What is Self-Actualization according to Abraham Maslow?

Final answer:

False, Abraham Maslow believed that a self-actualized personality is a person who is focused on personal growth, fulfilling their potential, and achieving self-awareness.

Explanation:

Abraham Maslow, a noted psychologist, emphasized the growth potential of healthy individuals. He postulated that people strive to achieve self-actualization, which means becoming the best person they can be. This is true - a self-actualized individual, as per Maslow, is indeed a person who is focused on personal growth, fulfilling their potential, and achieving self-awareness.

Under Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, self-actualization is positioned at the apex. This top-tier need expresses the accomplishment of one's full potential, and according to Maslow, is realized only when the lower-level needs (such as physiological and safety needs) have been satisfied.

It is also worth mentioning that Maslow and Carl Rogers, another influential psychologist, contributed greatly to humanistic psychology. They both emphasized free will, self-determination, and the objective for an individual to strive towards becoming their actual self. They agreed that while some aspects of our personalities are significantly influenced by genetics, experiences, environmental factors, and maturation also play substantial roles in shaping our personalities and our capacity to self-actualize.