A Brief Analysis of Maslow's Life (I)

? On the psychoanalytic level, "Oedipus complex" is a psychological topic that everyone can't avoid. This complex covers many complex conflicts in our inner emotional relationships during our growth: love and hate, good and bad, desire and temptation, security and persecution, fear and growth, defense and attack, victory and guilt, intimacy and separation, and so on.

? Abraham Maslow (198-197), the founder of humanistic psychology, was born in Manhattan on April 1, 198. He was a Jew. His original ideas in motivation and personality went beyond the limitations of academic psychology and entered the fields of management and marketing. His thoughts had a great influence on the whole social science, industry and a wide range of cultural fields. ? On June 18th, I listened to teacher Zhang Tianbu's lecture in EMAP class of Fudan University: Oedipus Triangle in psychoanalysis, and I burned my brain for 12 hours a day and one night. I was so fascinated that I felt that I had met each other for a long time. After reading several chapters of Maslow's Biography, I hope to enter Maslow's childhood world from the perspective of "Oedipus Complex" in psychoanalysis, with the following two questions? When you finish your homework, take the opportunity to interpret Master Ma.

Question 2: The problem children who are introverted, reserved, shy and have a sense of inferiority eventually become world-class psychologists. What factors have had a significant impact on their childhood psychological development?

Question 3: family of origin of Maslow is quite bad, but Maslow has a very good relationship with Bertha, and he has been married for the rest of his life. In addition, there are three children with good relationships. How did he do it?

Maslow's father, Samuel Maslow, immigrated to new york from Kiev, Russia, when he was 14 years old because of the political situation. He was a businessman. As a child, Ma Si Nuo was emotionally indifferent to his father. Every day, Samuel left home early in the morning and took a bus to the Manhattan factory. After work, he usually got together with his friends and didn't come back until his son went to bed. On weekends, he occasionally took Maslow out to eat baked apples or something in a nearby restaurant. In addition, he paid little attention to the children's daily life, was busy with work all day, and had little energy, and even didn't think of establishing close feelings with his son. Although he was Jewish, Samuel was indifferent to faith, not as enthusiastic as his mother Ross. Samuel didn't go home for another secret reason: he was disappointed with his marriage and spent as much time outside as possible to avoid conflicts with his wife in front of the children. "For the sake of the children," Samuel and Ross divorced when Ma Si Nuo was in college. After his later years, Maslow's relationship with his father gradually improved and he finally lived together.

My mother's name is Rose, and she is my father Samuel's cousin. She is a woman who is very religious and superstitious. She often says to her children for minor faults: God will severely punish you! Ma Si Nuo was very disgusted with this. In many ways, he was very unhappy with his mother, which led to the negative comments on his mother in Ma Si Nuo's memories. When Ma Si Nuo left home in his teens, he only visited him a few times during Ross's lifetime, and even when his mother Ross died, he didn't go to the funeral. So tough and absolute, how much did Maslow dislike his mother?

Maslow has three younger brothers and three younger sisters, one of whom died in infancy. This incident has also dealt a great blow to Maslow, and he feels that the fault lies with his mother Ross.

In Maslow's later memoirs, he wrote the following words about his family and his mother:

I am an extremely unhappy child, my family is a painful family, and my mother is a terrible person ... I have no friends, and I grew up in libraries and books. However, it is strange that I didn't get mental illness after living such a childhood life. -Maslow

When I was about four or five years old, I began to test all kinds of things she predicted, and sought all kinds of ideas and opinions about these things. For example, she said that if you do this or that, God will destroy you. However, I did, and God didn't destroy me … I remember once she told me that if I climbed out of the window, I wouldn't grow taller. But I climbed out. Later, I measured my height-of course, I have been growing and far exceeded the original mark. -Maslow

My childhood and adolescence were very unfortunate. In my memory, they seemed to be dark and sad, and I was surprised that I could bear it without any problem. Searching all my memories, I can't find a ray of joy ... My father misunderstood me, and I was an idiot and a fool. Maybe, he was disappointed in me. ? -Maslow

My reaction to her, as well as all my resentment and antipathy, lies not only in her external image, but also in her values and world outlook, her meanness, her lack of love for people in this world, even her own husband and children, her narcissism, her prejudice against black people, and her selfishness at the expense of others. Anyone who disagrees with her thinks that the other person is wrong. She lacks care for her parents, brothers and sisters, and she only cares about her instincts as selfish as an animal. I often wonder where my idealistic tendency, my concern for ethics, my cherish of humanitarianism, kindness, love, friendship and all other beautiful things come from. I know for sure that they are not the direct result of my maternal love. However, my philosophy of life, the whole orientation of the founding theory and all my research can all be rooted in hating and resenting everything she likes. ? -Maslow

1. Will Maslow

? Will is cousin Maslow. They are about the same age. In 1917, Maslow was 1 years old. When the family moved to 961 dumont Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Will lived nearby. It was a great encouragement for him, and he finally found a partner who was quite emotional and intellectual. Two years later, his family moved again, this time to the affluent middle-class residential area in Follette. Fortunately, the Will family just moved nearby. With Will, Maslow began to have his first real friendship. Although he is still lonely in character, he still participates in sports activities in the neighborhood with Will. They practice boxing and hanging ball, which is a relatively extensive street sport in Brooklyn. As their homes are near a tennis court, the two young people soon became energetic tennis lovers again.

In January, 1922, Maslow and Will entered one of the best middle schools in Brooklyn, the boys' high school. Both of them were similar in height and appearance, and they soon became inseparable. In the school yearbook, they were called "Golden Twins". Will's natural self-confidence, cheerful optimism and even a little rough have had an important influence on helping Maslow overcome shyness and loneliness. During weekends and summer vacations, Will takes the lead. They often work together. Driven by Will, Maslow becomes a full-fledged tennis enthusiast. As long as the weather permits, he will play tennis with Will and other friends. He also plays softball, handball and lob, and participates in middle-distance running. In addition, he is the off-site captain of the men's high school baseball team.

2. Cousin Bertha Goodman (who later became Maslow's only wife in his life, had a very good relationship and lived together for life)

Bertha, Maslow's cousin, came to new york from the Soviet Union in March 1922. When they first met, she was only 13 years old and Maslow was 14 years old. Ma Si Nuo respects Bertha's mother very much, and thinks that she is a gentle and humorous person, good at arranging family life, and has a natural ability to appreciate art, which Maslow particularly appreciates. When he was a teenager, Maslow never dated other girls of his own age, Bertha being the only exception. In June, 1927, Maslow was 2 years old. Feeling Bertha's great attraction to him, he made up his mind to develop further feelings with her. However, Maslow was too shy to ask her out for a date and dare to express his feelings boldly. With the help of Bertha's sister, he finally broke his silence and expressed his love to Bertha in shyness. Incredibly, Bertha did not refuse to accept Maslow, which had a great impact on Maslow's self-awareness and image. He felt that he had grown up and was an adult. "He was accepted by a heterosexual and felt extremely happy and happy with her." During this period, many people strongly opposed the combination of the cousins, including Maslow's parents and cousin Will. On December 31, 1928, Maslow was 21 years old and Bertha was 2 years old. In front of their immediate family, the cousins held a wedding ceremony.

3. Sebastian Little

Sebastian Little is a physics teacher in Maslow High School. When he was in high school, influenced by Sebastian, Maslow first came into contact with Upton Little's book, which triggered Maslow's potential interest in social and moral issues and experienced a real enlightenment.

In January, 1932, Maslow wrote in his diary:

I remember how I started thinking about research, which started when I was a boy's high school. At that time, Mr. Sebastian Little mentioned Little's Money Worship in the physics laboratory. He read aloud to me and Vere the book about Dostoevsky and prostitutes. I was surprised, even a little shocked, because I was still cautious in this aspect at that time, and it was unusual for a teacher to talk about such a thing ... I can't remember why, but Will and I borrowed Money Worship from the library ... Since then, I have started reading every book written by Sinclair, in addition, I have read some books about adventure, baseball and college life.

4. William Graham sumner

In September 1927, Maslow resumed his studies at Shili University, and the teacher of cultural philosophy assigned them to read William Graham sumner's book Social Customs, which Maslow regarded as "Everest". It influenced Maslow's life.

Maslow later wrote: This is what our professor warned us in the first class of this semester: "If you read this book, you will not be like before, and you will not be a simple-minded person"; He's right.

5. John B. Watson

In the summer of 1928, John Turner, Maslow's philosophy teacher, talked with him about his career choice planning, and recommended a number of psychology books to him, including a collection of essays on Psychology in 1925, in which three articles by John B. Watson were deeply shocked. Watson was the founder of American behavioral psychology, and since then. He will never forget that moment of rational exultation, when he was sitting in the reading room of 42nd Street Library. He recalled:

What really excited me was Watson's article ... In the exciting moment, I suddenly saw a prospect of scientific psychology, a plan that could bring real progress and really solve problems. All we need to do is hard work and power.

? The normal psychological development is to get out of the Oedipus triangle conflict. If you can't break through it, you will be unable to extricate yourself from your inner entanglement, and your personal energy will be slowly consumed in the entanglement conflict. It is impossible for a person to play a constructive or creative role and become an inexplicable loser. A mature and complete Oedipus triangle can end the relationship among children, father and mother in one's heart, and can also explain the desire, inhibition, obsession, love-hate interweaving and so on that everyone can experience. Finding a balance in complex feelings is the task that every normal person should complete in Oedipus period.

? Objectively speaking, Maslow's childhood life environment should be said to be very bad, and it is difficult for Maslow to get out of the Oedipus conflict without the help of external forces. My understanding is that Maslow is very lucky, although the roles of his father and mother are unclear, and both sides in the triangle are incomplete. However, the appearance of cousin Will and cousin Bertha has become an important and ideal object for him to repair the Oedipus triangle.

? The appearance of cousin Will made Maslow have a real friendship for the first time in his life, walked out of the self-enclosed small world, merged into the school, integrated into the society, fell in love with sports, and chose a positive sunshine avenue at the critical crossroads in his life. In addition, although my father is often absent, he is very supportive of Maslow in education. No matter what decisions Maslow makes, his major choice, school choice and hobbies, his father unreservedly chooses to support the appearance of his cousin Will. In a sense, Will and his father * * * bear the responsibility of one side of the Oedipus Triangle. .

? Unfortunately, the contradiction between Maslow and his mother Ross has not been resolved in the end. It is estimated that many latecomers will hold on to this issue and make a big fuss about it. My point of view: Bertha's appearance has more or less assumed the functional responsibility of the other side of the Oedipus Triangle, and psychologically, Maslow has not come to a dead end. Maslow spoke highly of Ross and his mother. Maslow was happy in marriage, and Ross was the only wife in his life. They loved each other all their lives and grew old together. People are not saints. Maslow didn't choose to forgive his mother in the end. Apart from other angles, from another angle, it just shows his maturity in thinking and decisiveness in behavior. Psychologically, it is a complete and mature Oedipus Triangle.

? Sebastian Little, William Graham sumner and John B Watson, these heavyweight professors, are important figures who influenced Maslow's ideological enlightenment and determined the direction of his career choice. If you want to know what will happen next, listen to the next chapter.