CHAPTER 3STABILITY

What Is the Commitment to Stability?

In 1943, the behavioral psychologist Abraham Maslow published an article titled “A Theory of Human Motivation,” which introduced his now-famous theory that humans have a hierarchy of needs. The ideas began in his college and graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, where he assisted Professor Harry Harlow in research delving into the behaviors of monkeys. As Harlow and Maslow observed the babies, they noticed that certain needs took precedence over others: thirst over hunger and the need for comfort over the need to explore.

Maslow then applied the same realization to human beings. “A Theory of Human Motivation” asserted that “the appearance of one need usually rests on the prior satisfaction ...

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