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BIOGRAPHY Born in Brooklyn, New York , Maslow was the first of seven children of Jewish immigrants from Russia . His parents were uneducated, but they insisted that he study law. At first, Abraham acceded to their wishes and enrolled in the City College Of New York . However, after three semesters he transferred to Cornell , then back to CCNY. After he married, he moved to Wisconsin to attend the University Of Wisconsin from which he received his B.A. (1930), his M.A. (1931), and his Ph.D. (1934) in psychology. While in Wisconsin, Maslow studied with Harry Harlow , who was known for his studies of Rhesus Monkey s and attachment behavior. A year after graduation, Maslow returned to New York to work with E. L. Thorndike at Columbia . Maslow began teaching full time at Brooklyn College . During this time he met many leading European psychologists, including Alfred Adler and Erich Fromm . In 1951, Maslow became the chairman of the psychology department at Brandeis University , where he began his theoretical work. There, he met Kurt Goldstein , who introduced him to the idea of Self-actualization . He retired to California , where he died of a Heart Attack in 1970 after years of ill health. HIERARCHY OF HUMAN NEEDS Maslow's primary contribution to psychology is his Hierarchy Of Human Needs , which he often presented as a pyramid. These needs are classified as "conative needs", "cognitive needs", and "aesthetic needs". "Neurotic needs" are included in Maslow's theory but do not exist within the hierarchy. The first four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D-needs": the individual does not feel anything if they are met, but feels anxious if they are not met. Needs beyond the D-needs are "growth needs", "being values", or "B-needs". When fulfilled, they do not go away; rather, they motivate further. The base of the pyramid is formed by the physiological needs, including the biological requirements for food, water, air, and sleep. Once these physiological needs are met, an individual can concentrate on the second level, the need for safety and security. The third level is the need for love and belonging, followed by the need for status and esteem. Finally, Self-actualization sits at the apex of the original pyramid. In 1970 Maslow published a revision to his original 1954 pyramid {Link without Title} , adding the cognitive needs (first the need to acquire knowledge, then the need to understand that knowledge) above the need for self-actualization, and the aesthetic needs (the needs for beauty, balance, structure, etc.) at the top of the pyramid. However, not all versions of Maslow's pyramid include the top two levels. Maslow theorized that unfulfilled conative needs can become redirected into neurotic needs. For example, children whose safety needs are not adequately met may grow into adults who compulsively hoard money or possessions {Link without Title} . Unlike other needs, however, neurotic needs do not promote health or growth if they are satisfied. Maslow also proposed that people who have reached self-actualization will sometimes experience a state he referred to as " Transcendence ", in which they become aware of not only their own fullest potential, but the fullest potential of human beings at large. He described this transcendence and its characteristics in an essay in the posthumously published ''The Farther Reaches in Human Nature''. In the essay, he describes this experience as not always being transitory, but that certain individuals might have ready access to it, and spend more time in this state. He makes a point that these individuals experience not only ecstatic joy, but also profound "cosmic-sadness" (Maslow, 1971) at the ability of humans to foil chances of transcendence in their own lives and in the world at large. SEE ALSO
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