There are three theorists from different times, different schools of thought, and different lifestyles that share a common goal to further human development through constant research and progress. Maslow, Jung, and Rousseau are all theorists who believed in a pattern of development in stages, and although their stages differ greatly from each other, they have a common thread spun through them; the desire to discover why humans become the way they are. Each theorist has his own ideas and differences and some theories may seem similar, yet each is unique to its theorist. All of these personality theorists have made great strives to figure out how people acquire certain personality traits.
A small slice into the lives of each theorist will provide a look at there lifestyle, generation, and societal beliefs during their research periods. This will give understanding to their thoughts and theories.
Abraham Harold Maslow was born April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the first of seven children born to his parents, who themselves were uneducated Jewish immigrants from Russia. His parents, hoping for the best for their children in the new world, pushed him hard for academic success. Not surprisingly, he became very lonely as a boy, and found his refuge in books (Dr. C. George Boeree, 2006). He received his BA in 1930, his MA in 1931, and his PhD in 1934, all in psychology, all from the University of Wisconsin. A year after graduation, he returned to New York to work with E. L. Thorndike at Columbia, where Maslow became interested in research on human sexuality.
He began teaching full time at Brooklyn College. During this period of his life, he came into contact with the many European intellectuals that were immigrating to the US, and Brooklyn in particu ...