Personality Theory: Abraham Maslow.

Essay by tholtmotaUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, September 2005

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Of all the psychologists and their theories, the one I find most interesting and believe the most in is Abraham Maslow. I believe his hierarchy of needs is real and that people do fall in one of the levels of his pyramid. Most of us start at a bottom level in life and strive to reach a higher level of financial and educational stability along with a satisfying career. We all have basic needs in life and once we have these we climb the ladder to higher achievements in life.

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who studied the Humanistic aspects of psychology. He became interested in psychology after learning about John Watson and his contributions to the behavioral theory. In 1943, Maslow created a pyramid he called the Hierarchy of Needs. This pyramid was based on a person's basic lower needs to the higher needs in one's life.

Maslow disapproved of behaviorism and later on took a similar direction as Freud and his writings. He accepted the existence of the unconscious but, he opposed Freud's conviction that the greater part of who we are is hidden past our consciousness. Maslow thought that for the most part we are aware of our actions and that without impediments in our life that we all could become psychologically fit people with a greater understanding of whom we are and better able to accept the world we live in. In areas that Freud saw pessimism or negative behavior in a person's life, Maslow looked for more positives in mankind.

Maslow believed that we are all born with certain needs and without meeting these needs a person was sure to die. The first and bottom level of his hierarchy was physiological needs such as warmth, shelter, and food. Physiological needs were concerned...