The Optimistic Side of Human Nature: An introduction to Humanistic Psychology

"Inner nature, as much as we know of it so far, seems not to be intrinsically evil, but rather either neutral or positively 'good'. What we call evil behavior appears most often to be a secondary reaction to frustration of this intrinsic nature."

So wrote Abraham H Maslow in his seminal 1962 book, Toward a Psychology of Being, in which he attempts to espouse what he referred to as the 'Third Psychology' -- a health and growth psychology; which was his response to the rigid behavioristic theories and narrow emphases of Freudian psychodynamic theories. Maslow's psychology was Humanistic, and we have him to thank for the more people-friendly approach to the study of human behavior that we call psychology today.

He studied the healthy, as well as the unhealthy individual, the well adjusted, as well as the neurotic, the good, as well as the bad, and concluded that in every single person there is an intrinsic nature, an 'inner self'. This nature is unique to every individual, but also connects us as a species. This inner nature is more likely neutral, or good, than intrinsically evil. There was (and is) nothing to suggest that human's inner nature is evil. The basic needs of an individual for life, safety, security, belongingness, acceptance and affection, respect, self-actualization, self-realization, and autonomy are either good or neutral. Individuals' basic emotions and human capacities are also good or neutral. Anger, fear, and ignorance are not in themselves evil, although they have the capacity to lead to evil acts. Only when the attainment of ones primary needs are frustrated or delayed do 'evil' acts arise.

The existential anti-hero.

Looking at it from an existentialist point of view, the realization of the humanistic inner nature is often manifested as 'The Outsider' in existential literature. Instead of viewing the general public as the healthy ones, it is this 'outsider' who truly sees, truly feels, and is truly healthy. It seems the outsider is the one who has grasped his inner nature and is unaffected by social or environmental concerns (or with other people at all). The general public suffers from a 'psychopathology of the average'; so undramatic and wide spread that we don't notice it. Although, a great many of the existential classics that feature this anti-hero are dark and dreary, focusing on the dread and anguish inherent in life, instead of taking a more holistic approach and describing the wonder, the beauty, and the richness of everyday life as well.

In essence, once ones basic needs have been satisfied (say for love, safety, acceptance, and respect), one is free to explore the higher needs.  These are the needs related to the growth of the individual, and for a realization of ones capacities and talents. This is what Maslow called the 'Hierarchy of Needs'. It's similar in structure to Freud's better known stages of psychosexual development. What Maslow proposed was a series of stages of needs, wherein once a basic need is fulfilled or gratified, one can progress to the next level and higher need (see image below).

The lowest needs that require gratification are physiological and are synonymous with every person within our species. Once the needs related to physiological survival are satisfied, one searches for gratification of safety and security needs, then love and belongingness, and so on until, presumably, the highest level of gratification is reached: a realization of the inner nature self-actualization. This is the stage in which one strives to realize one's fullest potential and talents. It is also a stage with no end; the highest capacities are never fully realized, but that doesn't matter. Gratification is inherent in the pursuit.

Another shift occurs while in pursuit higher needs: the orientation of one's needs. From a needs-deficiency perspective, the first few levels are akin to voids that one is filling. If one is without water, food, or shelter, one goes in search of it. When the need is fulfilled, the search ends; therefore, the motivation to fulfill the need only exists to quench the need, the motivation has a built-in death instinct. Its only purpose is to do away with itself. Once the need is fulfilled, the motivation no longer exists. The shift that occurs is from this orientation of needs-deficiency to a more growth-dominated stance wherein the motivation is constant. Approaching self-actualization doesn't quench any desire, it reinforces the desire to learn, to grow, to become. That is the fundamental change that is required for any type of actualization to occur and to continue to occur. Gratification must be inherent in the pursuit.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

There's a distinction between a needs-deficiency perspective, eliminating illness or psychopathy, and a growth-dominated stance leading to health. Where needs-deficiency thinking may lead to a homeostasis, a return to equilibrium, a growth-dominated outlook would lead beyond this stasis to a healthier, fuller existence. There's also a distinction between the types of pleasure gained from these perspectives, from a 'relief' type of pleasure with needs-deficiency motivation, to a more holistic pleasure of production, growth from insight and an increased drive for enlightenment. From a 'relief' type of pleasure comes an attainable and temporary state of being; from an enlightenment type of pleasure comes a striving, the pleasure is in the journey, the means is the end. There is no distinction between the means and the end; the attainment of knowledge is it's own reward.

There exists a shift from species-wide goals (basic needs) to idiosyncratic goals (higher pursuits) as one progresses through these stages as well. As a species we share the same basic needs: food, shelter, love, acceptance, but from there, our idiosyncratic nature of independence will lead us to a fuller understanding of what needs require satisfaction or attainment, be they creative processes, knowledge attainment, or growth insight.

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