fei75766_ch09_271-308.indd 273  02/06/20 12:09 PM
Chapter 9    Maslow: Holistic-Dynamic Theory273
College professors andstudents havelongrecognized thatsome intellectually “aver -
age”students areabletomake good grades, whereas some intellectually superior 
students make onlyaverage grades, andsome bright students actually flunk outof
school. What factors account forthissituation? Motivation isonelikely suspect. Per-
sonal health, death intheimmediate family, andtoomany jobsareother possibilities.
Some years ago,abrilliant young college student wasstruggling through his
third school. Although heperformed reasonably wellincourses thataroused hisinter-
est,hiswork wassopoorinother classes thathewasplaced onacademic probation. 
Later, thisyoung mantookanIQtestonwhich hescored 195,ascore sohighthatit
canbeachieved byonlyabout oneperson inseveral million. Therefore, lackofintel-
lectual ability wasnotthereason forthisyoung man’s lackluster college performance.
Likesome other young men, thisstudent wasdeeply inlove,acondition that
made itdifficult toconcentrate onschool work. Being hopelessly shy,theyoung man
could notmuster thecourage toapproach hisbeloved inanyromantic fashion. Inter -
estingly, theyoung woman whowastheobject ofhisaffections wasalsohisfirst
cousin. Thissituation allowed himtovisithiscousin onthepretext ofcalling onhis
aunt. Heloved hiscousin inadistant, bashful sortofway,having never touched her
norexpressed hisfeelings. Then, suddenly afortuitous event changed hislife.While 
visiting hisaunt, hiscousin’s older sister shoved theyoung mantoward hiscousin, 
virtually ordering himtokissher.Hedid,andtohissurprise ,hiscousin didnotfight
back. Shekissed him,andfrom thattimeon,hislifebecame meaningful.
Thebashful young maninthisstory wasAbraham Maslow, andhiscousin was
Bertha Goodman. After thefortuitous firstkiss,AbeandBertha werequickly mar-
ried,andthismarriage changed himfrom amediocre college student toabrilliant 
scholar whoeventually shaped thecourse ofhumanistic psychology intheUnited 
States. Thisstory should notbeseenasarecommendation formarrying one’s first
cousin, butitdoesillustrate howbrilliant people sometimes need onlyasmall shove 
toreach theirpotential.
Overview of Holistic-Dynamic Theory
Thepersonality theory ofAbraham Maslow hasvariously been called humanistic 
theory, transpersonal theory, thethird force inpsychology, thefourth force inperson -
ality, needs theory, andself-actualization theory. However, Maslow (1970) referred to
itasaholistic-dynamic theory because itassumes thatthewhole person isconstantly 
being motivated byoneneed oranother andthatpeople havethepotential togrow 
toward psychological health, thatis,self-actualization. Toattain self-actualization, peo-
plemust satisfy lower levelneeds suchashunger, safety, love,andesteem. Only after
theyarerelatively satisfied ineachofthese needs cantheyreach self-actualization.
Thetheories ofMaslow, Gordon Allport, CarlRogers, Rollo May, andoth-
ersaresometimes thought ofasthethird force inpsychology. (The firstforce was
psychoanalysis anditsmodifications; thesecond wasbehaviorism anditsvarious 
forms.) Likeother theorists, Maslow accepted some ofthetenets ofpsychoanaly -
sisandbehaviorism. Asagraduate student, hehadstudied Freud’s Interpretation 
of Dreams (Freud, 1900/1953) andbecame more interested inpsychoanalysis. In
addition, hisgraduate-level research withprimates wasgreatly influenced bythe
work ofJohn B.Watson (Watson, 1925). Inhismature theory, however, Maslow Final PDF to printer