The Self-Actualized Media Mind Essay -- Essays Papers

The Self-Actualized Media Mind "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write,if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.This is the need we may call self-actualization ... It refers to man'sdesire for fulfillment, namely the tendency for him to become actually what he is potentially: to become everything that oneis capable of becoming ..." -Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow, the famous humanist psychologist, believed in the theory of self-actualization. He was convinced that humans are capable of achieving high levels of intellectual and emotional existence, and he believed in human potential. In his definition and discussions of self-actualization, Maslow made it clear what characteristics and traits self-actualized individuals possess. However, he failed to provide much commentary about how the environment and activities of an individual might affect that person and their progress toward self-actualization. Maslow's basic attitude towards social influence was fundamentally negative. Generally he believed that the social environment inhibits rather than facilitates self-actualization by frustrating the lower needs, encouraging defensiveness, or masking the real self with an idealized false self. However, Maslow never went further than to express an opinion on the subject, and left no sound research to support his thoughts. In response to this, questions arise such as whether or not individuals are born with a natural pre-disposition for self-actualization traits. To what extent does the environment (such as parenting, education, and living conditions) have to do with a person’s potential for reaching this highest level of psychological being? Is there a way to consider wheth... ...ipod.com/thesis/html. Huesmann, L., Moise-Titus, J., Podolski, C., & Eron, L. (2003). Longitudinal Relations Between Children’s Exposure to TV Violence and Their Aggressive and Violent Behavior in Young Adulthood: 1977 – 1992. Developmental Psychology, 39, 201-221. Kasser, T. (2002). The High Price of Materialism. Cambridge: The MIT Press Kassow, D. (2002). Developmental patterns of young girls’ body image and their relationships to television viewing. (Doctoral disseratiation. State University of New York at Albany, 2002) UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations AAT 3053055. Kleiber, D. (1999). A Dialectical Interpretation: Leisure & Experience and Human Experience. York: Basic Books. Maslow, A.H. (1943). Preface to motivation theory. Psychosomatic Medicine, 5, 85-92. Maslow, A. (1971). The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York: The Viking Press.