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For years, the Maslow's hierarchy of needs we know has been five levels, but in reality, it is not entirely so; there is another level hidden within—spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is a process with two parallel tasks: one is discovering selflessness, and the other is developing a healthy sense of self, exploring the meaning of the true self. As Li Ka-shing said, "Building the self can make personal dreams come true; pursuing selflessness can make greater ideals come true." Spiritual growth, which belongs to the needs of the soul, may be the true transcendence.
Maslow's Early Hierarchy of Needs Anyone with even a slight exposure to management or psychology knows Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Many can quickly list the five levels: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
This diagram is indeed the widely popular hierarchy of needs. In 1954, Maslow, a pillar of humanistic psychology, published his influential work "Motivation and Personality," which proposed the five-level theory.
The hierarchy of needs is an important theory for explaining personality and motivation. It posits that the intrinsic driving force for individual growth is motivation, which is composed of various levels and types of needs. These needs have a hierarchy and order, and the degree to which each level is satisfied determines the individual's level of personality development.
He first distinguished between deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four are deficiency needs, which arise from actual or perceived deficiencies in the environment or self. Individuals strive to find things in the environment that satisfy their needs, whether material, interpersonal, or social status. The satisfaction of these needs depends entirely on the external world. The fifth, self-actualization, is a growth need; growth is the process leading to self-actualization. Growth motivation is motivated by the tendency toward self-actualization.
Management scholar McGregor, based on Maslow's early five-level theory, divided management theories into Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X is an authoritarian management theory that assumes people work driven by physiological and safety needs; work is merely a means to satisfy lower-level needs. People inherently dislike work, so managers must direct, control, coerce, or even punish workers. McGregor opposed this theory and proposed Theory Y, which is based on Maslow's needs for belonging and love, esteem, and self-actualization.
Sadly, the terminology of humanistic psychology has become popular catchphrases, such as self-esteem, self-worth, self-affirmation, self-improvement, and self-actualization. These terms are not inherently wrong, but excessive use has led many to regard themselves as more important than anything else, resulting in unhealthy egocentrism, leading people astray. Self-love becomes selfishness, freedom becomes irresponsibility, self-affirmation becomes disregard for others, and self-acceptance becomes self-indulgence... "Live your true self" is a meaningful phrase, but if misused by alcoholics, sex addicts, or aggressive individuals, it can cause great harm.
Theory Z: Beyond the Self After 1959, Maslow increasingly incorporated Eastern perspectives. His study of Eastern culture prompted him to reflect on his own view of human nature. Combined with his in-depth research on the spiritual life and behavior of self-actualized individuals, he discovered an inherent spiritual dimension in human nature: spiritual self-actualization or transcendent self-actualization as the highest need level. Thus, Maslow regarded humanistic psychology as a transitional stage in psychology's development, to be replaced by a higher-stage psychology. He began to call this new psychology "trans-humanistic psychology."
Maslow felt that the five-level hierarchy was incomplete; self-actualization could not be the ultimate goal. He increasingly realized that overemphasizing self-actualization could lead to unhealthy individualism and even self-centeredness. He said, "Without the transcendent level, we become sick... We need something 'bigger than ourselves'... People need to transcend self-actualization; people need to transcend the self."
Fifteen years later, shortly before his death, Maslow published an important article, "Theory Z," in which he re-evaluated his needs theory, added a sixth level, and summarized it into three sub-theories: Theory X, Theory Y, and Theory Z, forming the following system:
Maslow said, "Transpersonal psychology is centered on the cosmos, not just human needs or interests; it transcends concepts of humanity, self, and self-actualization... This new trend may provide a concrete, useful, and effective answer to the increasingly disillusioned people, especially the younger generation of 'frustrated idealists'... Without the transcendent and transpersonal level, we become sick, violent, empty, hopeless, or indifferent. We need something 'bigger than ourselves' to inspire awe and to dedicate ourselves in a naturalistic, empirical, and non-church-related way."
Maslow used various terms to describe the new highest need: transpersonal, transcendent, spiritual, transhuman, beyond self, mystical, spiritual, trans-humanistic (no longer human-centered but cosmos-centered), unity of heaven and man, etc. He placed "peak experiences" and "plateau experiences" at this level.
Maslow found that transcendent individuals exist not only among religious figures, poets, intellectuals, and musicians but also among entrepreneurs, business leaders, managers, educators, and politicians. He interviewed and observed thirty to forty people in detail and had general conversations and studies with another one to two hundred.
In his later years, Maslow recognized that "self-actualization" in his needs theory could not be the ultimate goal and made modifications. However, focusing only on his early theory inevitably leads to a blind understanding of human nature, fostering pride while devaluing true human worth, and also leads to misunderstandings about self-transcendence.
Unfortunately, our psychology and management textbooks present only Maslow's early hierarchy (Theory X and Theory Y), completely ignoring his later revisions, causing the entire new generation to memorize outdated hierarchies.
The Significance of the Sixth Need Level Maslow initially admired McGregor's theory, but as his thoughts on transcendent self-actualization developed, he felt its inadequacy and proposed Theory Z. Theory Z, based on Theories X and Y, emphasizes transcendent needs. Management based on this need must consider the motivating effect of transpersonal values, existential values, or cosmic values, assuming that people have the need to dedicate themselves to goals larger than themselves and the spirit of self-sacrifice.
In business management, management at the Theory X level is power-oriented; employees do assigned work for wages. At the Theory Y level, management is mutually respectful; employees have the right to participate as fully as possible in organizational management, and authority is assumed to exist within each individual. At the Theory Z level, management assumes that all employees are dedicated to service; the purpose of business is to serve customers or consumers as much as possible, and authority is assumed to be transcendent and ethically evident to each individual. We can see successful implementations of Theory Z in many excellent service companies (such as Ritz-Carlton).
Western psychology emphasizes positive elements, including the exploration and energy invested in self-knowledge. Unfortunately, the Western world lacks awareness of complementary elements (concentration and tranquility). Without cultivating concentration and tranquility, the power of the mind is limited, and the breadth of understanding is confined to a smaller scope.
Conversely, Eastern traditions overemphasize concentration and tranquility, often causing difficulties. These elements can produce wonderful ecstatic experiences, mental peace, and trance-like meditative states, but without the balancing power of exploration and active observation of the truth of things, they cannot lead to deeper self-knowledge and the freedom of enlightenment.
Maslow believed that deliberately seeking peak experiences is futile. The spiritual life of self-transcendent individuals is not composed of an endless series of intense, highly exciting peak experiences. Although the transcendent life includes occasional peak experiences, it is more composed of the sacredness in daily life. The sacred peace and tranquility experienced in daily life, Maslow called "plateau experiences," to distinguish them from peak experiences. Plateau experiences also occupy an important place in the lives of self-actualized individuals.
Li Ka-shing, the richest man and a Buddhist, said his epitaph is: "Build the self, pursue selflessness." Look at the successful Li Ka-shing; he still stands at the elevator entrance to greet younger visitors and works ten hours a day, early and late. This shows he truly knows how to maintain a natural balance between preserving the self and pursuing selflessness: confident without arrogance, humble with persistence.
As Li Ka-shing said, "Building the self can make personal dreams come true; pursuing selflessness can make greater ideals come true." Spiritual growth has two parallel tasks: one is discovering selflessness, and the other is developing a healthy sense of self, exploring the meaning of the true self. On the surface, these two seem contradictory, but both must be achieved for us to have the opportunity to awaken.