A Different Voice?

Abstract

Think of someone who fits the following description: loving, fair, realistic, relaxed, self-sufficient, spontaneous, creative, nice. Make sure he or she also has an honest directness, a playful spirit, a history of successful risk taking, and a way of moving through life that seems effortless. This is the kind of extraordinary person Brandeis University psychologist Abraham Maslow considered when he devised a theory of motivation fifty years ago. They are a rare breed-the Olympic medal winners of the human race. To Maslow, it made sense to examine the finest specimens of the species. So in order to discover exemplary qualities in the human race, he studied the lives of