Question 1

True or false: Maslow was a vocal critic of behaviorism and psychoanalysis.

Accepted Answer

True. He helped found humanistic psychology as a 'third force' opposing the deterministic views of both behaviorism and Freudian psychoanalysis.

Question 2

True or false: Maslow conducted his research primarily on college students and clinical patients.

Accepted Answer

False. He actually studied historical figures like Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt, not average people or patients.

Question 3

True or false: Maslow believed self-actualization was achievable by most people.

Accepted Answer

False. He estimated only about 2% of people reach self-actualization, as it requires rare psychological health and opportunity.

Question 4

True or false: The order of needs in Maslow's hierarchy is fixed and cannot vary between cultures.

Accepted Answer

False. Maslow himself noted that the order can invert due to culture, personal values, or circumstances like hunger strikes.

Question 5

True or false: Maslow's hierarchy was originally designed for a corporate management audience.

Accepted Answer

False. His 1943 paper 'A Theory of Human Motivation' aimed to explain human drives generally, but it was later adopted by business and management fields.

Question 6

True or false: Maslow's hierarchy includes a sixth level called 'self-transcendence'.

Accepted Answer

True. In his later work, Maslow added self-transcendence above self-actualization, focusing on going beyond the self to help others.

Question 7

True or false: Maslow's first academic job was teaching at Brooklyn College.

Accepted Answer

True. Maslow's first teaching appointment was at Brooklyn College in 1937, where he was a professor of psychology until 1951. His earlier postdoc at Columbia was a research role.

Question 8

True or false: Maslow never depicted his hierarchy as a pyramid.

Accepted Answer

True. The iconic pyramid shape was created by management consultants and textbook authors years after his death; Maslow used a simple list.

Abraham Maslow Trivia Questions