Is Self-Actualization Truly the Tip of the Iceberg? A Deeper Dive into Transcendence

Throughout my coaching training in positive psychology, something was eating at me. It wasn’t blatant, but there was this dull nagging that something didn’t quite make sense, and I wasn’t sure what it was. While spending a few minutes researching for this blog, I came across a new learning. Since love of learning is one of my signature strengths, I was tickled to stumble on this diagram! You see, all my years in teaching and social work, I like Maslow, believed that people needed to have their basic needs met in order to learn and fully thrive. However, I see learning and thriving as part of self-actualization. As a person who was not brought up with a lot of formal religion, I view myself to be spiritual in ways that pertain more to nature, appreciating beauty, etc. I’ve come to realize that in addition to self-actualization, helping others puts me in a state of flow and self-transcendence of sorts. This sensation calls to mind a service beyond me, myself, or my needs, and rather may point to a greater calling. This sense of transcendence feels like a higher level of being/motivation than self-actualization, as I am moving beyond myself into a state of ‘otherness.’ I taught Maslow’s 5-tiered pyramid and had never come across this 8-tiered expanded form that holds transcendence at the apex. I wonder why this was not part of my previous knowledge base!

Maslow’s Expanded Hierarchy of Needs

When Abraham Maslow wrote his original hierarchy of needs it had five tiers, the four at the base of the above pyramid plus self-actualization. His theory held that in order to self-actualize, we as humans, need our basic (sometimes referred to as physical and psychological) needs met first. Later in life, Maslow added three additional tiers, two between the basic needs of physiological, safety, love/belonging, and esteem and the third, above self-actualization. As such, he claimed that people needed a certain amount of cognitive and aesthetic understanding to be capable of self-actualization. He also acknowledged that once an individual self-actuates, they may be able to enter a state of transcendence. Clearly, not everyone attains this level, but I find it fascinating that he did, in fact, come to the realization that he had left it out of his original model and that it needed to be added. It is through this model that I expand on the following discussion of transcendence as a virtue.

The VIA Institute on Character lists five character strengths in its classification for transcendence:

• Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
• Gratitude
• Hope
• Spirituality
• Humor

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence

As with Maslow’s addition of the two tiers of Knowledge/Understanding and Aesthetics/Beauty above, VIA considers an appreciation of beauty and excellence to be one of the character strengths under the transcendence umbrella.

According to VIA, those who express an appreciation of beauty & excellence notice these elements in all domains of life, including physical (through awe and wonder) and moral (desiring to be better, more loving, and creating feelings of elevation), and excellence through heightened levels of skill and/or talent (energizing, inspiring admiration, and compelling a person to pursue their own goals). I am aware of beauty and excellence in a way that I did not appreciate when I was younger.

Gratitude

The character strength of gratitude involves feeling and expressing a deep sense of thankfulness in life, and more specifically, taking the time to genuinely express what you are grateful for to others. After I am given a gift or someone is especially thoughtful toward me, I am always thankful and express that openly. However, it is more recently that I have grown more aware of all of life’s other gifts that I am grateful for, those things that are harder to put your finger on. I must say that this mindfulness regarding the goodness in our world has had a profound influence on my ability to keep my chin above water when life gets tough. When the news is disturbing or I learn that something tragic has happened to a loved one, for example, I feel a deep sense of remorse, but since I’m living my life with more gratitude, I certainly make it through these rough times more easily. I am also infinitely more aware of how lucky I am and express gratitude for this more than when I was younger. I feel I am more humble, persistent, and kind when I acknowledge the goodness in my life and recognize/acknowledge the source of this goodness. More than the kind of gratitude felt after receiving something, I am especially grateful for my awareness and appreciation of what is personally valuable and meaningful.

Hope

The character strength of hope has to do with positive expectations about the future and involves optimistic thinking and focusing on good things to come. VIA states, “It is an action-oriented strength involving agency, the motivation and confidence that goals can be reached, and also that many effective pathways can be devised in order to get to that desired future.” Optimism is closely linked, as it pertains to how a hopeful person explains the cause of things. For example, as an optimist, I may interpret less than optimal performance as: 1) not doing as well as I could because I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep the night before (internal), 2) I’ll do better next time (stable), and 3) many others also struggled on this particular assessment (global). Whereas a pessimist may see the same event this way: 1) the instructor graded harder than normal (external), I never do well on this type of assessment (unstable), and 3) I am not good at __ subject (specific).

In positive psychology, hope plays three significant roles. In addition to being a character strength, it is also a positive emotion and is referenced in Hope Theory. Look for more blogs to come digging deeper into hope in these multiple facets!

Humor

Humor involves recognizing what is amusing in situations, seeing the lighter side of things, and often includes the ability to make others smile and/or laugh. “Where other strengths are more or less essential for achieving certain types of goals or dealing with certain types of problems, humor is rarely an essential component to positive social interactions, but it is often a desirable one (VIA).” People with a good sense of humor may take a cheerful view on adversity and therefore may help themselves cope with difficult situations, while sustaining a good mood.

Spirituality

As is true for many of the character strengths in the VIA Classification, the strength of spirituality has many dimensions, including “meaning, purpose, life calling, beliefs about the universe, the expression of virtue/goodness, and practices that connect with the transcendent”. Although spirituality has been defined as connection with the sacred, the sacred might be that which is blessed, holy, revered, or particularly special. It is important to note that this can be secular or non-secular. For example, I perceive spirituality to be the search for purpose in life, an awe-inspiring sunset, or the self-sacrificing kindness of a stranger.

As a character strength, spirituality involves the belief that there is a dimension to life that is beyond human understanding. I don’t connect this belief with the concept of divinity and prefer to think of it in terms of a sense of meaning rather than spirituality, but in the VIA Classification the terms are considered closely related.

Spirituality is believed to describe both the private, intimate relationship between humans and the divine, and the range of virtues that result from the relationships. Spirituality is universal. Although the specific content of spiritual beliefs varies, all cultures have a concept of an ultimate, transcendent, sacred force (VIA).

What are your views on spirituality and other forms of transcendence?

Why is it important to feel gratitude?

How do you use a sense of humor to alleviate strained circumstances?

Do you feel optimism and hope are the same? How? How not?

What have you experienced recently that was particularly awe-inspiring?

When did you last feel a deep sense of gratitude?