It looks as if there were a single ultimate goal for mankind, a far goal toward which all persons strive. This is called variously by different authors self-actualization, self-realization, integration, psychological health, individuation, autonomy, creativity, productivity, but they all agree that this amounts to realizing the potentialities of the person, that is to say, becoming fully human, everything that person can be.

(Abraham Maslow)

Do you have any intellectual heroes?

One luminary whose brilliance casts a strong light on my thinking and way of living is Abraham Maslow, the 20th-century humanist psychologist who today is probably most famous for his concept of the Hierarchy of Needs, a theory and system for psychological health that placed the drive for self-actualization at its apex.

Interestingly, although many critics (correctly, I believe) take issue with the rigidly hierarchical, pyramid structure in which these Needs are generally presented, many of Maslow’s revolutionary ideas still hold-up to rigorous contemporary research and scrutiny. What’s more, in many ways, his writings give us just a start, a jumping-off point for further exploration, revision, and development. For instance, in his final years, Maslow himself conjectured that self-actualization was just a gateway, or perhaps a flip side, to self-transcendence.

In his seminal 1943 paperA Theory of Human Motivation in which he first presented his theory of needs, Maslow wrote, “What a man can be, he must be. He must be true to his own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.” Today, I find that many students of Maslow when they speak of self-actualization focus on the unique potentialities inherent in each individual—for them, self-actualization is all about thriving with one’s idiosyncrasies. And while this is definitely part of what Maslow had in mind when he defined self-actualization – it turns out this is only half of the equation.

For Maslow, self-actualizing entailed BOTH developing/expressing one’s singular individuality AND developing the set of characteristics he observed to be common across all the self-actualizing subjects he studied in his research. For Maslow, this is how one could experience full psychological health, or, in other words, become fully human

The characteristics of self-actualization for humanity

In an article he first published in 1950 (and subsequently revised multiple times) entitled Self-Actualizing People: A Study of Psychological Health, Maslow presented his findings on self-actualization. In this work, he described 15 traits that he regarded as distinctive to all his self-actualizing subjects. Briefly, these traits included:

  • More Efficient Perception of Reality and More Comfortable Relations with It

  • Acceptance (Self, Others and Nature)

  • Spontaneity; Simplicity; Naturalness

  • Problem Centering

  • The Quality of Detachment; The Need for Privacy

  • Autonomy; Independence of Culture and Environment; Will; Active Agents

  • Continued Freshness of Appreciation

  • The Mystic Experience, The Peak Experience

  • Gemeinschaftsgegühl (i.e. older sibling/community feeling; according to Maslow: “This word, invented by Alfred Adler, is the only one available that describes well the flavor of the feelings for mankind expressed by self-actualizing subjects. They have for human beings in general a deep feeling of identification, sympathy, and affection in spite of the occasional anger, impatience, or disgust… Because of this they have a genuine desire to help the human race. It is as if they were all members of a single family.”)

  • Interpersonal Relations

  • The Democratic Character Structure

  • Discrimination Between Good and Evil

  • Philosophical, Non-Hostile Sense of Humor

  • Creativeness

  • Resistance to Acculturation: The Transcendence of Any Particular Culture

In addition, Maslow made a point to tell us that although the self-actualizing people he studied were examples of psychological health, none of these individuals were in any way “perfect human beings”. As he observed:

“Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact, great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers… And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it.”

Maslow also noted that his self-actualizing subjects were special in their value systems, that they were simultaneously more idiosyncratic and unique than anyone, and yet also most like others who were also self-actualizing in their connection to humanity as a whole. This is a consequence, I believe, of the fact that self-actualization implies both the realization of one’s unique potential and the development of the characteristics of being fully human mentioned above. As Maslow described it:

“The topmost portion of the value system of the self-actualized person is entirely unique and idiosyncratic-character-structure-expressive. This must be true by definition, for self-actualization is actualization of a self, and no two selves are altogether alike… Our subjects had very much in common, as we have seen, and yet at the same time were more completely individualized, more unmistakably themselves, less easily confounded with others than any average control group possibly could be… They are more completely individual than any group that has ever been described, and yet are also more completely socialized, more identified with humanity than any other group yet described. They are closer to both their specieshood and to their unique individuality.”

Finally, Maslow significantly perceived that his self-actualizing people resolved otherwise seeming polarities or dichotomies, that what appeared to be opposites were only so for those who were not yet fully psychologically healthy. Some of these only seeming polarities included: head/heart, reason/instinct, selfish/unselfish, spiritual/sensual, self/society, intense/casual, serious/frivolous, work/play and more. Frankly, my personal belief is that this Both-And perspective that integrates seeming dichotomies is key to wisdom and human greatness as expressed throughout the ages, and exploring its many facets is central to my own work.

There is certainly much more to explore regarding Maslow’s views on self-actualizing/self-transcending. In fact, it is one of my goals to delve into each of the core 15 characteristics in greater depth. I hope you will join me on the journey.

Lastly, for more on Maslow in his own words, be sure to watch the 4-minute video seen below.