Biography – Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow brought to the world of psychology a fresh perspective with his concept of
"hierarchy of human needs". His idea of an "authentic self", that core part of an individual that
strives towards growth, is now considered one of the foundation stones of the Humanistic
movement.
Indeed, along with other psychologists such as Clark Moustakas, Abraham Maslow initiated
"Humanism", which he referred to as the "third force" of psychology after Pavlov's
"behaviorism" and Freud's "psychoanalysis".
Abraham Maslow, Life
Abraham Maslow was the eldest son of uneducated Jewish parents who had migrated from
Russia to the U.S. in order to escape from harsh conditions and socio-political turmoil. It was in
Brooklyn, New York, that young Maslow was born, on the first of April, 1908.
Abraham was the eldest sibling in the family, and the family's culture expected him to care for
his six brothers and sisters. Having suffered so much in their past, a determined father drove
young Abraham with the ambition to succeed in life. He grew up with almost no friends to play
with, having made to study for long hours, and then spending the rest of his time assisting his
father to make ends meet. Books became his refuge, and he found himself immersed in the works
of Freud, Jung, Pavlov and others. Psychology interested him immensely.
Maslow bowed to his parents' wishes to study law, and enrolled himself in the City College of
New York for this purpose. However, it soon became clear to him that law was not his vocation
in life. Yet, he labored on for three full semesters, plowing doggedly through Torts and
Remedies. Finally, he decided to rebel.
His rebellion against his parents was on two fronts: First, his selection of a vocation that was
closer to his heart: he decided to jump into Psychology; second, his choice of his bride: he
decided to wed his own cousin, Bertha Goodman. He sought and obtained transfer to Cornell
University, but again had to return to CCNY for reasons of logistics. Finally, the newly-married
couple decided to relocate to Wisconsin. It was in Wisconsin that Abraham Maslow finally
discovered stability and success in his life.
In 1930, Maslow completed his B.A. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin. His thirst
for knowledge, egged on by mentors such as Harry Harlow, led him to complete his Masters (in
1931) and later his doctorate (in 1934) in the same field. During this period, the Maslow couple
gave birth to two daughters - Dr. Ellen Maslow and Ann Kaplan.
While in Wisconsin, Dr. Maslow became closely associated with Harlow's experiments on
primates. He had himself pursued an independent line of research on primate dominance
behavior and published a few papers on the subject. At around the same time, Dr. Edward Lee
Thorndike, Director of the Psychology Division in the Institute of Educational Research of
Columbia University in New York, had also published research papers on animal behavior. Dr.
Maslow corresponded with Dr. Thorndike, and the next year (1935) saw him traveling to New
York, to further his research work at Columbia University on animal motivation.
The psychology division researchers in Columbia University in those days were involved in
testing and measuring children and adult intelligence and their ability to learn. Dr. Maslow
gravitated to this field of knowledge; and thus began his next stage of growth and evolution. The
papers produced by him from 1937 onwards manifest Dr. Maslow's shift towards social
behavior, personality traits, self-esteem, and motivation theory, in relation to human beings.
In 1937, Abraham Maslow moved to Brooklyn, his place of birth, and began teaching
psychology at Brooklyn College, a position that he held for fourteen years. It was during this
time that some of his best works were produced. His paper titled "A Theory of Human
Motivation" was first published in the Psychological Review in 1943, and was printed and
reprinted in several publications thereafter. Other papers, such as "'Higher' and 'lower' needs",
"Our maligned animal nature", "Self-actualizing people: a study of psychological health",
"Resistance to acculturation", and "The S-I Test (A measure of psychological securityinsecurity)" were his other much-referenced works. While borrowing ideas from other
psychologists, the ideas, theories, postulates and insights that he built upon them were very
original - especially the concepts of a hierarchy of needs, metaneeds, self-actualizing persons and
peak experiences. He emerged as the leader of the humanistic school of psychology, which he
referred to as the "third force".
In 1951, Abraham Maslow accepted an offer from the then newly-founded, Waltham,
Massachusetts-based Brandeis University, to serve as Chairman of the psychology department.
He held this position till 1969. Washington, D.C.-based American Psychological Association
elected him President for the year 1968.
In 1969, at the ripe age of 61, Abraham Maslow accepted the resident fellowship of the Laughlin
Foundation, and moved to Menlo Park, California. Leading a life of semi-retirement, he
upgraded his book - "Motivation and Personality", which he had first written in 1954. He also
penned two more books - "Toward a Psychology of Being" and "The Further Reaches of Human
Nature".
Ill-health had been dogging him for quite some time, Abraham Maslow breathed his last breath
on June 8th 1970, dying from a heart attack.