Humanistic Theory: King Of The Mountain

Chapter 10: Humanistic Theory
King of the Mountain Perhaps the most well known contribution to humanistic psychology was introduced by Abraham Maslow. Maslow originally studied psychology because of his intrigue with behavioral theory and the writings of John B. Watson. Maslow grew up Jewish in a non-Jewish neighborhood. He spent much of his childhood alone and reported that books were often his best friends. Despite this somewhat lonely childhood, he maintained his belief in the goodness of mankind. After the birth of his first child, his devotion to Watson's beliefs began a drastic decline. He was struck with the sense that he was not nearly in control as much as Watson and other behaviorists believed. He saw more to human life than just external reinforcement and argued that human's could not possibly be born without any direction or worth. At the time when he was studying psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis were considered the big two. Most courses studies these theories and much time was spent determining which theory one would follow. Maslow was on a different path. He criticized behaviorism and later took the same approach with Freud and his writings. While he acknowledged the presence of the unconscious, he disagreed with Freud's belief that the vast majority of who we are is buried deep beyond our awareness.
Maslow's third level, the need for belonging and love, focuses on our desire to be accepted, to fit in, and to feel like we have a place in the world. Getting these needs met propels us closer to the top of this pyramid and into the fourth level, called esteem needs. At this level we focus our energy on self-respect, respect from others, and feeling that we have made accomplishments on our life. We strive to move upward in careers, to gain knowledge about the world, and to work toward a sense of high