First Advisor

Dr. Tony Obradovich

Date of Award

Spring 6-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology and University Honors

Department

Psychology

Language

English

Subjects

Buddhism, Self-Actualization, Humanist Psychology, Enlightenment

Abstract

During the Zen Boom of the 1950’s, Psychologists, Philosophers, and other western thinkers were exposed to Zen Buddhism and began to harness some of the principles for use in Psychology (Ames, 1960). In the last 3 decades, Psychologists have renewed their interest in Buddhism, especially as “fourth wave” cultural competence has become an important part of Psychological practice (Sue & Sue, 2016; Pomerantz, 2020). While work has been done in developing clinical applications of Buddhist practices, more could be found in Buddhism for the person who wishes to become more healthy.

Within Psychology, one figure had exactly that objective: Abraham Maslow. His work on Self-Actualization has been linked to Buddhist Nirvana, but more work is needed to discover the extent to which Maslow and the Buddha’s projects mirror each other. To that end, this paper applies Buddhist principles to Maslow’s conception of the Self-Actualized person and the path to get there. As a literature review, this project uses a combination of current academic literature and primary Buddhist/Maslovian text to present an adequate picture of these two frameworks for enlightenment, with the goal of adding clarity to the often nebulous workings of both. Finally, the course of this project has led me back to the popular pyramid diagram of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which has proven itself inadequate as a representation of his work. Included in this work are some basic propositions for an improved hierarchy of needs model, and an assessment of how helpful Buddhism could be in that effort.

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