Motivation, Self-Actualization & Self-Growth

There are two views of security, namely, the static and the dynamic. The static concept of security may be pictured by thinking of an oyster inside its shell, the frightened person behind his neurotic defenses, or prewar France behind the Maginot Line. The main idea in the static concept of security is to build up enough protective walls and to sit still inside them. The search for security for many people still is the task of building and maintaining walls around oneself.

The dynamic concept of security can be pictured by thinking of a skillful and self-confident driver speeding home in the traffic stream along the highway. He knows that the highway is dangerous; he knows that he may encounter drunken drivers or cars with faulty brakes, and he knows that a slight error in judgement at sixty miles an hour may result in his not getting home at all. Nevertheless, he is not insecure, he is not frightened; in fact, his daily confrontation of danger does not worry him at all, because his security in this dynamic and dangerous situation depends not on w

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ung scholars often lived in less desirable quarters, ate unappetizing or inadequate food, performed unprofitable tasks for a living or to pay for necessary books and materials or for publication. Older scholars and other members of the group offered compensating reinforcement in the form of approval and admiration for these sacrifices. When the modern graduate student receives a generous scholarship, enjoys good living conditions, and has his research and publication subsidized, the grounds for evaluation seem to be pulled from under us. Such a student no longer needs admiration to carry him over a series of obstacles (no matter how much he may need it for other reasons), and, in missing certain familiar objects of admiration, we are likely to conclude that such conditions are less admirable. Obstacles to scholarly work may serve as a useful measure of motivation--and we may go wrong I unless some substitute is found--but we can scarcely defend a deliberate harassment of the student for this purpose. The productivity of any set of conditions can be evaluated only when we have freed ourselves of the attitudes which have been generated in us as members of an ethical group (Weaver, 1990). A similar difficulty arises from our us
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Approximate Word count = 5290
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page)

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