|
Self-actualization is at the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs - becoming '"fully human"...maturity or self-actualization'[22] - and is considered a part of the humanistic approach to personality. Humanistic psychology is one of several methods used in psychology for studying, understanding, and evaluating personality. The humanistic approach was developed because other approaches, such as the psychodynamic approach made famous by Sigmund Freud, focused on unhealthy individuals that exhibited disturbed behavior;[10] whereas the humanistic approach focuses on healthy, motivated people and tries to determine how they define the self while maximizing their potential.[10] Stemming from this branch of psychology is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, people have lower order needs that in general must be fulfilled before high order needs can be satisfied: 'five sets of needs - physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization'.[23] As a person moves up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, eventually they may find themselves reaching the summit — self-actualization.[10] Maslow's hierarchy of needs begins with the most basic necessities deemed "the physiological needs" in which the individual will seek out items like food and water, and must be able to perform basic functions such as breathing and sleeping.[24] Once these needs have been met, a person can move on to fulfilling "the safety needs", where they will attempt to obtain a sense of security, physical comforts and shelter, employment, and property.[24] The next level is "the belongingness and love needs", where people will strive for social acceptance, affiliations, a sense of belongingness and being welcome, sexual intimacy, and perhaps a family.[24] Next are "the esteem needs", where the individual will desire a sense of competence, recognition of achievement by peers, and respect from others.[24] Some argue that once these needs are met, an individual is primed for self-actualization. Others maintain that there are two more phases an individual must progress through before self-actualization can take place. These include "the cognitive needs", where a person will desire knowledge and an understanding of the world around them, and "the aesthetic needs" which include a need for "symmetry, order, and beauty".[10] Once all these needs have been satisfied, the final stage of Maslow's hierarchy—self actualization—can take place.[24] Classical Adlerian psychotherapy promotes this level of psychological development, utilizing the foundation of a 12-stage therapeutic model to realistically satisfy the basic needs, leading to an advanced stage of "meta-therapy," creative living, and self/other/task-actualization[citation needed]. Gestalt therapy, acknowledging that 'Kurt Goldstein first introduced the concept of the organism as a whole ', built on the assumption that "every individual, every plant, every animal has only one inborn goal - to actualize itself as it is."[25] Maslow's writings are used as inspirational resources. The key to Maslow's writings is understanding that there are no quick routes to becoming self-actualizing: rather it is predicated on the individual having their lower deficiency needs met. Once a person has moved through feeling and believing that they are deficient, they naturally seek to grow into who they are, that is self-actualize. Elsewhere, however, Maslow (2011) and Carl Rogers (1980)[26] both suggested necessary attitudes and/or attributes that need to be inside an individual as a pre-requisite for self-actualization. Amongst these, are: a real wish to be themselves, to be fully human, to fulfil themselves, to be completely alive, as well as to risk being vulnerable, and uncovering more 'painful' aspects in order to learn about/grow through and integrate these parts of themselves (which has parallels with Jung’s slightly similar concept of individuation). Although initially being biologically-centered (or focused around the more ordinary, psychological self-nature), both Maslow (2011) and Rogers (1980) became more open to 'spirituality' and grew to accept a more open and ‘spiritual’ conception of man before the end of their lives. Also, there have been many similarities and cross-references between various spiritual schools or groups (particularly Eastern spiritual ways) in the past 40 years.[4][26] One can also suggest that Sri Ramana Maharshi’s description, that complete and spiritual self-realisation is characterized by 'Being' (sat), 'Consciousness' (chit) and 'Bliss' (Ananda), is a reflection of humanistic thinking or experience; that the experience of a self-actualizing person partakes in these things to some degree: 'beingness,' 'awareness,' and a 'meaningful happiness,' even if one can go further than mere self-actualization into Self-transcendence, where Being-Consciousness-Bliss fully form.[4][27] |
About us|Jobs|Help|Disclaimer|Advertising services|Contact us|Sign in|Website map|Search|
GMT+8, 2015-9-11 21:55 , Processed in 0.123525 second(s), 16 queries .
