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theories of personality

1. Maslow: Holistic Dynamic Theory
Summary: Overview of Holistic-
Dynamic Theory (Abraham Maslow)
Abraham Maslow’s Holistic-Dynamic
Theory—also known as Humanistic
Theory, Needs Theory, or Self-
Actualization Theory—focuses on the
idea that people are motivated by a
series of needs and are constantly
striving for growth and psychological
health.
Maslow believed that individuals
must first satisfy lower-level needs
(like hunger, safety, love, and esteem)
before reaching the highest level of
development—self-actualization, or
fulfilling one’s full potential.
He called his theory “holistic-
dynamic” because it views the person
as a whole being driven by dynamic
motivation, rather than isolated parts
of behavior or unconscious drives.
Maslow’s ideas are part of the “third
force” in psychology, following
psychoanalysis (the first force) and
behaviorism (the second force). He
was influenced by both Sigmund
Freud and John B. Watson early in his
career but later criticized their
theories for focusing too much on
illness and conditioning.
In contrast, Maslow emphasized
human potential, personal growth,
and psychological health, aiming to
understand what makes people
healthy, fulfilled, and self-actualized
rather than what makes them sick.
Summary: Maslow’s View of
Motivation
Maslow’s theory of motivation is
based on several key ideas:
1. Holistic Motivation –
Motivation involves the whole
person, not just separate parts
or specific drives. Every action
reflects the total being.
2. Complex Motivation –
Behavior is usually caused by
multiple motives at the same
time. For instance, seeking
sexual intimacy may also satisfy
needs for love, dominance, or
self-esteem. Motivation can
also be unconscious, meaning
people might not fully
understand the real reasons
behind their actions.
3. Continuous Motivation –
People are always motivated

2. by one need or another. When
a lower need (like hunger) is
satisfied, it loses its power and
a higher need (like friendship
or self-worth) becomes the
new motivator.
4. Universal Motivation – All
humans share the same basic
needs, even if they express or
satisfy them differently across
cultures (e.g., food, safety,
love).
5. Hierarchy of Needs – Human
needs can be arranged in
levels, from basic to higher
ones. Although often shown as
a pyramid, Maslow himself
never used that image; it was
added later by others.
In short, Maslow viewed motivation
as a dynamic, continuous process
where people strive to meet universal
human needs in order, moving
toward self-actualization.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow proposed that human
motivation follows a hierarchy of
needs, meaning lower-level needs
must be met before higher ones
become active. These needs are
conative—they drive behavior and
have a motivational nature.
1. Physiological Needs
• The most basic and strongest
needs—food, water, oxygen,
warmth, and rest.
• People deprived of these focus
entirely on survival.
• These are the only needs that
can be fully satisfied and
constantly recur.
2. Safety Needs
• Once physiological needs are
met, people seek security and
stability—freedom from
danger, illness, or chaos.
• Includes needs for order, law,
and protection.
• Children and anxious adults
often show stronger safety
needs.
3. Love and Belongingness Needs
• After safety, people crave
relationships, affection, and
belonging.
• They desire friendship, family,
and intimacy.

3. • Lack of love leads to loneliness
or defensive, withdrawn
behavior.
4. Esteem Needs
• Involve self-respect and
recognition from others.
• Two levels:
o Reputation: prestige or
fame in others’ eyes.
o Self-esteem: confidence,
competence, and
independence.
• Once achieved, people are
ready for self-actualization.
5. Self-Actualization Needs
• The desire for self-fulfillment
and realizing one’s full
potential.
• Only a few reach this stage.
• Those who value truth, beauty,
and justice (called B-values)
tend to achieve it.
• Self-actualizing people remain
secure and creative even
without external approval.

Other Needs
• Aesthetic Needs: desire for
beauty and order.
• Cognitive Needs: curiosity,
desire to know and
understand.
• Neurotic Needs: unhealthy,
compensatory desires (e.g.,
hoarding or power-seeking)
that lead to pathology.

Additional Concepts
• Gradual Satisfaction: Needs
are met in percentages (e.g.,
physiological 85%, safety 70%,
etc.), and people may be
motivated by multiple levels at
once.
• Reversed Order: Rarely, higher
needs (like creativity) override
lower ones.
• Unmotivated Behavior: Some
actions (like reflexes or habits)
are not driven by needs.
• Expressive vs. Coping
Behavior:
o Expressive – natural,
unmotivated expression
(e.g., laughing, smiling).

4. o Coping – goal-oriented,
motivated actions (e.g.,
working for money).
• Deprivation of Needs: Unmet
needs cause illness or anxiety;
lack of self-actualization leads
to metapathology—loss of
meaning in life.
• Instinctoid Nature: Needs are
innate (biological) but shaped
by culture; society should
protect these natural needs.
• Higher vs. Lower Needs:
o Both are biological but
differ in degree.
o Higher needs appear
later in life and lead to
greater happiness and
fulfillment.
In short:
Maslow’s hierarchy explains that
humans move from basic survival
needs toward higher psychological
growth, ultimately striving for self-
actualization—becoming the best
version of oneself.
Summary: Maslow’s Concept of Self-
Actualization
Maslow developed his idea of self-
actualization after studying
exceptional people like Ruth Benedict
and Max Wertheimer. He observed
that these individuals represented
the highest level of human
development—people who fully
realized their potential.

1. Criteria for Self-Actualization
Self-actualizers are:
• Free from psychopathology
(no neurotic or psychotic
tendencies).
• Satisfied in their basic needs
(physiological, safety, love, and
esteem).
• Motivated by B-values (truth,
beauty, justice, simplicity, etc.).
• Using their full potential—
maximizing talents, creativity,
and growth.

2. B-Values and Metamotivation
• B-values (Being values): truth,
goodness, beauty, justice,
order, humor, and autonomy.

5. • Metamotivation: higher-level
motivation that drives people
to grow and express
themselves rather than to fulfill
deficiencies.
• When people lack these B-
values, they experience
metapathology—a sense of
emptiness or loss of meaning.

3. Characteristics of Self-Actualizing
People
Maslow identified 15 major traits
common among self-actualizers:
1. Realistic perception of reality –
they see truth clearly and
accept ambiguity.
2. Acceptance – they accept
themselves, others, and nature
without guilt or shame.
3. Spontaneity and simplicity –
natural, genuine, not
pretentious.
4. Problem-centeredness – focus
on life’s larger purposes, not
selfish concerns.
5. Need for privacy – comfortable
being alone and independent.
6. Autonomy – self-directed and
not easily influenced by others’
opinions.
7. Freshness of appreciation –
continual gratitude for life’s
simple joys.
8. Peak experiences – moments
of intense joy, unity, and
transcendence.
9. Gemeinschaftsgefühl (social
interest) – care and
compassion for humanity.
10. Deep interpersonal
relationships – few but
profound friendships.
11. Democratic character structure
– open-minded, humble, and
respectful of all.
12. Discrimination between
means and ends – enjoy the
process, not just the goal.
13. Philosophical sense of humor
– non-hostile, thoughtful, and
self-aware humor.
14. Creativeness – originality and
authenticity in daily life, not
just the arts.
15. Resistance to enculturation –
independent from cultural

6. pressures; guided by personal
values.

4. Love, Sex, and Self-Actualization
• Self-actualizing people
experience B-love (Being-
love)—unselfish, mature, and
unconditional love based on
respect and mutual growth,
not neediness.
• Their relationships are deep
and spiritual, often involving
playfulness, humor, and
genuine connection.
• Unlike D-love (Deficiency-
love), B-love does not seek to
fill emotional gaps but
expresses fullness and
acceptance.

In Summary:
Self-actualization means realizing
one’s full potential and living with
authenticity, purpose, and inner
peace.
Self-actualizers are rare (about 1% of
adults), but they show humanity’s
best qualities—creativity,
compassion, autonomy, and a
profound sense of meaning in life.
Summary: Maslow’s Psychology and
Philosophy of Science
Maslow believed that psychology
should study the whole person and
not just isolated behaviors or test
scores. He rejected the value-free
and emotionless approach of
traditional science, arguing instead
for a humanistic, holistic, and value-
oriented science that includes
emotion, wonder, and compassion.
He criticized the “desacralization” of
science — where scientists became
too detached and cold — and urged
for “resacralization”, meaning
science should include awe, joy, and
human values. For him, scientists
must not only analyze but also feel
inspired by what they study.
Maslow proposed a Taoistic attitude
toward psychology: scientists should
be open, intuitive, non-controlling,
and accepting of mystery. He
believed that the goal of science
should not be control and prediction,
but understanding and growth.
Psychologists, he said, must be
emotionally healthy, courageous,
and intuitive, willing to take on

7. important problems even if their
methods are imprecise.

Research Methods
Maslow’s research reflected his
philosophy. He used intuitive,
subjective, and idiographic
methods—focusing on individual
experiences rather than large groups.
He studied self-actualizing people and
peak experiences by observing and
describing them rather than relying
solely on statistics.

Measuring Self-Actualization
After Maslow’s death, several
psychologists created tests to
measure self-actualization:
1. Personal Orientation Inventory
(POI) – by Shostrom (1974)
o Measured traits like time
competence and self-
support.
o Maslow himself took this
test and scored as a self-
actualizing person.
2. Short Index of Self-
Actualization (SISA) – by Jones
& Crandall (1986)
o A simpler version of the
POI.
3. Brief Index of Self-
Actualization (BISA) and
Measure of Actualization
Potential (MAP) – in the 1990s
o MAP identified five main
traits: adaptation,
autonomy, openness to
life, openness to self,
and openness to others.
4. Characteristics of Self-
Actualization Scale (CSAS) – by
Kaufman (2018)
o Based on Maslow’s 17
traits of self-actualizers.
o Simplified into 10 key
dimensions, such as
creative spirit,
authenticity,
humanitarianism, good
moral intuition, etc.
o Modernized Maslow’s
ideas with empirical
testing and validation.

8. In Summary:
Maslow’s philosophy blended science
with humanity.
He believed psychologists should
study the best in people — their
creativity, love, and potential — using
methods that honor the human
experience.
His legacy continues through modern
tools that attempt to quantify self-
actualization while keeping its deep,
human meaning intact.
The Jonah Complex
Maslow explained that everyone has
a natural drive toward self-
actualization, or becoming their best
self, but few achieve it. Growth can
be blocked at any level of the
hierarchy of needs—for example,
when basic, love, or esteem needs
aren’t fulfilled.
One major barrier is the Jonah
Complex, which is the fear of
realizing one’s full potential or fear
of success. It refers to people
avoiding their greatness or destiny,
similar to the biblical Jonah who ran
away from his calling. This fear often
includes feelings of awe or
unworthiness in the face of one’s own
possible greatness. Even Maslow
himself experienced this—despite his
brilliance, he struggled with self-
doubt and anxiety when facing
success.
Summary: Maslow on Psychotherapy
Maslow believed that the goal of
psychotherapy is to help clients
embrace the Being-values (truth,
justice, goodness, simplicity, etc.) and
activate their natural drive toward
self-actualization. Therapy must
consider that humans have an
inherent tendency to grow, so it
cannot be value-free.
The focus of therapy depends on the
client’s position in the hierarchy of
needs:
• Those struggling with
physiological or safety needs
are unlikely to seek therapy—
they focus on survival first.
• Most therapy clients have basic
needs met but may struggle
with love, belongingness, and
esteem needs.
Therefore, psychotherapy is largely an
interpersonal process. A warm,
accepting, and supportive
relationship with the therapist helps
clients feel worthy of love, boosts

9. self-confidence, and enables them to
form healthy relationships outside
therapy. Maslow’s approach is very
similar to Carl Rogers’ humanistic
therapy.

Positive psychology is a newer
branch of psychology that emphasizes
hope, optimism, well-being, and
positive experiences, focusing on
what makes life meaningful rather
than deficits. It draws heavily from
humanistic psychologists like
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers,
who criticized traditional psychology
for ignoring positive human traits
such as creativity, courage,
spirituality, and wisdom.

Peak Experiences and Awe
Maslow introduced the concept of
peak experiences, which are
moments of intense joy, awe, or
transcendence. While more common
in self-actualizers, peak experiences
can be felt by anyone. Recent
research in positive psychology shows
that recalling or writing about these
positive experiences can boost
emotional well-being.
• Study Example: Burton & King
(2004) instructed participants
to write for 20 minutes over 3
days about intensely positive
experiences (love, music, art,
creativity).
o Result: Those
participants visited the
doctor less frequently in
the following 3 months
compared to those
writing about neutral
topics.
o Implication: Reflecting
on positive experiences
can improve physical and
emotional health.

Awe in Positive Psychology
Maslow’s idea of awe in peak
experiences has become a focus of
recent research. Awe is the feeling of
vastness and expansiveness that
changes one’s perspective of the
world and self (Keltner & Haidt,
2003).
• Study by Rudd et al. (2012):
o Awe was induced using
videos of grand natural
scenes, writing about

10. overwhelming
experiences, or
imagining a high view
like the Eiffel Tower.
o Effects of awe:
▪ Expanded
perception of
having more time.
▪ Increased
willingness to
donate time for
prosocial causes.
▪ Greater
preference for
experiences over
material things.
▪ Higher life
satisfaction.

Key Takeaways
1. Positive psychology validates
Maslow’s ideas that reflecting
on peak experiences enhances
well-being.
2. Experiences of awe, wonder,
and transcendence have
measurable benefits for
emotional, social, and even
physical health.
3. Encouraging individuals to
relive positive experiences
aligns with Maslow’s vision of
supporting self-actualization
and growth.