born April 1, 1908, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died June 8, 1970, Menlo Park, Calif.
U.S. psychologist.
He taught at Brooklyn College (193751) and Brandeis University (195169). A practitioner of humanistic psychology , he is known for his theory of "self-actualization." In Motivation and Personality (1954) and Toward a Psychology of Being (1962), Maslow argued that each person has a hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied, ranging from basic physiological requirements to love, esteem, and, finally, self-actualization. As each need is satisfied, the next higher level in the emotional hierarchy dominates conscious functioning.