xii). The Third Force would provide a "health psychology" that explored the "higher levels of human nature" (Maslow, 1987, p. xviii) to develop methods for helping people make their lives better, control themselves, and freely develop towards their potential (1968, p. 5).

Maslow’s (1943) early statement of motivation theory proposed a "hierarchy of relative prepotency" through which people advance as they satisfy "deficiency" needs. Deficiency needs are lower-order needs that are driven by the absence of something. An individual who lacks food will be consumed by the need for nourishment. As Maslow described, "Man lives by bread alone--when there is no bread. But what happens to man's desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled" (p. 375)?

Maslow answered that once an individual has satisfied physiological needs, he or she becomes consumed by satisfying safety needs. Once an individual is secure, he or she becomes driven to satisfy belongings or love needs. The individual who lacks self-esteem becomes consumed by proving his or her worth. Once the individual satisfies the lower order needs, he or she is no longer driven by deficiency but by a desire to grow toward potential, to satisfy self-actualization needs.