102 PSYCHOLOGY
with the higher levels, particularly with the need for self-actualization. The theme
of being motivation is growth.(a) Peak experiences are moments of or.(b) What kind of motivation refers to needs lowest on Maslow’s hierarchy?
(c) What kind of motivation refers to needs highest on Maslow’s hierarchy?Answers: (a) joy; ecstasy; (b) Deficiency motivation; (c) Being motivation.The Search for Meaning: Looking for the Whyof Life
It would seem that self-actualization is the greatest height that can be reached by
human motivation, and from reading Maslow’s writings one would get that dis-
tinct impression. Nonetheless, it can be argued that there is one motivational level
extending above self-actualization. The existential psychiatrist Viktor Frankl,
author ofMan’s Search for Meaning,argues that the highest level for human beings
is the will to meaning,the need for life to make sense and to have a purpose in
the larger scheme of things.
Frankl asserts that the will to meaning is inborn, that it is a real psychological
and emotional need. If a person lives a meaningful life, then that life will be full
and rewarding. If a person lives a meaningless life, then that life will be empty and
pointless. Frankl calls this adverse mental and emotional state the existential vac-
uum.One of its principal characteristics is demoralization, the conviction that
nothing has any value and that nothing is worth doing.
Some of Frankl’s assertions about the importance of our search for meaning
arise from his own experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Although he was a
prisoner himself, he did not forget that he was a physician and a psychiatrist. He
felt it was his responsibility to give comfort and aid to his fellow prisoners when-
ever possible. This became his reason for living, and he credits it with his ability to
survive under extremely harsh conditions. He argues that when a human being
has a reason for existence, he or she can often tolerate a high level of pain and frus-
tration. It is instructive to note that the original title ofMan’s Search for Meaning
was From Death Camp to Existentialism.(a) Frankl argues that the highest level of motivation for human beings is the.
(b) The term used to identify an empty and pointless life is the.Answers: (a) will to meaning; (b) existential vacuum.How is meaning fulfilled? Frankl argues that the will to meaning orients
itself toward values,perceived aspects of the world that seem to have worth or