Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIII. Humanistic/Existential
Theories- Maslow: Holistic
Dynamic Theory
(^304) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
if neither statement applies to them or if they do not know anything about the state-
ment.
The POI has 2 major scales and 10 subscales. The first major scale—the Time
Competence/Time Incompetence scale—measures the degree to which people are
present oriented. The second major scale—the Support scale—is “designed to mea-
sure whether an individual’s mode of reaction is characteristically ‘self ’ oriented or
‘other’ oriented” (Shostrom, 1974, p. 4). The 10 subscales assess levels of (1) self-
actualization values, (2) flexibility in applying values, (3) sensitivity to one’s own
needs and feelings, (4) spontaneity in expressing feelings behaviorally, (5) self-
regard, (6) self-acceptance, (7) positive view of humanity, (8) ability to see opposites
of life as meaningfully related, (9) acceptance of aggression, and (10) capacity for
intimate contact. High scores on the 2 major scales and the 10 subscales indicate
some level of self-actualization; low scores do not necessarily suggest pathology but
give clues concerning a person’s self-actualizing values and behaviors.
The POI seems to be quite resistant to faking—unless one is familiar with
Maslow’s description of a self-actualizing person. In the POI manual, Shostrom
(1974) cited several studies in which the examinees were asked to “fake good” or
“make a favorable impression” in filling out the inventory. When participants fol-
lowed these instructions, they generally scored lower (in the direction away from
self-actualization) than they did when responding honestly to the statements.
This finding, indeed, is an interesting one. Why should people lower their
scores when trying to look good? The answer lies in Maslow’s concept of self-
actualization. Statements that might be true for self-actualizers are not necessarily
socially desirable and do not always conform to cultural standards. For example,
items such as “I can overcome any obstacles as long as I believe in myself ” or “My
basic responsibility is to be aware of others’ needs” may seem like desirable goals to
someone trying to simulate self-actualization, but a self-actualizing person probably
would not endorse either of these items. On the other hand, a truly self-actualizing
person may choose such items as “I do not always need to live by the rules and stan-
dards of society” or “I do not feel obligated when a stranger does me a favor”
(Shostrom, 1974, p. 22). Because one of the characteristics of self-actualizing peo-
ple is resistance to enculturation, it should not be surprising that attempts to make a
good impression will usually result in failure.
Interestingly, Maslow himself seemed to have answered the questions honestly
when he filled out the inventory. Despite the fact that he helped in the construction
of the POI, Maslow’s own scores were only in the direction of self-actualization and
not nearly as high as the scores of people who were definitely self-actualizing
(Shostrom, 1974).
Even though the POI has demonstrated reasonable reliability and validity,
some researchers (Weiss, 1991; Whitson & Olczak, 1991) have criticized the
inventory for failing to distinguish between known self-actualizers and non-self-
actualizers. Furthermore, the POI has two practical problems; first, it is long, taking
most participants 30 to 45 minutes to complete; and second, the two-item forced-
choice format can engender hostility in the participants, who feel frustrated by the
limitations of a forced-choice option. To overcome these two practical limitations,
Alvin Jones and Rick Crandall (1986) created the Short Index of Self-Actualization,
which borrows 15 items from the POI that are most strongly correlated with the total
298 Part III Humanistic/Existential Theories