In the text that Jose quotes below, he does not provide a reference.
I assume that he is quoting one of the following:
(1) Frick, W. B. (1971). Humanistic psychology: Interviews with Maslow,
Murphy, and Rogers. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
or
(2) Frick, W. B. (2000). Remembering Maslow: Reflections on a 1968
interview.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 40(2), 128-147.
NOTE: this is part of the Sage journal collection.
For those with an interest in Maslow, I think that one should probably
read the 1971 book (it was part of Frick's dissertation) but most should
take a look at the 2000 article because it contains the text below and
several other parts from the book. It is interesting to see how Maslow
deals with the "failures" of his theory (e.g., why don't people who have
their need taken care of don't automatically continue on to
self-actualization,
why some people he considered "self-actualized" did not have peak
experiences, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, and are "merely healthy").
But what is interesting is Frick's closing words on the end of the Cold
War between the West and the USSR and parallel "Cold War" between
behaviorism and psychoanalysis with humanistic psychology as the "Third
Force". His ideas seem quaint given what was about to happen in 2001
and how the "new normal" would change everything.
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
----- Original Message -----
On Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:16:53 -0800, José Ferreira-Alves wrote:
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
-----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.
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