Chapter 9 Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic Theory 259From such experiences, Maslow learned to hate and mistrust religion and to become
a committed atheist.
Despite his atheistic views, he felt the sting of anti-Semitism not only in
childhood but also during his adult years. Possibly as a defense against the anti-
Semitic attitudes of his classmates, he turned to books and scholarly pursuits. He
loved to read, but to reach the safety of the public library, he had to avoid the
anti-Semitic gangs that roamed his Brooklyn neighborhood and that needed no
excuse to terrorize young Maslow and other Jewish boys.
Being intellectually gifted, Abe found some solace during his years at Boys
High School in Brooklyn, where his grades were only slightly better than average.
At the same time, he developed a close friendship with his cousin Will Maslow, an
outgoing, socially active person. Through this relationship, Abe himself developed
some social skills and was involved in several school activities (Hoffman, 1988).
After Maslow graduated from Boys High School, his cousin Will encouraged
him to apply to Cornell University, but lacking self-confidence, Maslow selected the
less prestigious City College of New York. At about this time, his parents divorced
and he and his father became less emotionally distant. Maslow’s father had wanted
his oldest son to be a lawyer, and while attending City College, Maslow enrolled in
law school. However, he walked out of law classes one night, leaving his books
behind. Significantly, he felt that law dealt too much with evil people and was not
sufficiently concerned with the good. His father, although initially disappointed,
eventually accepted Maslow’s decision to quit law school (M. H. Hall, 1968).
As a student at City College, Maslow did well in philosophy and other courses
that sparked his interest. However, in courses he did not like, he performed so poorly
that he was placed on academic probation. After three semesters, he transferred to
Cornell University in upstate New York partly to be closer to his cousin Will, who
attended that school, but also to distance himself from his first cousin Bertha Goodman,
with whom he was falling in love (Hoffman, 1988). At Cornell, too, Maslow’s
scholastic work was only mediocre. His introductory psychology professor was
Edward B. Titchener, a renowned pioneer in psychology who taught all his classes
in full academic robes. Maslow was not impressed. He regarded Titchener’s approach
to psychology as cold, “bloodless,” and having nothing to do with people.
After one semester at Cornell, Maslow returned to the City College of New
York, now to be nearer to Bertha. After the fortuitious event described in the open-
ing vignette, Abe and Bertha were soon married but not before overcoming his
parents’ resistance. Maslow’s parents objected to the marriage partly because he
was only 20 and she 19. However, their strongest fear was that a marriage between
first cousins might result in hereditary defects in any possible offspring. This fear
was ironic in light of the fact that Maslow’s parents themselves were first cousins
and had six healthy children. (One daughter died during infancy but not because
of any genetic defect.)
One semester before his marriage, Maslow had enrolled at the University of
Wisconsin, from which he received a BA degree in philosophy. In addition, he
was quite interested in John B. Watson’s behaviorism, and this interest prompted
him to take enough psychology courses to meet prerequisites for a PhD in psychol-
ogy. As a graduate student, he worked closely with Harry Harlow, who was just
beginning his research with monkeys. Maslow’s dissertation research on dominance