''Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences'' is a 1964 book about
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
by
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Harold Maslow ( ; April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actua ...
. Maslow addressed the motivational significance of peak experiences in a series of lectures in the early 1960s, and later published these ideas in book form.
Overview
In contrast with the preoccupation of Freudian psychopathology, Maslow insisted on a "psychology of the higher life" which was to attend to the question "of what the human being should grow toward." In his work, Maslow described the experience of one's life as meaningful as being based on a feeling of fulfillment and significance.
Maslow's theory of "peak-experiences" has been compared to
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...
' "healthy-minded" religion. Maslow hypothesized a negative relationship between adherence to conventional religious beliefs and the ability to experience peak moments.
In ''Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences'', Maslow stated that the peak experience is "felt as a self- validating, self-justifying moment which carries its own intrinsic value with it." Furthermore, the person is the "creative center of his (or her) own activities."
[Yeagle, Ellen H., Gayle Privette, and Frances Y. Dunham. "HIGHEST HAPPINESS: AN ANALYSIS OF ARTISTS'PEAK EXPERIENCE." ''Psychological Reports'' 65, no. 2 (1989): 523-530.]
See also
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Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a conceptualisation of the needs (or goals) that motivate human behaviour, which was proposed by the American psychologist Abraham Maslow. According to Maslow's original formulation, there are five sets of basic n ...
*
Peak experience
A peak experience is an altered state of consciousness characterized by euphoria, often achieved by self-actualizing individuals. The concept was originally developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow in mid-1940s and term was coined by him in 1956 ...
References
1964 non-fiction books
Books by Abraham Maslow
Psychology books
Books critical of religion
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