Maslow’s Theory on self-Actualization is being able to fully utilize your Talents and in-born gifts to maximize your full potential in life. Maslow believed in order to do so you first had to fulfill four lower levels in life in order to reach Self-Actualization. Moreover, there are characteristics of self-actualizing people that will show reflect who and what a self actualizing person is. Characteristics of Self Actualization Person: Realistic: Realistically oriented, self actualization person have a more efficient perception of reality, they have comfortable relations with it.
This is extending to all areas of life. self-actualized people are unthreatened, scared by the unknown, they have a superior ability to reason to see the truth. They are also logical and efficient. Acceptance: Accept themselves, others and the natural world the way they are. Sees human nature as is, have a lack of crippling guilt or shame, enjoy themselves without regret or apology, they have no unnecessary inhibitions. Spontaneity: Another characteristic of self-actualized people is a tendency to be open unconventional and spontaneous.
While these people are able to follow generally accepted social expectations, they do not feel confined by these norms in their thoughts or behaviors. Autonomy: The self-actualized individual does not conform to other people’s ideas of happiness or contentment. This original perspective allows the individual to live in the moment and appreciate the beauty of each experience. The first person that comes to mind who had truly reached Self-Actualization is Malcolm X.
Born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska the four child out of twelve children to Louise Little who was a home maker and to Earl Little who was an outspoken Baptist Preacher. It seems as if Malcolm X had become aware of his self-actualization early on in life. While in prison for burglary Malcolm X became a member of the Nation of Islam. Apond his release in 1952 Malcolm X quickly became one of the most prominent member/leader/spokesman of the Nation of Islam. He was known for his realistic view on life and his spontaneity with his words.
Malcolm X was such a self-actualization person that in 1964 Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and drifted from the primarily spiritual philosophy of the Nation of Islam to a more political black nationalism and tentatively, to a more internationalist philosophy, Pan Africanism. Malcolm X was murdered on February 21, 1965. Peter Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, 2d ed. , 1979. Michael Eric Dyson, Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, 1995. Harold Bloom, ed. , Alex Haley & Malcolm X’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1999 www. about. com: psychology
