Freud's Structure of the Human

Mind
According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among

what he proposed as the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the

id, ego, and superego. Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts

to find balance among what each of them "desires," determines how we

behave and approach the world. What balance we strike in any given situation

determines how we will resolve the conflict between two overarching

behavioral tendencies: our biological aggressive and pleasure-seeking drives

vs. our socialized internal control over those drives.

Conflict within the mind

According to Freud, the job of the ego is to balance the aggressive/pleasure-seeking drives of the id
with the moral control of the superego.
The Id
The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with instant

gratification of basic physical needs and urges. It operates entirely

unconsciously (outside of conscious thought). For example, if your id walked

past a stranger eating ice cream, it would most likely take the ice cream for

itself. It doesn't know, or care, that it is rude to take something belonging to

someone else; it would care only that you wanted the ice cream.

The Superego
The superego is concerned with social rules and morals—similar to what many

people call their "conscience" or their "moral compass." It develops as a child

learns what their culture considers right and wrong. If your superego walked

past the same stranger, it would not take their ice cream because it would

know that that would be rude. However, if both your id and your superego

were involved, and your id was strong enough to override your superego's

concern, you would still take the ice cream, but afterward you would most

likely feel guilt and shame over your actions.

The Ego
In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational,

pragmatic part of our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly

conscious and partly unconscious. It's what Freud considered to be the "self,"
and its job is to balance the demands of the id and superego in the practical

context of reality. So, if you walked past the stranger with ice cream

one more time, your ego would mediate the conflict between your id ("I want

that ice cream right now") and superego ("It's wrong to take someone else's ice

cream") and decide to go buy your own ice cream. While this may mean you

have to wait 10 more minutes, which would frustrate your id, your ego decides

to make that sacrifice as part of the compromise– satisfying your desire for ice

cream while also avoiding an unpleasant social situation and potential feelings

of shame.

Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that

adult personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal

struggles throughout childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong

ego has a healthy personality and that imbalances in this system can lead

to neurosis (what we nowthink of as anxiety and depression) and unhealthy

behaviors.
The id, ego, and superego

According to Freud's structural model, the personality is divided into the id, ego, and superego. On
this diagram, the smaller portion above the water signifies the conscious mind, while the much
larger portion below the water illustrates the unconscious mind.

Psychosexual Stages of
Development
Freud believed that the nature of the conflicts among the id, ego, and superego

change over time as a person grows from child to adult. Specifically, he

maintained that these conflicts progress through a series of five basic stages,

each with a different focus: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. He called

his idea the psychosexual theory of development, with each psychosexual

stage directly related to a different physical center of pleasure.

Across these five stages, the child is presented with different conflicts between

their biological drives (id) and their social and moral conscience (supereg0)

because their biological pleasure-seeking urges focus on different areas of the

body (what Freud called "erogenous zones"). The child's ability to resolve

these internal conflicts determines their future ability to cope and function as

an adult. Failure to resolve a stage can lead one to become fixated in that

stage, leading to unhealthy personality traits; successful resolution of the

stages leads to a healthy adult.

Criticism of Freud's Theories

Although Freud's theories have many advantages that helped to expand our

psychological understanding of personality, they are not without limits.

Narrow Focus
In his singular emphasis on the structure of the human mind, Freud paid little

to noattention to the impact of environment, sociology, or culture. His theories

were highly focused on pathology and largely ignored "normal," healthy

functioning. He has also been criticized for his myopic view of human

sexuality to the exclusion of other important factors.

No Scientific Basis
Many critics point out that Freud's theories are not supported by

any empirical(experimental) data. In fact, as researchers began to take a more

scientific look at his ideas, they found that several were unable to be

supported: in order for a theory to be scientifically valid, it must be possible to

disprove ("falsify") it with experimental evidence, and many of Freud's notions

are not falsifiable.

Misogyny
Feminists and modern critics have been particularly critical of many of

Freud's theories, pointing out that the assumptions and approaches of

psychoanalytic theory are profoundly patriarchal (male-dominated), anti-

feminist, and misogynistic (anti-woman). Karen Horney, a psychologist who

followed Freud, saw the mainstream Freudian approach as having a

foundation of "masculine narcissism." Feminist Betty Friedan referred to

Freud's concept of "penis envy" as a purely social bias typical of the Victorian
era and showed how the concept played a key role in discrediting alternative

notions of femininity in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Erik Erikson
by By Saul McLeod published 2008, updated 2017

Erik Erikson (1950, 1963) proposed a psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial

development comprising eight stages from infancy to adulthood. During each stage,
the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative
outcome for personality development.

Erikson's ideas were greatly influenced by Freud, going along with Freud’s (1923)
theory regarding the structure and topography of personality. However,
whereas Freud was an id psychologist, Erikson was an ego psychologist. He
emphasized the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take place within
the ego itself, whereas Freud emphasized the conflict between the id and the superego.

According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are
distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others,
developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for
the future.

Erikson extends on Freudian thoughts by focusing on the adaptive and creative

characteristic of the ego and expanding the notion of the stages of personality
development to include the entire lifespan.
Like Freud and many others, Erik Erikson maintained that personality develops in a
predetermined order, and builds upon each previous stage. This is called the epigenic
principle.

The outcome of this 'maturation timetable' is a wide and integrated set of life skills
and abilities that function together within the autonomous individual. However,
instead of focusing on sexual development (like Freud), he was interested in how
children socialize and how this affects their sense of self.

Psychosocial Stages
Erikson’s (1959) theory of psychosocial development has eight distinct stages, taking
in five stages up to the age of 18 years and three further stages beyond, well into
adulthood. Erikson suggests that there is still plenty of room for continued growth and
development throughout one’s life. Erikson puts a great deal of emphasis on the
adolescent period, feeling it was a crucial stage for developing a person’s identity.

Like Freud, Erikson assumes that a crisis occurs at each stage of development. For
Erikson (1963), these crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve
psychological needs of the individual (i.e. psycho) conflicting with the needs of
society (i.e. social).

According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy

personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic
strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.

Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete

further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. These
stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later time.
1. Trust vs. Mistrust
Is the world a safe place or is it full of unpredictable events and accidents waiting to
happen? Erikson's first psychosocial crisis occurs during the first year or so of life
(like Freud's oral stage of psychosexual development). The crisis is one of trust vs.
mistrust.

During this stage, the infant is uncertain about the world in which they live. To
resolve these feelings of uncertainty, the infant looks towards their primary caregiver
for stability and consistency of care.

If the care the infant receives is consistent, predictable and reliable, they will develop
a sense of trust which will carry with them to other relationships, and they will be able
to feel secure even when threatened.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope. By developing a sense of trust,
the infant can have hope that as new crises arise, there is a real possibility that other
people will be there as a source of support. Failing to acquire the virtue of hope will
lead to the development of fear.
For example, if the care has been harsh or inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable,
then the infant will develop a sense of mistrust and will not have confidence in the
world around them or in their abilities to influence events.

This infant will carry the basic sense of mistrust with them to other relationships. It
may result in anxiety, heightened insecurities, and an over feeling of mistrust in the
world around them.

Consistent with Erikson's views on the importance of trust, research

byBowlby and Ainsworth has outlined how the quality of the early experience
of attachment can affect relationships with others in later life.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

The child is developing physically and becoming more mobile. Between the ages of
18 months and three, children begin to assert their independence, by walking away
from their mother, picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what
they like to wear, to eat, etc.

The child is discovering that he or she has many skills and abilities, such as putting on
clothes and shoes, playing with toys, etc. Such skills illustrate the child's growing
sense of independence and autonomy. Erikson states it is critical that parents allow
their children to explore the limits of their abilities within an encouraging
environment which is tolerant of failure.

For example, rather than put on a child's clothes a supportive parent should have the
patience to allow the child to try until they succeed or ask for assistance. So, the
parents need to encourage the child to become more independent while at the same
time protecting the child so that constant failure is avoided.

A delicate balance is required from the parent. They must try not to do everything for
the child, but if the child fails at a particular task they must not criticize the child for
failures and accidents (particularly when toilet training). The aim has to be “self
control without a loss of self-esteem” (Gross, 1992). Success in this stage will lead to
the virtue of will.

If children in this stage are encouraged and supported in their increased independence,
they become more confident and secure in their own ability to survive in the world.

If children are criticized, overly controlled, or not given the opportunity to assert
themselves, they begin to feel inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then
become overly dependent upon others, lack self-esteem, and feel a sense of shame or
doubt in their abilities.

3. Initiative vs. Guilt

Around age three and continuing to age five, children assert themselves more
frequently. These are particularly lively, rapid-developing years in a child’s life.
According to Bee (1992), it is a “time of vigor of action and of behaviors that the
parents may see as aggressive".

During this period the primary feature involves the child regularly interacting with
other children at school. Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with the
opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills through initiating activities.

Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with others. If
given this opportunity, children develop a sense of initiative and feel secure in their
ability to lead others and make decisions.

Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either through criticism or control, children

develop a sense of guilt. They may feel like a nuisance to others and will, therefore,
remain followers, lacking in self-initiative.

The child takes initiatives which the parents will often try to stop in order to protect
the child. The child will often overstep the mark in his forcefulness, and the danger is
that the parents will tend to punish the child and restrict his initiatives too much.
It is at this stage that the child will begin to ask many questions as his thirst for
knowledge grows. If the parents treat the child’s questions as trivial, a nuisance or
embarrassing or other aspects of their behavior as threatening then the child may have
feelings of guilt for “being a nuisance”.

Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their
creativity. Some guilt is, of course, necessary; otherwise the child would not know
how to exercise self control or have a conscience.

A healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important. Success in this stage will
lead to the virtue of purpose.

4. Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority

Industry versus inferiority is the fourth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial
development. The stage occurs during childhood between the ages of five and twelve.

Children are at the stage where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to
do things on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life as
they teach the child specific skills.

It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will
become a major source of the child’s self-esteem. The child now feels the need to win
approval by demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society and begin
to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.

If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel
industrious and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not
encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher, then the child begins to feel
inferior, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential.

If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding (e.g. being
athletic) then they may develop a sense of inferiority. Some failure may be necessary
so that the child can develop some modesty. Again, a balance between competence
and modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of competence.
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion
The fifth stage is identity vs. role confusion, and it occurs during adolescence, from
about 12-18 years. During this stage, adolescents search for a sense of self and
personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs and goals.

The adolescent mind is essentially a mind or moratorium, a psychosocial stage between

childhood and adulthood, and between the morality learned by the child, and the ethics to
be developed by the adult (Erikson, 1963, p. 245)

During adolescence the transition from childhood to adulthood is most important.

Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future in terms of
career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a
society and fit in.

This is a major stage of development where the child has to learn the roles he will
occupy as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine his
identity and try to find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson suggests that two
identities are involved: the sexual and the occupational.

According to Bee (1992), what should happen at the end of this stage is “a
reintegrated sense of self, of what one wants to do or be, and of one’s appropriate sex
role”. During this stage the body image of the adolescent changes.

Erikson claims that the adolescent may feel uncomfortable about their body for a
while until they can adapt and “grow into” the changes. Success in this stage will lead
to the virtue of fidelity.

Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to others on the basis of accepting
others, even when there may be ideological differences.

During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity
based upon the outcome of their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity
within society ("I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up") can lead to role
confusion. Role confusion involves the individual not being sure about themselves or
their place in society.

In response to role confusion or identity crisis an adolescent may begin to experiment

with different lifestyles (e.g. work, education or political activities). Also pressuring
someone into an identity can result in rebellion in the form of establishing a negative
identity, and in addition to this feeling of unhappiness.

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation

Occurring in young adulthood (ages 18 to 40 yrs), we begin to share ourselves more
intimately with others. We explore relationships leading toward longer-term
commitments with someone other than a family member.

Successful completion of this stage can result in happy relationships and a sense of
commitment, safety, and care within a relationship. Avoiding intimacy, fearing
commitment and relationships can lead to isolation, loneliness, and sometimes
depression. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of love.

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation

During middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65 yrs), we establish our careers, settle down
within a relationship, begin our own families and develop a sense of being a part of
the bigger picture.

We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and
becoming involved in community activities and organizations.

By failing to achieve these objectives, we become stagnant and feel unproductive.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of care.
8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair
As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior citizens, we tend to slow down our
productivity and explore life as a retired person. It is during this time that we
contemplate our accomplishments and can develop integrity if we see ourselves as
leading a successful life.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or
feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and
develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to
look back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death
without fear.

Critical Evaluation
Erikson’s theory has good face validity. Many people find that they can relate to his
theories about various stages of the life cycle through their own experiences.

However, Erikson is rather vague about the causes of development. What kinds of
experiences must people have to successfully resolve various psychosocial conflicts
and move from one stage to another? The theory does not have a universal mechanism
for crisis resolution.

Indeed, Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a descriptive overview of

human social and emotional development that does not adequately explain how or
why this development occurs. For example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how
the outcome of one psychosocial stage influences personality at a later stage.

However, Erikson stressed his work was a ‘tool to think with rather than a factual
analysis’. Its purpose then is to provide a framework within which development can
be considered rather than testable theory.
One of the strengths of Erikson's theory is its ability to tie together important
psychosocial development across the entire lifespan.

Although support for Erikson's stages of personality development exists (McAdams,

1999), critics of his theory provide evidence suggesting a lack of discrete stages of
personality development (McCrae & Costa, 1997).

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

by By Saul McLeod 2007, updated 2016

Maslow's (1943, 1954) hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology

comprising a five tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels
within a pyramid.

Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs
take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will
be the first thing that motivates our behaviour. Once that level is fulfilled the next
level up is what motivates us, and so on.
This five stage model can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The
first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top level is
known as growth or being needs (B-needs).

The deficiency needs are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the need
to fulfil such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For
example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.

One must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing on to meet higher level
growth needs. When a deficit need has been satisfied it will go away, and our
activities become habitually directed towards meeting the next set of needs that we
have yet to satisfy. These then become our salient needs. However, growth needs
continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have been engaged. Once
these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the
highest level called self-actualization.

Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of
self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower
level needs. Life experiences, including divorce and loss of a job may cause an
individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy. Therefore, not everyone will
move through the hierarchy in a uni-directional manner but may move back and forth
between the different types of needs.

Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our
society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs.

The original hierarchy of needsfive-stage

model includes:
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from
fear.

3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, trust and acceptance, receiving
and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).

4. Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-

respect, respect from others.

5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking

personal growth and peak experiences.
Maslow posited that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy:

'It is quite true that man lives by bread alone — when there is no bread. But what
happens to man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is
chronically filled?

At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological
hungers, dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and
still “higher”) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic
human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency' (Maslow, 1943, p.
375).

Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and include a seven-stage
model and a eight-stage model, both developed during the 1960's and 1970s.

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, etc.

3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, trust and acceptance, receiving
and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).
4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance,
prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.

5. Cognitive needs - knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for

meaning and predictability.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking
personal growth and peak experiences.

8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization.

Self-actualization
Instead of focusing on psychopathology and what goes wrong with people, Maslow
(1943) formulated a more positive account of human behavior which focused on what
goes right. He was interested in human potential, and how we fulfill that potential.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that human motivation is based on
people seeking fulfillment and change through personal growth. Self-actualized
people are those who were fulfilled and doing all they were capable of.

The growth of self-actualization (Maslow, 1962) refers to the need for personal
growth and discovery that is present throughout a person’s life. For Maslow, a person
is always 'becoming' and never remains static in these terms. In self-actualization a
person comes to find a meaning to life that is important to them.

As each individual is unique the motivation for self-actualization leads people in

different directions (Kenrick et al., 2010). For some people self-actualization can be
achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others through sport, in the
classroom, or within a corporate setting.

Maslow (1962) believed self-actualization could be measured through the concept of

peak experiences. This occurs when a person experiences the world totally for what it
is, and there are feelings of euphoria, joy and wonder.
It is important to note that self-actualization is a continual process of becoming rather
than a perfect state one reaches of a 'happy ever after' (Hoffman, 1988).

Maslow offers the following description of self-actualization:

'It refers to the person’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to
become actualized in what he is potentially.

The specific form that these needs will take will of course vary greatly from person to
person. In one individual it may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in
another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in
painting pictures or in inventions' (Maslow, 1943, p. 382–383).

Are you self-actualized?

Characteristics of self-actualized people

Although we are all, theoretically, capable of self-actualizing, most of us will not do
so, or only to a limited degree. Maslow (1970) estimated that only two percent of
people would reach the state of self-actualization. He was especially interested in the
characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as
individuals.

By studying 18 people he considered to be self-actualized (including Abraham

Lincoln and Albert Einstein) Maslow (1970) identified 15 characteristics of a self-
actualized person.
Characteristics of self-actualizers:
1. They perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty;

2. Accept themselves and others for what they are;

3. Spontaneous in thought and action;

4. Problem-centered (not self-centered);

5. Unusual sense of humor;

6. Able to look at life objectively;

7. Highly creative;

8. Resistant to enculturation, but not purposely unconventional;

9. Concerned for the welfare of humanity;

10. Capable of deep appreciation of basic life-experience;

11. Establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships with a few people;

12. Peak experiences;

13. Need for privacy;

14. Democratic attitudes;

15. Strong moral/ethical standards.

Behavior leading to self-actualization:
(a) Experiencing life like a child, with full absorption and concentration;

(b) Trying new things instead of sticking to safe paths;

(c) Listening to your own feelings in evaluating experiences instead of the voice of
tradition, authority or the majority;

(d) Avoiding pretense ('game playing') and being honest;

(e) Being prepared to be unpopular if your views do not coincide with those of the
majority;

(f) Taking responsibility and working hard;

(g) Trying to identify your defenses and having the courage to give them up.

The characteristics of self-actualizers and the behaviors leading to self-actualization

are shown in the list above. Although people achieve self-actualization in their own
unique way, they tend to share certain characteristics. However, self-actualization is a
matter of degree, 'There are no perfect human beings' (Maslow,1970a, p. 176).
It is not necessary to display all 15 characteristics to become self-actualized, and not
only self-actualized people will display them. Maslow did not equate self-
actualization with perfection. Self-actualization merely involves achieving one's
potential. Thus, someone can be silly, wasteful, vain and impolite, and still self-
actualize. Less than two percent of the population achieve self-actualization.

Educational applications
Maslow's (1968) hierarchy of needs theory has made a major contribution to teaching
and classroom management in schools. Rather than reducing behavior to a response in
the environment, Maslow (1970a) adopts a holistic approach to education and
learning. Maslow looks at the complete physical, emotional, social, and intellectual
qualities of an individual and how they impact on learning.

Applications of Maslow's hierarchy theory to the work of the classroom teacher are
obvious. Before a student's cognitive needs can be met they must first fulfil their basic
physiological needs. For example a tired and hungry student will find it difficult to
focus on learning. Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted
within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential.

Maslow suggests students must be shown that they are valued and respected in the
classroom and the teacher should create a supportive environment. Students with
a low self-esteem will not progress academically at an optimum rate until their self-
esteem is strengthened.

Critical evaluation
The most significant limitation of Maslow's theory concerns his methodology.
Maslow formulated the characteristics of self-actualized individuals from undertaking
a qualitative method called biographical analysis.
He looked at the biographies and writings of 18 people he identified as being self-
actualized. From these sources he developed a list of qualities that seemed
characteristic of this specific group of people, as opposed to humanity in general.

From a scientific perspective there are numerous problems with this particular
approach. First, it could be argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely
subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher. Personal opinion is
always prone to bias, which reduces thevalidity of any data obtained. Therefore
Maslow's operational definition of self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as
scientific fact.

Furthermore, Maslow's biographical analysis focused on a biased sample of self-

actualized individuals, prominently limited to highly educated white males (such as
Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, William James, Aldous Huxley,
Gandhi, Beethoven).

Although Maslow (1970) did study self-actualized females, such as Eleanor Roosevelt
and Mother Teresa, they comprised a small proportion of hissample. This makes it
difficult to generalize his theory to females and individuals from lower social classes
or different ethnicity. Thus questioning the population validity of Maslow's findings.

Furthermore, it is extremely difficult toempirically test Maslow's concept of self-

actualization in a way that causal relationships can be established.

Another criticism concerns Maslow's assumption that the lower needs must be
satisfied before a person can achieve their potential and self-actualize. This is not
always the case, and therefore Maslow's hierarchy of needs in some aspects has been
falsified.

Through examining cultures in which large numbers of people live in poverty (such as
India) it is clear that people are still capable of higher order needs such as love and
belongingness. However, this should not occur, as according to Maslow, people who
have difficulty achieving very basic physiological needs (such as food, shelter etc.)
are not capable of meeting higher growth needs.
Also, many creative people, such as authors and artists (e.g. Rembrandt and Van
Gogh) lived in poverty throughout their lifetime, yet it could be argued that they
achieved self-actualization.

Psychologists now conceptualize motivation as a pluralistic behavior, whereby needs

can operate on many levels simultaneously. A person may be motivated by higher
growth needs at the same time as lower level deficiency needs.

Contemporary research by Tay & Diener (2011) has tested Maslow’s theory by
analyzing the data of 60,865 participants from 123 countries, representing every major
region of the world. The survey was conducted from 2005 to 2010.

Respondents answered questions about six needs that closely resemble those in Maslow's
model: basic needs (food, shelter); safety; social needs (love, support); respect; mastery;
and autonomy. They also rated their well-being across three discrete measures: life
evaluation (a person's view of his or her life as a whole), positive feelings (day-to-day
instances of joy or pleasure), and negative feelings (everyday experiences of sorrow,
anger, or stress).
The results of the study support the view that universal human needs appear to exist
regardless of cultural differences. However, the ordering of the needs within the
hierarchy was not correct.

"Although the most basic needs might get the most attention when you don't have them,"
Diener explains, "you don't need to fulfill them in order to get benefits [from the others]."
Even when we are hungry, for instance, we can be happy with our friends. "They're like
vitamins," Diener says about how the needs work independently. "We need them all."