his work on peak
experiences. A good resource is his book Toward a Psychology of Being and
other articles he wrote during the 60s (someone asked me a while ago for
these references, but I've lost their address; perhaps they'll see this
note).

-- 

Terri Deems tadeems@aol.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>