Chapter 9 Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic Theory 283healthy relationships outside of therapy. This view of psychotherapy is nearly iden-
tical to that of Carl Rogers, as we discuss in Chapter 10.
Related Research
As you just read, one of the most notable aspects of Maslow’s theory of personal-
ity is the concept of a hierarchy of needs. Some needs such as physiological
and safety needs are lower order needs, whereas needs like esteem and self-
actualization are higher order. Generally speaking, according to Maslow’s the-
ory the lower order needs must be met early in life, whereas the higher order
needs such as self-actualization tend to be fulfilled later in life.
Recently, researchers have tested this aspect of Maslow’s theory by measur-
ing need fulfillment in a sample of 1,749 people of all age groups (Reiss & Haver-
camp, 2006). In this study, participants completed a questionnaire that asked about
their fulfillment of needs. These needs were divided into two types of motivation:
lower motivation (e.g., eating and physical exercise) and higher motivation (e.g.,
honor, family, and idealism). The results supported Maslow’s theory. The research-
ers found that the lower motives were stronger in younger people, whereas the
higher motives were stronger in older people. Recall that in order to focus on
fulfilling the highest order needs such as esteem and self-actualization, people must
first have fulfilled the lower order needs. Therefore, as Maslow theorized and as
Reiss and Havercamp (2006) found, if people can secure the most basic needs early
in life, they have more time and energy to focus on achieving the highest reaches
of human existence later in life.
Mindfulness and Self-Actualization
Mindfulness is a Buddhist concept that has begun to be examined in Western ther-
apeutic and scientific domains. It is a difficult concept to define, but one premier
researcher in the arena of mindfulness, Ellen Langer, defines the state as “the process
of drawing novel distinctions . . .. Actively drawing these distinctions keeps us situated
in the present” (Langer & Moldoveanu, 2000, p. 2). Mindful observers are open to
directly experiencing events, without judgment or elaboration. Put simply, to be
mindful is to be present and aware. Empirical studies have shown that mindfulness
is good for us; it is negatively correlated with depression and anxiety, and positively
correlated with positive affect and empathy (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003). Given that
Maslow viewed self-actualization as a pathway toward psychological health, Mark
Beitel and colleagues (2014) hypothesized that self-actualization and mindfulness
must be related, and they conducted an exploratory study to examine this relationship.
Maslow (1971) observed that self-actualizing people attend to the world in
ways that come very close to descriptions of mindfulness: intensely, with a contin-
ued freshness of appreciation, and an acceptance of things as they are. Furthermore,
the practice of mindfulness meditation likely brings with it moments much like
Maslow’s peak experiences—mystical and transcendent. Beitel and colleagues
(2014) gave 204 American undergraduate students both of the contemporary mea-
sures of self-actualization discussed earlier in this chapter. They completed the
BISA-R (Sumerlin & Bundrick, 1998), which, as you may recall, involves four fea-
tures of Maslow’s theorizing about the B-values: Autonomy, Core Self-Actualization,