Self-actualization has been used in various psychology theories of Goldstein, Maslow and Rogers. Self-actualization is defined as "the desire to become more and more of what one is, to become everything that one is capable of being." According to hierarchy of needs Maslow theory, people have lower order needs that in general must be fulfilled before high order needs can be satisfied. As a person moves up Maslow's hierarchy of needs, eventually they will reach the summit, self-actualization. Self-actualization theory was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize one's full potential. Self-actualization is the tendency to actualize, as much as possible, individual capacities in the world. Kurt Goldstein defined self-actualization as a driving life force that will ultimately lead to maximizing one's abilities and determine the path of one's life.
Self-actualization theory was brought to prominence in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. According to Maslow self-actualised person "possesses an unusual ability to detect the spurious, the fake, the dishonest in personality.
The Failure of Self-Actualization Theory
- A Critique of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Leonard Geller.
Abstract: This inquiry critically examines the self-actualization theories of Carl Rogers
and Abraham Maslow. Neither theory, it is argued, is correct. Rogers's theory is
unacceptable insofar as his conception of the touchstone or standard of self-actualization
is false, incoherent, and unworkable in practice. Beyond critiquing Rogers and Maslow, I
attempt to establish the general presumption that self-actualization theory as such has
very little to offer toward understanding and improving the human condition within
late-twentieth-century Western society.
The Myth of Self-Actualization - Michael Daniels. Abstract: I argue that the primary function of a theory of self-actualization is to establish a myth of human development that provides conceptual support for people seeking fulfillment and offers clear normative guidance. There are ambiguities and contradictions in the self-actualization theory, and several conceptual elements may inhibit or corrupt the process of selfactualization.
Self-Actualization in the Corporate Hierarchy. John M. Mahoney, Hester L. Dorer. It has been argued that the level of individual actualizing contributes to not only the success of the individual, but also to the success of the organization. Individuals at the higher organizational levels rated their job as more important than did those at lower levels. The level of self-actualizing was correlated to job satisfaction regardless of the hierarchical level, and level of actualizing was correlated to type of work environment.
Compatibility of self-actualization and anxiety - Orin Dodez, Paul F. Zelhart, Robert P. Markley.
Abstract: Dabrowski's (1972) theory of positive disintegration argues that anxiety appears to be the dynamic of self-actualization. The current study further examined the empirical and conceptual relation between anxiety and self-actualization.
A measure of self-actualization and two measures of anxiety were taken. Thirty-three items from the POI were found to be measures of anxiety and were scored negatively for self-actualization.
Removal of anxiety items and rescoring of the POI yielded self-actualization measures that were related positively to anxiety test scores.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF SELF-ACTUALIZATION TO SOCIAL SUPPORT, LIFE STRESS, AND ADJUSTMENT - Ford, Gary G.; Procidano, Mary E. Abstract: The previously unexplored relationship of self-actualization to life stress and perceived social support from family and from friends was investigated. Measures of all variables were administered to 54 female and 52 male adult undergraduate students (age range of 18-81 years). Significant sex differences discovered in the relationship of self-actualization to perceived social support are discussed in terms of possible sex differences in the developmental process of self-actualization.
A cognitive-systemic reconstruction of maslow's theory of self-actualization, Francis Heylighen. Abstract: Maslow's need hierarchy and model of the self-actualizing personality are reviewed and criticized. The definition of self-actualization is found to be confusing, and the gratification of all needs is concluded to be insufficient to explain self-actualization. A hierarchy of basic needs is derived from the urgency of perturbations which an autonomous system must compensate in order to maintain its identity. Self-actualization is redefined as the perceived competence to satisfy these basic needs in due time.
Effects of defensiveness and self-actualization on a Herzberg replication
John Paul Szura1 and Mary E. Vermillion, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA.
Abstract: Two hundred workers were tested for self-actualization, internal vs external
locus-of-control, repression vs sensitization, and the tendency to attribute job
satisfaction and dissatisfaction to motivators and hygienes. Results indicated that
self-actualization is related to the attribution of satisfaction to both motivators and
hygienes.