Editing Maslow's hierarchy of needs (section)

=== Blackfoot influence ===
Maslow's early (1938) anthropological research included a fieldtrip to the Blackfoot people ([[Siksika Nation]]) in southern Alberta, Canada. Based on his observations of their peaceful and cooperative way of life (in contrast to American society), Maslow concluded that human destructiveness and aggression is largely culturally determined and “most probably a secondary, reactive consequence of thwarting of or threat to the basic human needs”.{{sfn|Maslow|1954}} However, claims have been made that Maslow had failed to acknowledge the influence of the Blackfoot philosophy in developing the hierarchy of needs.<ref>Coon, D. (2006) Abraham H. Maslow: Reconnaissance for Eupsychia. In D.A. Dewsbury, L.T. Benjamin Jr. and M. Wertheimer (Eds). Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology, Vol. 6 (pp. 255–273). Washington, D.C. & Mahwah, N.J.: American Psychological Association and Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.</ref><ref>Brown, S (2014) ''Transformation beyond greed: Native self-actualization''. Sidney Stone Brown.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Original Influences {{!}}| website = Psychology Today |last = Taylor |first = Steve |format = Blog | date = March 22, 2019 |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201903/original-influences |url-status=live |archive-url=http://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20230313095915/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out%2Dof%2Dthe%2Ddarkness/201903/original%2Dinfluences |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |access-date=August 21, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

According to [[Scott Barry Kaufman|Kaufman]], while acknowledging that Maslow learned much from the Blackfoot people, “there is nothing in these writings to suggest he borrowed or stole ideas for his hierarchy of needs”.{{sfn|Kaufman|2019}} Without wishing to discredit Maslow, Blackfoot elders and scholars have argued that Maslow did not really understand the Blackfoot philosophy. "It is not that Maslow got the hierarchy wrong or upside down, it is rather that he did not understand the circular nature in which all beings in Siksika society are interconnected and integrated. They surround each other and needs are met through these connections".<ref>Bear Chief - Oom Kapisi, E.R. Choate, P. and Lindstrom, G. (2022) [https://anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/article/view/959 Reconsidering Maslow and the hierarchy of needs from a First Nations’ perspective]. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 34(2), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol34iss2id959.</ref>