Human Development
Self-actualization
Description:
Self-actualization is the basic tendency of individuals to persist in attempting to develop and manifest their latent potentialities - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Rather than being a seeker of homeostatic equilibrium and tension reduction, man is seen as restlessly and creatively evolving higher levels of being within himself, with the material world, with people close to him, and with the human race. A self-actualizing person is characterized by the following:[Capacity for acceptance]. This acceptance extends beyond himself, to others and to the world as a whole. The wide-ranging acceptance of the world is possible because he has accepted himself with all his known limitations.
[Efficient perception of reality]. His essential acceptance enables him to see reality more clearly and have more comfortable relations with it. He sees human nature as it is and not as he would want it to be. He negates the distortion implicit in immediate sensory responses to the world and in the exaggerated inferences derived from such immediate responses.
[Spontaneity]. He is simple, direct and spontaneous in his responses in most situations he encounters, without the need to engage in tortuous rationalizations. He grows through his mistakes but without anxiety and an oppressive awareness of the opinions of others, or the need for token gestures that restrict meaningful involvement.
[Transcendence of self-concern]. He centers his attention on non-personal issues and problems that cannot be grasped at the level of egoistic encounters, giving himself the opportunity to extend his mental horizon and recreate his image of the world. Through his concern with wider needs in interpersonal relations and society, he can move freely between larger and more limited perspectives, thereby attaining a clearer perception of what is essential.
[Detachment]. He places his valuation of being human in a fundamental ground of being that goes beyond the levels at which he interacts with others. His friendships and attachments to family are not of the clinging, intrusive, possessive variety, cringingly dependent on the need to interact with others to the point of psychic exhaustion. He appreciates the need for self-examination and knows that in order to meet this need he requires solitude, privacy and quiet reflection. He is thus able to stand back and view his activities free of ego-centricism.
[Independence of culture and environment]. He gives existential authenticity to the abstract notion of individual autonomy as an agent, a knower and an actor in society. He has a sharp sense of his own individuality and of the boundaries of himself.
[Transcendence of environment]. The sense of inner space enables him to recognize more alternatives than appear on the surface and to feel himself capable of choosing meaningfully among them. This awareness takes the form of a freshness that he brings to bear on his appreciation of persons and situations and of particular moments. This freshness is accompanied by a sense of self-expansion and peak experiences, in which he is immersed in the vastness and richness of the world.
[Social feeling and compassion]. He has a basic ability to relate to many different types of people, to identify with their problem situation and be affectionately supportive.
[Deep but selective social relationships]. He is capable of unusually close personal attachments whilst handling less deep relationships, outside his chosen network, smoothly and with little friction.
[Tolerance and respect]. He demonstrates respect for any human being as an individual and irrespective of any special grouping to which he may belong.
[Ethical certainty]. He is unlikely to confuse means with ends or be unsure about what is right or wrong in daily living.
[Unhostile sense of humour]. He tends to exhibit thoughtful, philosophical humour, which is intrinsic to the situation rather than added to it, and which is spontaneous rather than planned.
[Creativeness]. His creativity will enable him to recognize opportunities for growth where other men see only limitations. His style of living has a certain strength and individuality in whatever he is engaged.
It is suggested that consciously or unconsciously every person is seeking some form of self-realization or to become a self-actualizing person, fully expressing his own innate potentialities as an individual, and in full recognition of his own uniqueness as a personality. It is believed that there is a diversity of paths and processes (of possibly unknown extent) by which self-actualization emerges, and that this diversity should itself be protected.
Narrower:
Ecosophical self realization