The Dao of Maslow

A New Direction for Mentorship

Bibliographic Data

ID9057868
AuthorsEdward Hoffman (0000-0001-9789-5039, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, USA, corresponding author), William C Compton (0000-0002-5389-1826, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, USA)
Year2026
Volume66
Issue2
Pages295-314
Publication date2026-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Humanistic Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1678 • E-ISSN: 1552-650X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00221678221076574
OpenAlexW4214661895
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited37

Despite its historical importance for human achievement in many fields, mentorship has received meager research attention until relatively recently. Now recognized as a distinct personal relationship, mentorship is linked to a variety of psychological benefits to mentees including greater self-esteem, well-being, career focus, and leadership capability. Mentors have also been found to experience gains related to generativity. However, lacking has been a meaningful conceptualization of mentorship based on humanistic psychological concerns related to the “whole person.” In particular, the idea that mentoring can facilitate the self-actualization process has been neglected in the literature. In this article, we draw upon Maslow’s writings, particularly related to Daoism, to propose a new conceptual model. For at the time of his sudden death, he was directly seeking to apply Daoist notions to a variety of helping relationships including teaching, counseling, psychotherapy, and even friendship and parenting. After differentiating growth-centered mentorship from skill-centered mentorship , we delineate the former’s essential features based on Maslow’s unfinished legacy in this domain. These aspects include (a) incorporating and fostering the far goal of self-actualization; (b) guiding mentees to better identify their calling by identifying peak and foothill experiences; (c) helping mentees to overcome what Maslow termed the Jonah complex, as well as what subsequent researchers have dubbed the imposter syndrome; and (d) recognizing the mutuality of growth for both participants into a potentially synergic relationship

Conceptualization · Humanism · Humanistic psychology · Maslow's hierarchy of needs · Medical education · Mentorship · Self-Actualization · Variety (cybernetics) · Career Development and Diversity · Computer Science · Medicine · Mentoring and Academic Development · Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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