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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs revisited
This paper critically evaluates Maslow’s hierarchy of prepotent needs and his definition of the self-actualizing personality. The findings suggest that a significant portion of the population does not achieve self-actualization as defined by Maslow, indicating that educational systems aimed at fostering such personalities may be ineffective for the majority. Consequently, educators often shift their focus to the lower tiers of the hierarchy, such as security and self-esteem, which may dilute the cognitive content of learning and hinder the pursuit of higher-level needs. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that Maslow’s hierarchy lacks a dialectical progression; the fulfillment of one stage does not guarantee advancement to the next. The transition to self-actualization appears to be an enigmatic leap rather than a systematic progression, indicating that it cannot be externally orchestrated. As a constructive alternative, the paper advocates for a more coherent hierarchy of needs grounded in the development of rationality. [NIPD: self-actualizing, personality, Maslow’s hierarchy, rationality, psychology]
Year: 1996
