Conclusion

In conclusion, a pioneer of humanistic psychology in the 20th century, Maslow remains influential and controversial. Humanistic and integral philosophers praise Maslow for being the father of third-force and fourth-force psychology. Maslow's dynamic-holistic needs theory provides an intuitive framework for understanding the dynamic and flexible nature of human motivation and needs, helps marketers match product strategies to customer needs, helps organizations meet employee needs with individualized benefits programs, and is the foundation for more extensive motivation theories.

Contributions aside, contextualists and academics tend to deride or ignore Maslow for his unyielding optimism in the human being; however, they seem to base most of their criticisms on branding Maslow's theories too rigid to reflect reality, resulting in criticism and censure of Maslow's ideas in both science and academia.

Discarding seemingly fallacious interpretations like the ubiquitous pyramid and restoring Maslow's fully evolved theory may provide a more accurate perspective of Maslow's vision—and a more accurate picture of human development and consciousness. This re-emergence is occurring outside of academia and science as Maslow's ideas continue to serve as the foundation of Third Force and Fourth Force psychology. However, this reemergence adds a mystical dimension to the accepted version of Maslow's theory that may prove challenging for academic and business applications.

This paper was published in the August/September 2008 issue of "Association of Humanist Psychology Perspective" and is posted here with the publisher's and author's permission. For usage rights, please contact the author through the "contact form>".