Chapter 9 Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic Theory 261irregular intervals his thoughts, opinions, feelings, social activities, important con-
versations, and concerns for his health (Maslow, 1979).
Despite achieving fame during the 1960s, Maslow became increasingly dis-
enchanted with his life at Brandeis. Some students rebelled against his teaching
methods, demanding more experiential involvement and less of an intellectual and
scientific approach.
In addition to work-related problems, Maslow suffered a severe but nonfatal
heart attack in December of 1967. He then learned that his strange malady more
than 20 years earlier had been an undiagnosed heart attack. Now in poor health
and disappointed with the academic atmosphere at Brandeis, Maslow accepted an
offer to join the Saga Administrative Corporation in Menlo Park, California. He
had no particular job there and was free to think and write as he wished. He
enjoyed that freedom, but on June 8, 1970, he suddenly collapsed and died of a
massive heart attack. He was 62.
Maslow received many honors during his lifetime, including his election to the
presidency of the American Psychological Association for the year 1967–1968. At
the time of his death, he was well known, not only within the profession of psychol-
ogy, but among educated people generally, particularly in business management,
marketing, theology, counseling, education, nursing, and other health-related fields.
Maslow’s personal life was filled with pain, both physical and psychological.
As an adolescent, he was terribly shy, unhappy, isolated, and self-rejecting. In later
years, he was often in poor physical health, suffering from a series of ailments,
including chronic heart problems. His journals (Maslow, 1979) are sprinkled with
references to poor health. In his last journal entry (May 7, 1970), a month before
his death, he complained about people expecting him to be a courageous leader and
spokesperson. He wrote: “I am not temperamentally ‘courageous.’ My cou rage is
really an overcoming of all sorts of inhibitions, politeness, gentleness, timidities—
and it always cost me a lot in fatigue, tension, apprehension, bad sleep” (p. 1307).
Maslow’s View of Motivation
Maslow’s theory of personality rests on several basic assumptions regarding moti-
vation. First, Maslow (1970) adopted a holistic approach to motivation: That is,
the whole person, not any single part or function, is motivated.
Second, motivation is usually complex, meaning that a person’s behavior may
spring from several separate motives. For example, the desire for sexual union may
be motivated not only by a genital need but also by needs for dominance, com-
panionship, love, and self-esteem. Moreover, the motivation for a behavior may be
unconscious or unknown to the person. For example, the motivation for a college
student to make a high grade may mask the need for dominance or power. Maslow’s
acceptance of the importance of unconscious motivation represents one important
way in which he differed from Gordon Allport (Chapter 12). Whereas Allport
might say that a person plays golf just for the fun of it, Maslow would look beneath
the surface for underlying and often complex reasons for playing golf.
A third assumption is that people are continually motivated by one need or
another. When one need is satisfied, it ordinarily loses its motivational power and
is then replaced by another need. For example, as long as people’s hunger needs