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Part III    Humanistic/Existential Theories304
self-actualizing people. Maslow saidthathisself-actualizing people refused totakeany
teststhatmight assess self-actualization. Ifthisistrue,thenthevarious inventories that
purport tomeasure self-actualization maybeincapable ofidentifying thetrulyself-
actualizing person. However, ifresearchers wishtofollow Maslow’s leadanduseper-
sonal interviews, theywillhavefewguidelines todirect them. Because Maslow failed to
provide anoperational definition ofself-actualization andafulldescription ofhissam-
pling procedures, researchers cannot becertain thattheyarereplicating Maslow’s origi-
nalstudy orthattheyareidentifying thesame syndrome ofself-actualization. Maslow 
leftfuture researchers withfewclearguidelines tofollow when attempting toreplicate 
hisstudies onself-actualization. Lacking operational definitions ofmost ofMaslow’s 
concepts, researchers areabletoneither verify norfalsify much ofhisbasic theory. 
Nevertheless, Maslow’s hierarchy ofneeds framework gives histheory excel -
lentflexibility toorganize what is known about human behavior. Maslow’s theory is
alsoquite consistent withcommon sense. Forexample, common sense suggests that
aperson must haveenough toeatbefore being motivated byother matters. Starving 
people carelittleabout political philosophy. Their primary motivation istoobtain 
food, nottosympathize withonepolitical philosophy oranother. Similarly, people 
living under threat totheirphysical well-being willbemotivated mostly tosecure 
safety, andpeople whohavephysiological andsafety needs relatively satisfied will
strive tobeaccepted andtoestablish aloverelationship.
Does Maslow’s theory serve asa guide to the practitioner? Onthiscriterion, we
ratethetheory ashighly useful. Forexample, psychotherapists whohaveclients with
threatened safety needs must provide asafeandsecure environment forthose clients. 
Once clients havesatisfied theirsafety needs, thetherapist canwork toprovide them 
withfeelings ofloveandbelongingness. Likewise, personnel managers inbusiness 
andindustry canuseMaslow’s theory tomotivate workers. Thetheory suggests that
increases inpaycannot satisfy anyneeds beyond thephysiological andsafety levels. 
Because physiological andsafety needs arealready largely gratified fortheaverage 
worker intheUnited States, wage increases persewillnotpermanently increase worker 
morale andproductivity. Payraises cansatisfy higher levelneeds onlywhen workers 
seethem asrecognition forajobwelldone. Maslow’s theory suggests thatbusiness 
executives should allow workers more responsibility andfreedom, tapintotheiringenu -
ityandcreativity insolving problems, andencourage them tousetheirintelligence and
imagination onthejob.
Isthetheory internally consistent? Unfortunately, Maslow’s arcane andoften 
unclear language makes important parts ofhistheory ambiguous andinconsistent. 
Apart from theproblem ofidiosyncratic language, however, Maslow’s theory ranks 
highonthecriterion ofinternal consistency. Thehierarchy ofneeds concept follows 
alogical progression, andMaslow hypothesized thattheorder ofneeds isthesame 
foreveryone, although hedoesnotoverlook thepossibility ofcertain reversals. Aside 
from some deficiencies inhisscientific methods, Maslow’s theory hasaconsistency 
andprecision thatgiveitpopular appeal.
IsMaslow’s theory parsimonious, ordoesitcontain superfluous fabricated con-
cepts andmodels? Atfirstglance, thetheory seems quite simplistic. Ahierarchy of
needs model withonlyfivesteps gives thetheory adeceptive appearance ofsimplic -
ity.Afullunderstanding ofMaslow’s totaltheory, however, suggests afarmore com-
plexmodel. Overall, thetheory ismoderately parsimonious.Final PDF to printer