Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow was a psychologist and is oftentimes considered the father of humanistic psychology. He approached the study of personality through his Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid Model. This model’s purpose was to make sure that individuals satisfy their basic needs before trying to reach their fullest potential. The pyramid consisted of five levels which included physiological needs, safety, love/belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. At the bottom level, humans are driven to attain basic needs such as food, water, clothing, shelter, homeostasis, sleep, and more for survival. At the safety level, one must gain a sense of protection from violence and make sure they have security for their body, family, property, and resources. The third level of this pyramid states that one must find physical and emotional intimacy through friends, family, and loved ones. The next level in the pyramid is where humans try to attain self-esteem. One must have confidence in their potential and abilities. Finally, the highest level is self-actualization which describes the fulfillment of your full potential as a person. According to his theory, if one fails to meet primitive needs, then you’ll experience harmful or unpleasant results. Conditions can include illness, starvation, loneliness, and even self-doubt.
Carl Rogers: Real-Self vs. Ideal-Self
Carl Rogers was another major contributor to humanistic
psychology. He agreed with much of Maslow’s principles but added that for a person to grow they must need a specific environment. This environment should provide them with genuineness (openness), acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to by others). Carl Rogers also believed like Maslow that humans have one basic motive, the tendency to self-actualize or fulfill their highest potential. To reach this potential, Rogers created two ideas, the real self, and the ideal-self. Real-self is who you actually are in the present based on what you have accomplished since your childhood. However, the ideal self is who you would like to be in the future. This is based on experiences and observing the society around them and its demands. As one grows, the more similar these two concepts become, the higher chance there is for them to self-actualize. Our image of who we think we are doesn’t always match up with the perceptions we have today. In other words, the ideal self doesn’t match up with the perceived self resulting in incongruence.
However, Rogers believed that by undergoing self-actualization and receiving unconditional positive regard, he will get to congruence.
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