Chapter 9 Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic Theory 273or totality, and when this movement is thwarted, they suffer feelings of inadequacy,
disintegration, and unfulfillment. Absence of the B-values leads to pathology just
as surely as lack of food results in malnutrition. When denied the truth, people suf-
fer from paranoia; when they live in ugly surroundings, they become physically ill;
without justice and order, they experience fear and anxiety; without playfulness and
humor, they become stale, rigid, and somber. Deprivation of any of the B- values
results in metapathology, or the lack of a meaningful philosophy of life.
Characteristics of Self-Actualizing People
Maslow believed that all humans have the potential for self-actualization. Then why
are we not all self-actualizing? To be self-actualizing, Maslow believed, people must
be regularly satisfied in their other needs and must also embrace the B-values. Using
these two criteria, he guessed that the psychologically healthiest 1% of the adult
population of the United States would be self-actualizing.
Maslow (1970) listed 15 tentative qualities that characterize self-actualizing
people to at least some degree.
More Efficient Perception of Reality
Self-actualizing people can more easily detect phoniness in others. They can dis-
criminate between the genuine and the fake not only in people but also in literature,
art, and music. They are not fooled by facades and can see both positive and
negative underlying traits in others that are not readily apparent to most people.
They perceive ultimate values more clearly than other people do and are less
prejudiced and less likely to see the world as they wish it to be.
Also, self-actualizing people are less afraid and more comfortable with the
unknown. They not only have a greater tolerance of ambiguity, but they actively
seek it and feel comfortable with problems and puzzles that have no definite right
or wrong solution. They welcome doubt, uncertainty, indefiniteness, and uncharted
paths, a quality that makes self-actualizing people particularly well suited to be
philosophers, explorers, or scientists.
Acceptance of Self, Others, and Nature
Self-actualizing people can accept themselves the way they are. They lack defen-
siveness, phoniness, and self-defeating guilt; have good hearty animal appetites for
food, sleep, and sex; are not overly critical of their own shortcomings; and are not
burdened by undue anxiety or shame. In similar fashion, they accept others and
have no compulsive need to instruct, inform, or convert. They can tolerate weak-
nesses in others and are not threatened by others’ strengths. They accept nature,
including human nature, as it is and do not expect perfection either in themselves
or in others. They realize that people suffer, grow old, and die.
Spontaneity, Simplicity, and Naturalness
Self-actualizing people are spontaneous, simple, and natural. They are unconven-
tional but not compulsively so; they are highly ethical but may appear unethical or
nonconforming. They usually behave conventionally, either because the issue is not
of great importance or out of deference to others. But when the situation warrants