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Humanistic Psychology

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Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic Psychology (HP) emerged in the 1950s–60s as the “third force” in psychology, a deliberate break from behaviorism’s mechanistic control model and psychoanalysis’s pathology fixation.

The field was institutionalized with the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (1961) and the American Association for Humanistic Psychology (1962). They forged a research program on self-actualization, B-Values (truth, goodness, beauty, justice, play, etc.), and "synergy," i.e., a social conditions that would fuse selfish and altruistic aims, thereby providing the foundations for what Maslow called the Good Society, what he also called Eupsychia (a.k.a. Zion (Rastafari), the "New Age" of Aquarius (New Age), Heaven on Earth (Christian), Shambhala (Tibetan), or, most recently, the Good Place).[1]

Philosophically, it revived an Aristotelian essentialism;[2] humanity has an intrinsically good nature whose actualization (i.e., Self-Actualization, is the proper end of life, a doctrine that grounds HP's claim that frustration of various needs generates violence, while their gratification builds Eupsychia, a peaceful, psychologically healthy society.

Humanistic psychology was ultimately part of a scientific project designed to re-build civilization on an empirically grounded, dignity-affirming image of Homo sapiens at its most fully human. Its origin is inseparable from Abraham Maslow’s vision for a "Psychology of the Peace Table" and his post-Pearl Harbor vow to create said psychology—a science of human nature that could make war obsolete by fostering self-actualization[3] on a societal scale. At its core, the movement insists that humanity supersedes the sum of his parts[4] and lives with intentionality—creating values, not merely seeking homeostatic satisfaction.[5]

Humanistic Psychology was one of three peace-table psychologies (Three Pillars of Peace) Maslow was helping to build, the others being Transpersonal and Eupsychian psychologies.

Concept Map

Key Terms

Humanistic Psychology >

The Three Pillars the Peace

Notes

Maslow's Vision

Humanistic Psychology was meant to be revolution. Those that participated in the early days were clear on this. The goal was to create an entirely new foundation for scholarly activity, a new revolution in our understanding of humanity as deep and wide as that provided by the Copernican Revolution.[6] Maslow was a big part of that effort, maybe even an initiating factor. His whole research program beyond 1941 was devoted to bringing about a revolution. We know this because of Maslow's 1941 vision for a Psychology of the Peace Table![7] Experienced the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, it changed the course of Maslow's life and drove him to create Humanistic Psychology and Transpersonal Psychology, both of which I would argue formed the theoretical foundations (humanistic view of Human Nature,[8] Transpersonal view of Human Potential, for a Eupsychian Psychology devoted to creating the Good Person and the Good Society.[9] A textual representation of his vision is reproduced below.

One day just after Pearl Harbor, I was driving home and my car was stopped by a poor, pathetic parade. Boy Scouts and fat people and old uniforms and a flag and someone playing a flute off-key. As I watched, the tears began to run down my face. I felt we didn’t understand—not Hitler, nor the Germans, nor Stalin, nor the Communists. We didn’t understand any of them. I felt that if we could understand, then we could make progress

I had a vision of a peace table, with people sitting around it, talking about human nature and hatred and war and peace and brotherhood. I was too old to go into the army. It was at that moment that I realized that the rest of my life must be devoted to discovering a psychology for the peace table. That moment changed my whole life.[10]

Twelve Axioms of Humanistic Psychology

In the book "Future Visions,"[11] in Chapter 3, "Critique of Self-Actualization Theory," Maslow identifies twelve axiomatic statement of Humanistic Psychology.

1. The Assumption of Life-Affirmation - The entire model rests on the belief that the person fundamentally wants to live. If an individual's death-wishes are strong, the whole psychological system collapses. Humanistic psychology speaks only to those who want to grow, become happier, and fulfill themselves.

2. The Assumption of a "definite human essence" or at least "some fixity of human nature." Maslow puts this essence down to the instincts, capacities, and needs (actuated in drives) that "want" to express themselves.

3. The Assumption of Pluralism and Individual Differences - The theory requires a strong acceptance of hereditary, constitutional, and temperamental differences among people. This implies a "horticulture" rather than "sculpture" model of growth—helping a rose become a good rose rather than trying to change it into a lily. It necessitates respecting what people truly are and taking pleasure in their unique self-actualization.

4. The Assumption of Cross-Cultural Values - The model must address whether it has merely incorporated traditional Judeo-Christian values in evaluating emotional health. Maslow argued his model appears cross-cultural and cross-historical (evident in diverse cultures like Japanese and Blackfoot Native American), but acknowledged the possibility of sampling error and projecting his own values into his research.

5. The Assumption About Neurosis - The humanistic model assumes that neurosis is a "psychological defense and not basic to human nature. Furthermore, [that] neurosis must be viewed as a defense against the authentic self,[12] our deeper layers, full humanness, growth, and self-actualization.[13]

6. The Assumption of Choice

Humanistic psychology doesn't force people to do things they don't want to do, that they are not in alignment with. Maslow was confident in offering people a real choice because he had faith that when given a choice, people will "prefer the Being-Values over neurotic value" and will naturally "move towards self-actualization." [14] As he said, "In short, humanistic psychology involves an acceptance of people as they are at their intrinsic core and then regards therapists as simply Taoist helpers for them. We strive to enable people to become healthy and effective in their own style."[15] "

7. The need research

8. the importance of Intuition -

not as a final arbiter of truth but as a source of thought, an inspiration to research, an invitation to empirical verification.[15]

9. The reality of human diminishment

10. The appropriate way to help others

11.

12. Grounded in the collective.

"self"-actualization, personal slavation, not enough. "The good of other people must be invoked, as well as the good for onesenself..." must be linked together. shown to be "synergic," to move together. "in any case, it is quite clear that a purely intrapsychic, individualistic psychology, without reference to other people and social conditions,is not adequate."[16]


The Horticulture Model: "Maslow also spoke about the "horticulture" model of personality growth. "It means that we try to make a rose into a good rose, rather than seek to change roses into lilies."[17] Of course, we make a good rose by meeting its essential needs (water, nutrients, safety).

Maslow's Revolution

Ultimately, the revolution failed, but not because of internal problems, but because it was murdered.[18] It was murdered because it was a threat to the status quo in America and elsewhere. Proponents were talking about revolutionary new ways of seeing humans with revolutionary new potentials to unfold.

promised to heal and awaken, and because it was a credible threat to the

Accumulating Class.

Maslow's Vision

Maslow's

Quotes

Abraham Maslow Index

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ Which, in a "funny Hollywood twist haha," was really just a poorly implemented bad place.
  2. ↑ Robb, “The Hidden Philosophical Agenda: A Commentary on Humanistic Psychology.”
  3. ↑ Sosteric, Mike. “Abraham Maslow’s Vision for a Psychology of the Peace Table.” The Peace Table, 2025. https://medium.com/the-peace-table.
  4. ↑ Bugental, J. F. “The Third Force in Psychology." Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 4, no. 1 (1964): 19–26.
  5. ↑ Charlotte Buhler, “The Scope of Humanistic Psychology.,” Education 95, no. 1 (January 1, 1974): 2–8.
  6. ↑ Willis W. Harman, “The New Copernican Revolution,” Stanford Today Winter Series II, no. 1 (1969): 127–34.
  7. ↑ Sosteric, Mike. “Abraham Maslow’s Vision for a Psychology of the Peace Table.” The Peace Table, 2025. https://medium.com/the-peace-table.
  8. ↑ Maslow, Abraham H. “Science, Psychology, and the Existential Outlook.” In Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow, edited by Edward Hoffman, 115–19. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.
  9. ↑ Maslow, Abraham H. “Eupsychia—The Good Society.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 1, no. 2 (1961): 1.
  10. ↑ Edward Hoffman, The Right to Be Human: A Biography of Abraham Maslow (New York: McGraw Hill, 1999), p. 148-9.
  11. ↑ Maslow, A. H. (1996). Critique of Self-Actualization Theory. In E. Hoffman (Ed.), Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow (pp. 26-32). Sage Publications.
  12. ↑ This is a very interesting statement. Neurosis is a defense against the self.
  13. ↑ Maslow, A. H. (1996). Critique of Self-Actualization Theory. In E. Hoffman (Ed.), Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow (pp. 26-32). p. 28. Sage Publications. Emphasis added.
  14. ↑ Maslow, A. H. (1996). Critique of Self-Actualization Theory. In E. Hoffman (Ed.), Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow (pp. 26-32). p. 29. Sage Publications. Emphasis added.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Maslow, A. H. (1996). Critique of Self-Actualization Theory. In E. Hoffman (Ed.), Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow (pp. 26-32). p. 28. Sage Publications.
  16. ↑ Maslow, A. H. (1996). Critique of Self-Actualization Theory. In E. Hoffman (Ed.), Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow (pp. 26-32). p. 32. Sage Publications.
  17. ↑ Hoffman, Edward, ed. Future Visions. Sage Publications, 1996. (pp. 26-32). p. 27.
  18. ↑ David Elkins, “Why Humanistic Psychology Lost Its Power and Influence in American Psychology,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 49, no. 1 (2009): 267–91.




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