Maslow believed all theories were correct but only when examined from a unique perspective. In like respect, he believed every society contained elements which could be used to support a Eupsychia. During class, he referenced the full range of social systems including dystopia’s ( unhealthy society, Utopia( the many tried and failed idealized communities and Eupsychias—the society aimed at helping its citizens achieve health and self-actualization.
He saw the creation of Eupsychia as the end goal for humanity. Maslow contrasted healthy and unhealthy societies as follows: *“I spoke of societies with high social synergy where their institutions ensure mutual advantage from their undertakings, and societies with low social synergy where the advantage of one individual becomes a victory over another, and the majority of who are not victorious must shift as they can.” (pg. 194)—farther 2
In looking at any issue whether organizational problems or wondrous illuminations, Maslow encouraged us to take a holistic and integrative perspective in dealing with the matter. While our tendency might be to view everything atomisticly , Maslow helped us see life as a whole rather than a collection of parts. All the elements of a dystopia, utopia, and a eutopia would exist at the same time Furthermore, just because a true Eupsychia was unlikely to be achieved was no reason not to aspire for it.
Maslow explored the creation of a Eupsychia( from the Greek eu-good, and psychia psychological space) from a number of angles including the innate capacities and potentials of its citizens, the support for personal growth by the culture, the influence of eupsychian principles on work and family, the meta-values of the individual and the society and the influences of the surrounding world. He raised for our class a core question, How good a society does man need? What undercuts healthy growth.
He also challenged us to work in groups to create the elements of our own Eupsychian community. It was an opportunity for us to try to put together all the elements making up a good society, such as an education system that supported fulfillment of the higher human needs and values, a work environment in which workers and management partnered on productivity and an actualizing work environment, and a government in which the best leaders lead. We were guided in this work by Maslow’s statement:
A “ good society” could support individual self-actualization as well as the healthier environment for individual well-being“[But] the truth which we can see more and more clearly is that man has infinite potentiality, which, properly used, could make his life very much like his fantasies of heaven. In potentiality, he is the most awe-inspiring phenomenon in the universe, the most creative, the most ingenious. Throughout the ages, philosophers have sought to understand the true, the good, and the beautiful, and to speak for its forces. Now we know that the best place to look for them is in man himself.” (pg. 165) Human
Eupsychian societies help their members satisfy their basic/deficiency needs and recognize and fulfill their potentialities. However, individuals can grow even in the absence of a good society, Maslow describes this, “This does not mean the processes of self-transformation must be completed before the processes of society-transformation can be begun by the individual or in society. It is not necessary for all people to be saints & sages before we try to improve society. Nor is it necessary for the individual person to wait either. They can (& should?) be done together?
