I found a deep interesting passage about this issue by the words of Maslow himself; I just take a small portion but the entire interview is compulsory to those to want to answer the question Annete raised. Apologize for the extension but it is a really interesting passage for me.
"Frick: Dr. Maslow, with your concern for developing the human potential you would say, then, that a very narrow person, focusing on model train building, for example, lets say this is his real thing. This is how he expresses and finds himself. If he were that narrow, that is, if this was his consuming interest, could this person be self-actualizing? Maslow: Well, lets take a better example, because probably that would be neurotic, that is, if you poked into such a person youd find that this was a flight from or a defense against something. Thats just sort of my expectationit might be wrongthis might be full self-actualizing for, lets say, an unintelligent person. That might be the best he can do. Frick: It would be consistent with his other potentials, then? Maslow: Well, I think we get . . . for instance, I find myself getting narrow, oh, more and more narrow with my age and becoming so absorbed in my work that Ive given up plays, and poetry and making new friends, which I just dont do anymore. Frick: . . . you say you have given all of these things up? Maslow: Yes. I love my work so much, and am so absorbed with it, that everything else starts getting to look smaller and smaller. Frick: Is this good? Is this self-actualizing? Maslow: Well, whatever it is, Im doing it. I dont know. We just dont know. . . . I ran across this statement in Darwin. Darwin, saying something of the sort, said he finally turned into what he thought was a dry, narrow man, just absorbed with his work, and with nothing else in the whole world. If I compared this with the reading of novels, and going on trips, and going to parties, and doing a thousand things, all of which I enjoy doingI hardly listen to my records anymore, except for background things. I am so much more narrowed down to my work which I think is more and more me and more and more whats important. Frick: All right, youre making choices, arent you? This is selfactualizing for you, perhaps, although you are making certain sacrifices as well. Maslow: Yes. Whether thats a good thing or a bad thing, I dont know. For society I suspect its a good thing. Frick: For you as a person it may be limiting. Maslow: Yes. I feel sad over. . . . Frick: . . . what youre missing in other ways? Maslow: Yes, I . . . all the pleasures that I. . . . This semester, for instance, I gave up the Audubon walks in the woods, and the bird walks, which I love. Well, it just took too much time. Well, what did it take time from? I loved it, and yet sacrificed it, renounced it, gave it up for the sake of my mission, or vocation, or calling, or something" p.134-135 My best Jose ____________________________ José Ferreira-Alves, Ph.D Assistant Professor School of Psychology Human Cognition Lab University of Minho 4710-057 Braga Tel. 253604233 Email: [email protected] www.psi.uminho.pt -----Mensagem original----- De: Mike Palij [mailto:[email protected]] Enviada: quarta-feira, 12 de Dezembro de 2012 18:03 Para: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Cc: Michael Palij Assunto: re: [tips] Question re: Maslow On Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:24:20 -0800, Annette Taylor wrote: [snip] >[A colleague asked Annette:] >Would you mind posting to the board this question: "Does Maslow believe >he was self-actualized? Can you provide a scholarly reference for the >answer?" >--------------------------------------- >Since I also find the question interesting I am more than happy to post >for her and to read the answers. First, I have to admit to not being much of a Maslow fan, though I am loathe to bad-mouth NYC born psychologists (then again, given the NYC born psychologists that have gone on to fame, I may have to change my policy about bad-mouthing them) and only know some basic aspects about Maslow (actually, I may know more than I care to know, such as his connection to nude psychotherapy). Second, a quick Google search has turned up some lecture notes by a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Two key points made in the notes: (1) Maslow considered only about 2% of the general population to be "self-actualized". (2) The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), which apparently was developed by Everitt Shostrom, has been used to measure the degree to which a person is "self-actualized". Quoting from the notes: |Ironically, when Maslow completed the POI, it showed that he had only a |slight self-actualizing tendency. He scored much lower than individuals |who were identified as self-actualizers. http://homepages.rpi.edu/~verwyc/MASLOWOH.htm NOTE: there is no citation for the quote above. Now, did Maslow believe that he was self-actualized while he was alive? Perhaps there is some specific source where he argues for or against the position but that will take someone who is a Maslow scholar/groupie/whatever to produce/find. I think a better question is "Can self-actualization be reliably and validly measured and how did Maslow score?" If he never was tested, well, what difference does it make what Maslow thought? A lot of people think that they are smart while being as dumb as a bag of hammers. If self-actualization can't be reliably and validly measured, well, Maslow could have thought that he was self-actualized but how would you "prove" or provide evidence for it? Given that Maslow seemed to think that only 2% of the population was self-actualized, just betting on the baserate, I'd bet that Maslow was not self-actualized. I'm interested in seeing what more knowledgeable people have to say. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13079.37464550bba7c9b4601a21fd9decb43c&n=T &l=tips&o=22334 or send a blank email to leave-22334-13079.37464550bba7c9b4601a21fd9decb...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22335 or send a blank email to leave-22335-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
