https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217713191 Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2017, Vol. 43(9) 1337–1352 © 2017 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0146167217713191 journals.sagepub.com/home/pspb Article What would you be doing if you were realizing your highest potential? Would the answer differ if you were a 35-year-old father or a 19-year-old single woman? And would you be doing different activities if you were trying to find meaning in life, seeking pure pleasure, or pursuing happiness and satisfaction? Maslow’s (1943) universal hierarchy of human needs, and specifically the focus on self-actualization (realizing one’s full, unique potential) as the pinnacle of human motives, has been a highly appealing and robust cultural meme. Although Maslow’s classic paper was published nearly 80 years ago, it has had lasting impact (e.g., Ackerman & Bargh, 2010; Myers, 2009). Since the year 2000, over 350 scholarly books and articles have been published with the term self-actual- ization in the title, and many more discuss self-actualization in the text (e.g., Diener & Lucas, 2000; Kenrick, Neuberg, Griskevicius, Becker, & Schaller, 2010; Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005). Self-actualization remains popular with the general public as well; well over 50 New York Times articles published in the last 5 years contain the term. Despite widespread public interest in becoming actual- ized, little research has explored people’s perceptions of what exactly they would find self-actualizing. That is, what do people believe they would be doing if they were realizing their own, unique potentials? Whereas the traditional view of self-actualization is that it is “above” or divorced from “baser” biological and social needs, a modern functional take on self-actualization would begin with the assumption that few, if any, universal drives are truly independent from such needs. Rather, if self-actualizing is a universal drive, it may promote fitness-relevant biological and/or social motivations (e.g., functional, fundamental motives such as seeking status, finding mates, caring for kin). Here, we examine lay percep- tions of self-actualization, while also testing specific predic- tions about self-actualization derived from a functional perspective. We ask the following questions: (a) What func- tional outcomes might the pursuit of self-actualization be furthering? (b) Might the functional motives that people link to their self-actualizing vary systematically, concordant with predictions from life history theory? (c) Is self-actualization uniquely linked to particular functional motives, or do peo- ple view other types of personal fulfillment (i.e., eudaimonic, hedonic, and subjective, well-being) as also connected to those very same functional motives? 713191PSP XX X 10.1177/0146167217713191Personality and Social Psychology BulletinKrems et al. research-article 2017 1 Arizona State University, Tempe, USA 2 University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA Corresponding Author: Jaimie Arona Krems, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S. McAllister St., Tempe, AZ 85287-1104, USA. Email: jaimie.krems@asu.edu Individual Perceptions of Self- Actualization: What Functional Motives Are Linked to Fulfilling One’s Full Potential? Jaimie Arona Krems 1 , Douglas T. Kenrick 1 , and Rebecca Neel 2 Abstract Maslow’s self-actualization remains a popular notion in academic research as well as popular culture. The notion that life’s highest calling is fulfilling one’s own unique potential has been widely appealing. But what do people believe they are doing when they pursue the realization of their full, unique potentials? Here, we examine lay perceptions of self-actualization. Self-actualizing, like any drive, is unlikely to operate without regard to biological and social costs and benefits. We examine which functional outcomes (e.g., gaining status, making friends, finding mates, caring for kin) people perceive as central to their individual self-actualizing. Three studies suggest that people most frequently link self-actualization to seeking status, and, concordant with life history theory, what people regard as self-actualizing varies in predictable ways across the life span and across individuals. Contrasting with self-actualization, people do not view other types of well-being—eudaimonic, hedonic, subjective—as furthering status-linked functional outcomes. Keywords motivation/goals, social cognition, self-actualization, fundamental motives, evolution Received August 16, 2016; revision accepted May 8, 2017