Better than every self-help book at which I've ever looked, but, after the first Part, still not great. To warrant its thesis it relies upon claims developed less than rigorously, where it doesn't simply employ "common sense" uncritically. And the thesis has proven to be more than a little naïve. But the clarity of the writing is remarkable, especially in comparison to the social sciences today; and the first Part, wherein he develops his model of obstacles to personal development, is, if not accurate, at least something that I found useful for practical self-reflective purposes. ( )

Rated: C+
This book is one of his classics. Not a primer for beginners but an advanced work for his colleagues. Good to ready directly about his understanding of the hierarchy of needs and self-actualization. This work was published in the 1950’s and it is amazing to look back and see just how far psychology had come by then as well as how far it has progressed since then. ( )