Radwa ashour biography of abraham maslow

This paper explores two autobiographies/memoirs

Posted September 4, Positive psychology is in vogue these days--just look at how many books have " happiness " in the title. Studies on topics like resilience , well-being, and gratitude have made their way from academic journals to mainstream magazines. More than colleges and universities in the USA offer courses in the field. This burgeoning interest represents a huge shift in psychology.

For decades, the emphasis in both theory and practice has been on dysfunction, pathology, and repairing emotional damage. Then, in , University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman used his position as president of the American Psychological Association to promote the scientific study of happiness, and later, of flourishing.

Though Seligman is credited with coining the term positive psychology, the idea of focusing not on what's wrong with us, but what's right with us, originated with another noted psychologist 40 years earlier: Abraham Maslow. He was known for his groundbreaking studies on personality and motivation , and his concepts like self-actualization, peak-experience, and synergy have become part of our everyday language.

A brief look at his life and legacy might prove worthwhile. After floundering at two New York State colleges, he transferred to the Univerity of Wisconsin in There, he found his academic footing. Abe, as everyone called him, decided to major in psychology for what he saw as its practicality and social usefulness. He wanted a career that would "help change the world"--and never stopped believing that social science could accomplish this goal.

During the s, Maslow developed his influential hierarchy of inborn needs. As a professor at Brooklyn College, he sought to understand and explain all human motivation by integrating all existing approaches including Freudian , Adlerian, behaviorist , and cognitive-gestalt into one cohesive meta-theory.