Abraham Maslow.
Abraham Maslow.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of poor Russian immigrant parents. One of seven children, he was openly rejected by his mother in favor of his younger brothers and sisters. Maslow’s father was rarely at home and was known for drinking, fighting, and womanizing. Maslow described feelings of anger and hostility toward his father, but his relationship with his mother was far worse (Schultz and Schultz, 2012, p.320). Maslow’s mother punished him frequently, he felt unwanted, unloved, and isolated. As a teenager, Maslow faced more problems. His parents taunted him about his appearance and frequently remarked on how unattractive and awkward he was. “I was all alone in the world. I felt peculiar. This was really in my blood, a very profound feeling that somehow I was wrong. Never any feelings that I was superior. Just one bid aching inferiority complex” (quoted in Milton, 2002, p.42; Schultz and Schultz, 2012, p. 320). Maslow hoped to become an athlete to achieve acceptance and recognition. Failed in sports, he turned to books. He was reading at the library instead of socializing with peers. Maslow spent years reading and studying by himself, which allowed him to be accepted to college. While in college, he still had hard time adjusting. He attended City College of New York, Cornell University, and finally the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his B.A. and stayed on for graduate work in psychology. Maslow received his training under Thorndike and Harlow and wrote a textbook on abnormal psychology. Maslow later told one biographer that relationship with his mother affected his work in psychology as his life-philosophy, his research, and his theorizing had its roots in hatred toward his mother and everything she believed in. Maslow is one of the founding fathers of humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology. The concepts of both Skinner and Freud, and their followers have tended to ignore or to explain
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of poor Russian immigrant parents. One of seven children, he was openly rejected by his mother in favor of his younger brothers and sisters. Maslow’s father was rarely at home and was known for drinking, fighting, and womanizing. Maslow described feelings of anger and hostility toward his father, but his relationship with his mother was far worse (Schultz and Schultz, 2012, p.320). Maslow’s mother punished him frequently, he felt unwanted, unloved, and isolated. As a teenager, Maslow faced more problems. His parents taunted him about his appearance and frequently remarked on how unattractive and awkward he was. “I was all alone in the world. I felt peculiar. This was really in my blood, a very profound feeling that somehow I was wrong. Never any feelings that I was superior. Just one bid aching inferiority complex” (quoted in Milton, 2002, p.42; Schultz and Schultz, 2012, p. 320). Maslow hoped to become an athlete to achieve acceptance and recognition. Failed in sports, he turned to books. He was reading at the library instead of socializing with peers. Maslow spent years reading and studying by himself, which allowed him to be accepted to college. While in college, he still had hard time adjusting. He attended City College of New York, Cornell University, and finally the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his B.A. and stayed on for graduate work in psychology. Maslow received his training under Thorndike and Harlow and wrote a textbook on abnormal psychology. Maslow later told one biographer that relationship with his mother affected his work in psychology as his life-philosophy, his research, and his theorizing had its roots in hatred toward his mother and everything she believed in. Maslow is one of the founding fathers of humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology. The concepts of both Skinner and Freud, and their followers have tended to ignore or to explain
References: Crain, W. (2010) Theories of Development, Sixth Edition, Pearson Education, Inc. published as Prentice Hall, 376, 378- 379. Myers, D. (2012) Psychology in Everyday Life, Second Edition, Worth Publishers, 239, 310. Schultz, D. & Schultz, S. (2012) A History of Modern Psychology, Tenth Edition, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 320, 339, 343. Wilson. S. & Spencer. R. (1990) Intense Personal Experiences. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 46, 181-184. Maslow. A. (1970) Motivation and Personality (rev.ed.) Harper and Row. Maslow. A. (1971) The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. Viking Press. Maslow. A. (1994) Religion, Values and Peak Experiences. Viking Press. Frager. R. & Fadiman. J (2005) Personality and Personal Growth, Sixth Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 342 retrieved at www.itp.edu/about/abraham_maslow.php on 08/19/2011 at 9:20 PM