You’ll recall that Maslow set out to study fully functioning people who
had grown past the discontent and restlessness that characterize the lowerorder
needs of the hierarchy. He found very few. People who fit his criteria
turned out to be mature in years as well as in the process of living. Each was
dedicated to a task or calling which would benefit others. Since they weren’t
people who need people, they were free to pursue a cause or vocation.
Most of us have trouble imagining ourselves on this transcendent plane,
so Maslow developed a device that would give the uninitiated a glimpse of
the self-actualized life. He asked people to describe the single most joyous,
happy, or blissful moment of their life. Perhaps you’d recount a religious
experience, a moment of sexual ecstasy, or a time when a piece of music took
you to the heights. This peak experience would provide a taste of the fulfillment
available to those who get beyond the deficiency needs.
Maslow’s vision of self-actualization as the highest human attainment
became a rallying point for Carl Rogers, Rollo May, Erich Fromm, and other
humanistic psychologists. If not the founder of the human potential movement,
Maslow certainly is a father figure to those who are part of the if-itfeels-
good-do-it tradition. It’s hard to imagine hordes of people lined up to
hug Leo Buscaglia had not Maslow paved the way.