Metamotivation is a term coined by
Abraham Maslow to describe the motivation of people who are
self-actualized and striving beyond the scope of their basic needs to reach their full potential. Maslow suggested that people are initially motivated by a series of basic needs, called the
hierarchy of needs. Maslow states, "Self-actualizing people are gratified in all their basic needs (of belongingness, affection, respect, and
self-esteem)". Once a person has successfully navigated the
hierarchy of needs thus satisfying all their basic needs, Maslow proposed they then travel "a path called growth motivation".
Maslow believed that a distinction must be made between the motives of those who operate at or below the level of
self-actualization
Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled.
Self-actualization was coined by the organis ...
(ones still striving for their basic needs, or ones who have met their basic needs but still live without purpose), and those who are self-actualized who are also with significant purpose, as their motivations differ significantly. Deficiency needs (
drives or D-needs) motivate people to satisfy physiological needs such as hunger, sex, love, whereas being needs (B-needs) propel a person beyond
self-actualization
Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled.
Self-actualization was coined by the organis ...
and drive them to fulfill their inherent ultimate potential.
In Maslow's view
Maslow had an optimistic and humanistic view of humanity. He regarded people's innate drive towards self-actualization beneficial to society as a whole.
[Zastrow, C, and Kirst-Ashman, K. Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment. 9th Edition. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2010. Pg 448.] In Maslow's view, once people's basic needs were met, they were free to explore their abilities and strive to further develop those innate abilities.
Driven by Metamotivation, people are more spontaneous, free to be themselves, and explore their ultimate potential to create a fulfilled life.
Not all people that satisfy their basic needs automatically become driven by B-needs. In his landmark book, ''Farther Reaches of Human Nature'', Maslow stated that people who are self-actualizing and driven by metamotivation "are dedicated people, devoted to some task 'outside themselves,' some vocation, or duty, or beloved job". Maslow goes on to say that such a calling could be construed as a destiny or fate and that such people are particularly talented in their field and could be called naturals.
Metaneeds and metapathology
Metamotivation is what motivates and impels an individual toward
self-actualization
Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled.
Self-actualization was coined by the organis ...
and excellence. Metamotivation is distinct from motivation operating in the lower level needs, and it emerges after the lower needs are satisfied. These lower motivations, which Maslow calls "deficiency motivations" or D-Motivations, are described as the type of motivation that operates on the lower four levels of
his hierarchy of needs. These deficiency motivations are drives that arise when a physiological or psychological deficit is perceived, leading toward actions to alleviate tension and restore equilibrium.
Maslow describes a metaneed as any need for knowledge, beauty, or creativity. Metaneeds are involved in
self-actualization
Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled.
Self-actualization was coined by the organis ...
and constitute the highest level of needs, coming into play primarily after the lower level needs have been met. In Maslow's hierarchy, metaneeds are associated with impulses for self-actualization.
[Coon, D. Introduction of Psychology. Wadsworth, 2004. Pg. 451.]
Maslow's list of Metaneeds:
# Wholeness (unity)
# Perfection (balance and harmony)
# Completion (ending)
# Justice (fairness)
# Richness (complexity)
# Simplicity (essence)
# Liveliness (spontaneity)
# Beauty (rightness of form)
# Goodness (benevolence)
# Uniqueness (individuality)
# Playfulness (ease)
# Truth (reality)
# Autonomy (self-sufficiency)
# Meaningfulness (values)
Metapathology is the thwarting of self-development related to failure to satisfy the metaneeds. Metapathology prevents self-actualizers from expressing, using and fulfilling their potential.
[Schultz, D, and Schultz, S. Theories of Personality, 9th. New York, NY; Wadsworth, 2009. Pg. 309.] Reasons people may not become self-actualized include: poor childhoods, lower economic conditions, inadequate education, anxieties and fears, and the
Jonah complex
The Jonah complex is the fear of success or the fear of being one's best. This fear prevents self-actualization, or the realization of one's own potential. It is the fear of one's own greatness, the evasion of one's destiny, or the avoidance of exe ...
.
See also
*
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler ( , ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, family constellation and birth orde ...
*
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. Rogers is widely considered one of the founding fathers of ps ...
*
Henry Murray
Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American psychologist at Harvard University, where from 1959 to 1962 he conducted a series of psychologically damaging and purposefully abusive experiments on minors and under ...
*
Human Potential Movement
The Human Potential Movement (HPM) arose out of the counterculture of the 1960s and formed around the concept of an extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people. The movement takes as its premise the be ...
*
Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that arose in the mid-20th century in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow established the need for a "third force ...
*
Law of the instrument
The law of the instrument, law of the hammer, Maslow's hammer (or gavel), or golden hammer is a cognitive bias that involves an over-reliance on a familiar tool. Abraham Maslow wrote in 1966, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting ...
*
Peak experiences
A peak experience is an altered state of consciousness characterized by euphoria, often achieved by self-actualizing individuals. The concept was originally developed by Abraham Maslow in 1964, who describes peak experiences as "rare, exciting, oc ...
*
Positive disintegration
*
Self-actualization
Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled.
Self-actualization was coined by the organis ...
*
Self-esteem
*
Viktor Frankl
Viktor Emil Frankl (26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997)
was an Austrian psychiatrist who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force. Logotherapy is pa ...
References
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Further reading
* Goble, F. The Third Force: The Psychology of Abraham Maslow. Richmond, Ca: Maurice Bassett Publishing, 1970
* Maslow, A. Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
* Maslow, A. H. & Stephens, D. C. The Maslow Business Reader. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
History of mental health
Human Potential Movement