What Happened to Self-Actualization? Commentary on Kenrick et al. (2010)

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of psychology's genuinely good ideas and has had a sustained impact in and out of psychology. The revision of the hierarchy by Kenrick, Griskevicius, Neuberg, and Schaller (2010, this issue) is overdue and makes an important contribution by grounding the hierarchy in modern evolutionary thought. However, we suggest that it may be premature to remove self-actualization from the hierarchy by reducing it to other needs associated with status and reproduction.