Question

According to Maslow's theory, all the fundamental interpersonal needs are termed as deficiency needs, except one. Which need is the exception?

Answer 1

Self-actualization, which is considered by Maslow as a Growth or being needs.

Maslow offers the following description of self-actualization:

'It refers to the person’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially.

The specific form that these needs will take will of course vary greatly from person to person. In one individual it may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions' (Maslow, 1943, p. 382–383).