"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" is a diagram etched in the minds of most business and social science majors and many practitioners. It is much like a mantra and has been widely accepted, though initially it was not empirically tested. In a Theory of Hunzan Motivation (Maslow, 1943) A. H. Maslow postulated that only needs not yet satisfied influence human behavior. The theory also predicted that w...

Self-discrepancy theory contends that well-being depends, in part, on the amount of overlap between one's actual and ideal selves. There is a variety of supportive evidence, but Rabbi Hyman Schachtel's (1954, The real enjoyment of living, New York, NY, Dutton) contention that "happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have" (p. 37) highlights that a distinction between two pot...

Developing learning experiences that facilitate self-actualization and creativity is among the most important goals of our society in preparation for the future. To facilitate deep understanding of a new concept, to facilitate learning, learners must have the opportunity to develop multiple and flexible perspectives. The process of becoming an expert involves failure, as well as the ability to ...

I am not using idealism in the sense that is typically used in philosophy, as exemplified particularly by Berkeley — that is, the doctrine that mental states are primary, and events only exist if there is an observer perceiving them. As a junior in high school I ran (unsuccessfully) for a seat on the Student Council. Before the election, some of us candidates were horsing around, trying to come...

A major criticism of goals such as self-actualization is that they are too general, broad, and amorphous to be useful. The behaviorists, particularly, ask for operational definitions in terms of specific behaviors. This is a legitimate question. If a concept is significant and pertinent, it can, at least in principle or eventually, be reduced to specific, objective, or measurable variables. How...