Biography - Abraham Maslow

(1908 -1970)

"Remember Abraham Maslow, the humanistic psychologist from Psych 101?" Chances are, you will answer "Yes" to that question which was raised in the New York Times in an article discussing Maslow and his well-known "Hierarchy of Needs" ("Looking for Purpose in a Paycheck", June 21, 1998, Sect.4, p.1). The purpose of this brief guide is to direct you to some of the scholarship by and about Maslow, whose ideas have been revived along with the publication of Maslow on Management.

This new book is actually a reprint of a book published by Maslow in the 1960s and given the unfortunate title Eupsychian Management. The book was based on observations that Maslow made at the company Non-Linear Systems in California which he studied while on sabbatical from Brandeis. Although the book influenced some other management theorists, such as Peter Drucker and Peter Senge, it was apparently a little too advanced for the times (and perhaps even for our own) since it contained chapters such as "The Necessity for Enlightened Management Policies" and "On Low Grumbles, High Grumbles, and Metagrumbles". Interestingly enough, the introduction to the original edition and the new one written 37 years later were both done by Warren Bennis who gave the "Wettlaufer Lecture" here at Ivey a few years ago.
It is also interesting to note that, while the book was not successful, Maslow's management nostrums found at least one fan who typed the entire text of Eupsychian Management into an electronic bulletin board back in the late 1980s. Unfortunately for that fan, when a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, later wrote about the book - thereby stimulating interest in it - the heirs of Maslow went after the fan for copyright violations. For details about this episode see the interesting piece by Thomas Petzinger Jr.: "Copyright Imbroglio Entangles Work That Web Gave Away," WSJ, Oct.10, 1997. One can also read about it by going directly to the site that is still maintained by that fan.

Discover Maslow for yourself.


Books by Maslow in the UWOLS
(in reverse chronological order)

Selected Books About Maslow in the UWOLS
(alphabetically by author- note, the list is not exhaustive)

DeCarvalho, Roy Jose
The Growth Hypothesis in Psychology: The Humanistic Psychology of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
DBW BF204.D42 1991
Goble, Frank G.
The Third Force: the Psychology of Abraham Maslow
DBW BF 173.M353G6 1970
Hoffman, Edward
The Right to be Human: A Biography of Abraham Maslow
DBW BF 109.M33H63 1988
Huizinga, Gerard Harm.
Maslow's Need Hierarchy in the Work Situation
DBW BF 481.H84 1970
Lowry, Richard.
A.H. Maslow: An Intellectual Portrait
DBW BF 109.M33L68 1973.
Wilson, Colin.
New Pathways in Psychology: Maslow and the Post-Freudian Revolution
DBW BF 38.5.W53 1972.

Additional short pieces by and about Maslow are often found in books dealing with personality and management theories. Some examples: "Abraham H. Maslow", in Management Innovators:The People and Ideas that have Shaped Modern Business [electronic resource], by Daniel Wren (BUS HC 102.5.A2W73 1998, p.177); "Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs," in Management Theory: From Taylorism to Japanization by John Sheldrake (BUS HD 31.S442 1997) and "A Theory of Human Motivation, A. Maslow," in Management and Organizational Behavior Classsics, by John Ivancevich, (BUS HD 31.M2917 1993, 5th ed.)

For some recent comments about Maslow and the revised edition of Eupsychian Management see: "Hard Work and Common Sense" by Andrea Gabor, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 8, 1998; "Father Abraham Speaks", in Across the Board, Oct. 1998 and "The Enlightened Manager's Guidebook," Inc, Oct. 1998 (both of which are available in the Business Library). Additional articles can be easily located, particularly in the field of psychology. Ask a staff member for advice about the options available. See also the bibliographies in the works mentioned.