In life, human beings are volunteering, involuntary running, or working towards something constantly, and in this process, what they are lacking is their peacefulness. People are taught in society, how to behave or think in certain ways, and by learning through society, what they miss is figuring out who they are. Most of the time, the aim of their life is highly influenced by the interests of other people. They get misdirected by other people’s opinions and forget to listen to their inner selves. They often fail to fulfill their aim in life because they are not naturally inclined toward what they are working for. All this happens because human beings are naturally motivated to learn and grow. Let’s know the transformative journey of self-actualization to unlock your innate potential and discover your true self.
Gorden Allport’s notion of uniqueness:
Gordon Allport insisted that while studying personality, psychologists must use methods that focus on a person’s undivided personality and its uniqueness. He said that motivation in adults is:
- Functionally automatic rather than dependent on bodily needs or infantile deprivation.
- It is frequently known in their awareness rather than their unconscious mind.
- Also, it’s highly individual rather than shared with other men.
He also argued that self-concept and ego must find their place in contemporary psychology. His emphasis was on a person’s individuality. Much of the emphasis on self-actualization is consistent with his position. The essence of self-actualization is found in the discovery of the real self and its expression and development.
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Kurt Goldstein’s concept of self-actualization:
The term self-actualization was first used by German psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein. He first introduced the concept of the organism as a whole. According to him, self-actualization is the only drive by which the life of an organism is determined. He described self-actualization as a fundamental tendency to actualize all its capabilities and whole potential at any exact moment in any given circumstance. His explanation of self-actualization was monetary (which can be achieved at any moment), whereas Abraham Maslow’s concept was discussed as a goal that can be reached in the future. Abraham Maslow contributed the term self-actualization to Goldstein in his 1943 original paper.
Carl Roger’s explanation of self-actualization:
In Roger’s therapy, self-actualization is an ongoing process that is used to enhance a person’s sense of self by using reflection and reinterpretations of experiences. When sufficient tension between self and experience arises, a person experiences a state of incongruence. By working on a sense of self, a person recovers, develops, and creates change in themselves and their experiences. According to Rogers, three characteristics are found in a self-actualized person:
- Openness to experience, which is the opposite of defensiveness. His entire experience will be received without any distortion, whether inside or outside of the world.
- Individuals will existentially live their lives. Which means they will not be controlled by an ongoing process or challenge.
Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization:
Abraham Maslow was famous because of his theory of the hierarchy of needs. According to him, if a person’s bodily and ego needs are fulfilled, he realizes his fullest potential. He used the term self-realization to refer to desire, which can lead to an acknowledgment of a person’s full capacities. Contrary to Goldstein’s idea that self-actualization can determine a person’s life, Maslow emphasizes it as motivation to achieve budding ambitions. Maslow explained self-actualization as intrinsic, growth towards what the organism is already. In other words, self-actualization is about being your true self. According to him, everyone doesn’t need to strive for self-actualization.
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory:
According to Maslow, motivation is the fulfillment of five needs in a person’s life. These five needs are:
- Physiological needs (food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, and excretion)
- Safety and security (security of body, of family, of health, of property, of employment, and of resources)
- Love and belongingness (family, friendship, and sexual intimacy)
- Esteem needs (self-esteem, achievement, confidence, respect by others, and respect for others)
- Self-actualization (creativity, morality, spontaneity, problem-solving, acceptance of facts, and lack of prejudice)
The first two needs are called basic needs. The third and fourth needs are called psychological needs, and the fifth need is known as a self-fulfillment need. If it is possible that sometimes people stop desire, and go further than psychological needs. As self-actualization is not an essential need.
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What happens when humans’ basic needs are not fulfilled?
Maslow argues that failure to satisfy basic needs leads to deficiency conditions, such as vitamin deficiency. According to him, gratification of these needs is important for healthy psychological aspects of a person’s personality. He considers these needs to be basic because:
- The absence of their satisfaction prevents psychological health.
- The presence of satisfaction factors prevents illness.
- Restoration of satisfaction overcomes the illness
- The satisfy is chosen by the deprived person over satisfaction.
- In healthy people, such needs are absent.
Characteristics of a Maslow self-actualized person (1954)
Presents a list of 15 characteristics of a self-actualized person that are similar to those listed by Fromm, as evidence. All the characteristics represent empirical findings from Maslow’s study of people’s self-actualization. Unfortunately, he tells us little about the nature of his samples or the methods used in studying these people. Furthermore, several of the characteristics overlap with one another.
1) More efficient perception of reality and more comfortable relations with it: a self-actualized person lives closer to reality and nature than other people do. They are better than others when it comes to tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. A self-actualized person readily detects fakeness and artificiality and can judge people more accurately.
2) Acceptance of self and others: A self-actualized person has a good level of self-acceptance and has little guilt, anxiety, and shame. They are not very defensive. They also can accept other people and their characteristics more easily.
3) Spontaneity: A self-actualized person is spontaneous in their behavior, thoughts, and other covert tendencies. This might be because they have resolved their.
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4) Detachment; Need for Privacy: Their objectivity is expected in their detachment. They do not mind solitude. They can seek solitude more than another person.
5) Continued freshness of appreciation: They can derive ecstasy, strength, and inspiration from the basic experience of life even when they expected this many times before.
6) Autonomy: They are relatively independent of their environment and are able to make independent decisions. They are independent of their culture and environment. At any point in time, they can detach themselves from their environment.
Some more:
7) Mystic experience or oceanic feeling: These are experiences that may arise in a variety of settings. Their feeling was described as a loss of place in time and space, wonder, and awe. A person can feel limitless horizons opening up to their vision.
8) Social interest and Gemeinschaftsfuhl (Adler term): a feeling of identification, sympathy, and affect for people even though the self-actualizing person is troubled by the many shortcomings of the species.
9) Domestic character structure: they respect people and are ready to learn from them regardless of their age, race, culture, family, beliefs, etc.
10) Interpersonal relationships: they have less, but deep and profound interpersonal relationships. They avoid being in many shallow-level relationships.
11) Discrimination between means and ends: A self-actualized person can discriminate between what they are striving for and the means for accomplishing the end to a level that most people do not. They can often enjoy instrumental behavior leading to an end, which a more impatient person can’t.
12) Sense of humor: these people enjoy humor. Their humor is non-hostile and philosophical in nature.
13) Resistance to enculturation: They get along with the culture, but at the same time they are detached from it. In a behavioral way, they can be part of culture but, at the same time, hold autonomous thought processes.
14) Creativity: creativity is more prominent in a self-actualized person. Maslow described two types of creativity in a self-actualized person.
- Concerning scientific creativity, which is similar to what Freud called the primary process.
- Secondary Creativity: This occurs in rigid, constructed people.
Criticism of Maslow’s self-actualization concept:
- It is not indicative of the values of many cultures, which do not consider individualism as a higher goal of life.
- According to Paul Vitz Maslow’s and Roger’s self-actualization, it is more about the moral norm than the discipline notion.
- This self-actualization concept is so positive that it seems not relatable to the normal population.
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