What assessments are associated with Abraham Maslow's Self-Actualization theory?

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As a humanistic approach, the Self-Actualization theory proposed by Abraham Manslow contends that the satiation of basic needs will result in a positive outcome where the individual will find balance and the common sense to differentiate good from pathological behavior.

Therefore, the key factors that you want to look for when correlating assessments to the theory is that the assessment measures two key elements: motivation and personality.

This being said, the Motivation Assessment Scale by Durand and Crimmins (1992) is a popular assessment given by school psychologists to determine what drives students to make bad choices and engage in anti-social behaviors.

The Myer-Briggs personality test assesses the correlation between specific tasks and the people who perform them. This also checks for trends in behavior that are salient, such as the ability to problem-solve, or the tendency to become easily frustrated when new situations arise. The choices that we make and the manner in which we react to emergencies are deeply connected with the satisfactory meeting of our basic needs for safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

The MSP Motivation Assessment Program (2003) developed by the National Science foundation, like many other programs aimed to prescribe tendencies in academic aptitude and behavior, also aims to measure the correlation between instructional interventions and motivational outcomes.

Other personality tests that are most commonly used include the classical Rorschach inkblot test, and in more recent times there is a widespread use of "temperament sorters" which are software programs that do the same type of a assessment as the more historically-recognized tests. An example of these modern software-based tests include the Keirsey Temperament Sorter which is a more modern version of the Myers-Briggs. Again, keep "motivation and personality" in mind when researching about assessments whose benchmark philosophy is the Hierarchy of Needs as proposed by Manslow.



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