These are not necessary to survival but are goals that we perceive as higher. In Abraham Maslow's book "Motivation and Personality" (1954) he outlined his theory of human motivation, which dubbed these positive goals as "higher order" needs. If all of an individual's baser desires - the deficits - are satisfied the individual will attempt to fulfil higher-order needs. These include the desire to belong, to be held in affection and esteem and the thirst for knowledge.
Both of these methods have their merits, but both also have distinct weaknesses. Firstly, the reservations towards humanistic theory. The general accusation that can be made is of lack of scientific evidence. No investigation can be made into determining the "peak experiences" experienced by Maslow's historical "self-actualisers". Rogers's theories on childhood repression seem general and certainly unsupported by meaningful scientific investigation. Accusations can even be made against the usefulness of childhood psychoanalysis in determining future behaviour and personality - is personality stable or not? This is a question in itself; one that Rogers does not address. With the assertion that all human thought essentially derives from free will, it is difficult to formulate an effective treatment - throwing doubt on the usefulness of the theory.
Coupled with the feeling that humanistic approaches are too unsubstantiated is the thought that it is too unfoundedly positive. It suggests that all people naturally gravitate towards good deeds - art, literature etc. Instead it seems likely that given the right circumstances a person can be caused, either psychologically or sociologically, to do evil. Would this be a product of any deficiency need? Or even a twisted version of one of his higher needs? Not necessarily. A serial killer doesn't necessarily kill for attention or for security or any of Maslow's higher-order desires. The sociopathic killer is entirely aware of the logic of the situation and chooses to commit murder as the logical extension of its perceived character - surely a self-actualiser by Maslow's own standard, but not one that has been recognised.
