Abraham Maslow's holistic-dynamic theory emphasizes self-actualization as a process driven by the development of human potential, rooted in a hierarchy of needs that includes both deficiency and growth needs. Maslow proposes that true motivation stems from a complex interplay of needs, with significant implications for therapy, highlighting the need for interpersonal approaches. The characteristics of self-actualizing individuals, along with the importance of healthy social conditions, reflect the potential for human growth and psychological health.

1. HOLISTIC-DYNAMIC
THEORY
BY ABRAHAM MASLOW
Presented by:
Mary Anne A. Portuguez, MP, RPm

2. MASLOW'S
SELF-
ACTUALIZATION
POSITION

3. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
• Abraham Harold (Abe) Maslow had, perhaps, the most lonely and
miserable childhood. Born in Manhattan, New York, on April 1, 1908,
Maslow spent his unhappy childhood in Brooklyn. Maslow was the
oldest of seven children born to Samuel Maslow and Rose Schilosky
Maslow.

4. Cheesy Event
He was deeply in love, a condition that made it difficult to concentrate on school
work. Being hopelessly shy, the young man could not muster the courage to
approach his beloved in any romantic fashion. Interestingly, the young woman
who was the object of his affections was also his first cousin. This situation
allowed him to visit his cousin on the pretext of calling on his aunt. He loved his
cousin in a distant, bashful sort of way, having never touched her nor expressed
his feelings. Then, suddenly a fortuitous event changed his life. While visiting his
aunt, his cousin’s older sister shoved the young man toward his cousin, virtually
ordering him to kiss her. He did, and to his surprise his cousin did not fight back.
She kissed him, and from that time on his life became meaningful.

5. Humanistic Biology and Self-
Actualization
• Self-actualization: process whereby the healthy development of people’s
abilities enables them to fulfill their own true natures
• Humanistic biology: the basic nature of human beings is potentially good
and capable of pushing people in the direction of self-realization if the right
social conditions prevail

6. Basic Tenets
• First, Maslow (1970) adopted a holistic approach to motivation: That
is, the whole person, not any single part or function, is motivated.
• Second, motivation is usually complex, meaning that a person’s
behavior may spring from several separate motives.
• A third assumption is that people are continually motivated by one
need or another.
• Fourth, all people everywhere are motivated by the same basic needs.
• Fifth, needs can be arranged on a hierarchy

7. Overview
• Maslow (1970 cited by Feist & Feist, 2009) referred to it as a holistic-
dynamic theory because it assumes that the whole person is
constantly being motivated by one need or another and that people
have the potential to grow toward psychological health, that is, self-
actualization.

8. Hierarchy of Human Needs
• Humans have two basic sets of needs that are rooted in their biology:
• Deficiency needs (basic needs): lower needs that must be gratified
before it becomes possible to move into the growth area
• Growth needs (meta needs): higher needs that may emerge once the
basic needs have been satisfied

9. The Hierarchy of Human Needs
• Basic needs:
• Physiological: needs for food, water, sex, air, sleep
• Safety: needs for feeling safe, protection, structure, freedom within
limits
• Belongingness and love: needs to feel that we have a place and that
we are loved
• D-love: selfish love in which the individual is more concerned with
receiving love and gratifying his or her needs than with giving love
to another; also known as deficiency-love
• B-love: mature form of love in which the person is more concerned
with giving love to benefit others than in receiving love from others
to gratify his or her needs; also known as being-love

10. The Hierarchy of Human Needs
(cont'd.)
• Basic needs (cont'd.):
• Esteem: needs for respect and recognition
• Self-esteem: respect based on our own competence,
independence, and achievements
• Esteem from others: respect and recognition accorded us by
others

11. The Hierarchy of Human Needs (cont'd.)
• Meta needs:
• Once the basic needs have been sufficiently gratified, the needs for
self-actualization and cognitive understanding become salient
• Jonah complex: fear that exercising our abilities to the maximum
will bring with it responsibilities and duties that we will be unable to
handle; an unwillingness to sacrifice current safety and security for
the unknown

12. The Hierarchy of Human Needs (cont'd.)
• Meta needs (cont'd.):
• Authoritative parenting: disciplinary style in which children are
consulted by parents in the establishment of disciplinary rules
• Permissive parenting: disciplinary style in which parents make few
demands on their children and use little punishment; “dopey parents”
• Authoritarian parenting: disciplinary style in which parents
discourage verbal give-and-take with their children and instead, expect
unquestioning obedience to their judgments

13. B-Cognition and Actualization
• B-cognition: state of experiencing that is nonjudgmental and self-
validating
• D-cognition: state of experiencing that involves judgments of approval
and disapproval
• Peak experience: intense, mystical experience in which an individual
exists in a temporary state of joy and wonderment
Additional important term:
B-values: These “Being” values are indicators of psychological health and
are opposed to deficiency needs; “metaneeds”

14. Characteristics of Self-Actualizing People
• Self-actualizers: individuals who have gratified their basic needs and
developed their potentialities to the point that they can be considered
healthy, more fully functioning human beings
• Characteristics of self-actualizers:
• Problem-centered
• Democratic character
• Not prejudiced
• Cosmopolitan in outlook
• Socially responsible
• Resist enculturation, where appropriate
• Capable of unselfish love
• Fresh appreciation of events

15. Assessment Techniques
• Personal Orientation Inventory (POI): measure of self-actualization; This
inventory consists of 150 forced-choice items, such as (a) “I can feel comfortable
with less than a perfect performance” versus (b) “I feel uncomfortable with
anything less than a perfect performance”; (a) “ Two people will get along best if
each concentrates on pleasing the other” versus (b) “Two people can get along
best if each person feels free to express himself ”

16. Theory's Implications for Therapy
• Neurotics are those who have been unable to satisfy their basic
needs and thus have been precluded from moving toward the
ultimate goal of self-actualization
• Therapy must be interpersonal in nature

17. Evaluative Comments
• Comprehensiveness: not quite as comprehensive as it first appears
• Precision and testability: not very precise and somewhat difficult to test
adequately
• Parsimony: fails to meet the parsimony criterion; too simplistic
• Empirical validity: empirical support is not consistent
• Heuristic value: theory has been very stimulating to researchers in a
large number of disciplines; strong heuristic value
• Applied value: strong applied value in pastoral and educational
counseling and in the business world