Motivation: Why Do We Do What We Do? 101(c) The fifth layer of the pyramid represents needs.Answers: (a) love; belongingness; (b) esteem; (c) cognitive.The sixth and top layer of the pyramid represents the need for self-
actualization.Of all the needs, this is the one that is primarily associated with
the thinking and research of Maslow. Maslow hypothesized that this need is
inborn. Also, it is emergent,meaning that it only becomes a pressing need when
the other lower needs are relatively satisfied. The need for self-actualization is the
need to maximize one’s talents and potentialities. It is sometimes informally
phrased as “the need to become the person you were meant to be.”
The need for self-actualization is reflected in such behaviors as working
toward success in a vocational field or seeking way of life that represents one’s own
idea of personal fulfillment. There is no field of work or style of life that can be
specified, because the individual’s choice and perception are of particular impor-
tance. For one person, self-actualization might mean the pursuit of an acting
career. For another person, self-actualization might mean becoming a parent. The
important thing, according to Maslow, is that the individual discovers what is right
for himself or herself.
Maslow’s research suggested that many, perhaps most, people are not self-
actualizing. The price paid for a failure to be self-actualizing is a sense of disap-
pointment in life and in oneself.(a) The sixth layer of the Maslow pyramid represents the need for.(b) The need for self-actualization is the need to maximize one’s and
.
Answers: (a) self-actualization; (b) talents; potentialities.On the other hand, if one is in fact self-actualizing, there are important psy-
chological rewards associated with the process. First, one will tend to experience
both a general sense of psychological health and a pleasant day-to-day emotional
tone. Second, the individual will from time to time have peak experiences.
These are moments or joy or ecstasy when a hurdle is overcome, a task is com-
pleted, or a goal is reached.
Note that a person is not referred to as self-actualized, but as self-actualizing.
Maslow is talking about the process of becoming, not an end state. Self-actualization
as a process can be a rich source of psychological reward for most of one’s life.
Maslow makes a distinction between deficiency motivation and being motiva-
tion. Deficiency motivationrefers to those needs lowest on the hierarchy. We
need to overcome deficiency states such as hunger, thirst, and danger in order to
move upward toward the higher levels. Being motivationtends to be associated