Cultivate B-Values: truth, beauty, goodness, and wholeness
Attend to and create more encounters with what Maslow called the Being-Values — qualities of existence rather than means to ends.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Attend to and create more encounters with what Maslow called the Being-Values — qualities of existence rather than means to ends.
- Why it works: Maslow distinguished Deficiency needs (D-needs) — met by external conditions — from Being needs (B-needs) — intrinsic qualities of existence like truth, beauty, justice, and wholeness. He argued that self-transcending people are motivated by B-Values rather than D-needs, and that this shift in motivational structure is what makes transcendence possible. Psychologically, B-Value orientation reduces the scarcity-competition anxiety of D-need motivation because B-Values are not zero-sum — truth and beauty are not diminished when shared.
- Evidence: Plausible mechanism, limited direct outcome data.
- Avoid: Treating B-Values as the same as intrinsic goals — the distinction Maslow is pointing to is more radical: B-Values are not goals to achieve but qualities of reality to attend to and honor.
Why it works
Maslow distinguished Deficiency needs (D-needs) — met by external conditions — from Being needs (B-needs) — intrinsic qualities of existence like truth, beauty, justice, and wholeness. He argued that self-transcending people are motivated by B-Values rather than D-needs, and that this shift in motivational structure is what makes transcendence possible. Psychologically, B-Value orientation reduces the scarcity-competition anxiety of D-need motivation because B-Values are not zero-sum — truth and beauty are not diminished when shared.
How to do it
- 1List Maslow’s B-Values (truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, aliveness, uniqueness, perfection, necessity, completion, justice, simplicity, richness, effortlessness, playfulness, self-sufficiency). Which three feel most alive to you?
- 2Ask: "Am I building a life in which I regularly encounter these values in their fullness?" Rate each 1–5.
- 3For your lowest-scoring B-Value, identify one way to increase your contact with it this week.
- 4Practice orienting from "what do I want to get?" to "what is genuinely here that is worth attending to?"
What the evidence says
MechanisticMaslow’s B-Values are a theoretical construct from his later work. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation research (self-determination theory) provides the closest empirical parallel: intrinsic motivation predicts higher well-being and engagement than extrinsic motivation.
Honest caveat: B-Values as Maslow framed them are theoretical; empirical mapping between B-Values and measurable outcomes has not been conducted systematically.
- — Maslow (1971), The Farther Reaches of Human Nature
- — Deci & Ryan (2000), "Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation," American Psychologist
Common mistake
Treating B-Values as the same as intrinsic goals — the distinction Maslow is pointing to is more radical: B-Values are not goals to achieve but qualities of reality to attend to and honor.
IX Coach incorporates B-Value check-ins at key decision points, asking not just "will this move me toward my goal?" but "does this bring me into contact with what genuinely matters?"
Practice this with IX Coach →