Compare and Contrast Freud and Maslow

Freud Maslow

Abraham Maslow and Sigmund Freud both shaped the science of human behavior, psychology. They were not contemporaries, though. Freud was born in 1856, and Maslow in 1908. By the time Maslow studied psychology, the discipline had already been firmly established partly because of the influence of Sigmund Freud. Both researchers established trends in how to conceptualize human psychology. Although Maslow was influenced by the trends that Freud established in the subject of psychology, Maslow developed his theories independently. Some of Maslow's theories are divergent and even contradictory from those of his forebear. Maslow and Freud are fun and easy to compare and contrast because they share enough in common with one another to recognize points of reference.

Sigmund Freud was born in Austria on May 6, 1856. He spent most of his life in Vienna. His father was a merchant. Freud initially studied neurology and intended to become a doctor. One day he was working with a patient diagnosed with what was then called "hysteria," and the experience sparked in Freud the urge to study the human mind ("Sigmund Freud"). At first, Freud learned about the art and techniques of hypnosis, before switching just to the use of talking to clients about their dreams and innermost thoughts. Freud developed controversial but comprehensive theories about the human mind, hinging on his theories of the unconscious mind. According to Freud, the human personality is divided into three main parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id represents our most basic childlike urges. The ego represents the complex of who we think we are and who we present to the world. The superego represents the social norms that govern human behavior and cause feelings like guilt. Freud remained obsessed with human pathology, and developed seemingly outlandish theories about the deepest urges that unconsciously guide human decisions and abnormal behaviors. Some of those theories include the Oedipus and Electra complexes. In 1900 Freud published the Interpretation of Dreams.

Abraham Maslow was born on April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. His childhood is described as being "lonely and unhappy," ("Abraham Maslow"). He taught psychology at prominent universities throughout his career. Maslow's theories of psychology were built on the premise that focusing on the positive aspects of the human being was more productive than focusing on the pathology. Therefore, Maslow developed his central theory: the hierarchy of needs. According to the hierarchy of needs, there is first need to fulfill basic needs like food and security, progressing to other needs like social acceptance, and culminating in existential needs like fulfilling one's purpose in life. Maslow is considered to be a humanistic psychologist. He published Motivation and Personality (1954) and Toward a Psychology of Being (1962).