In Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is located at the very top of the pyramid, representing the need to fulfill one’s individual potential. According to Maslow, peak experiences play an important role in self-actualization.
Self-actualization is actually considered quite rare, which means that peak experiences can be equally elusive. Not all people reach the peak of Maslow’s pyramid.
In one study, researchers found that only about two-percent of individuals surveyed had ever had a peak experience.
Peak experiences are not restricted solely to self-actualized individuals, however. Maslow believed that all people are capable of having these moments, but he also felt that self-actualized people were likely to experience them more often.
How Do Psychologists Define Peak Experiences?
Peak experiences are often described as transcendent moments of pure joy and elation. These are moments that stand out from everyday events. The memory of such events is lasting and people often liken them to a spiritual experience.
The Characteristics of Peak Experiences
Privette (2001) developed an Experience Questionnaire designed to look at both the shared and unique characteristics of peak experiences. After looking at a wide variety of people, peak experiences have been identified as sharing three key characteristics:
Significance: Peak experiences lead to an increase in personal awareness and understanding and can serve as a turning point in a person’s life.
Fulfillment: Peak experiences generate positive emotions and are intrinsically rewarding.
Spiritual: During a peak experience, people feel at one with the world and often experience a sense of losing track of time.
When Do Peak Experiences Occur?
Maslow suggested that one of the best ways to think of peak experiences are to think of the most wonderful experiences of your life. Those moments of ecstasy and complete and utter happiness. Being in love is one example of a peak experience. Such moments may also occur when you are in a creative moment or when reading a book or listening to a movie. You might feel a sense of “being hit” by a particular creative work in a way that strikes an emotional chord inside of yourself.
In one survey, people reported that peak experiences tended to occur during artistic, athletic or religious experiences. Moments in nature or during intimate moments with family or friends were also common. Achieving an important goal, either a personal or collective one, could also lead to a peak experience. Other moments when such experiences might occur include when an individual helps another person in need or after overcoming some type of adversity.
What Does a Peak Experience Feel Like?
So what exactly does it feel like to have a peak experience?
Some describe these moments as a sense of awe, wonder and amazement. Think of the sense of awe you may feel while watching a sunset or the excitement you might experience during the final moments of close basketball game.
How to Design for Peak Experience?
Traditional interface design:
user profile, central personas, average and typical, process and methods, from need to solution.
Design for peak experience:
individual user, niches, extreme personas, specific and eclectic ideas and inspiration, from concept to use.