Maslow's hierachy of needs

Answer 1

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation." Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. This theory is applied to almost every element of our lives and often serves as the foundation for motivational training and personal development courses. Understanding your own needs helps you identify and understand the needs of others.

They are broken into five areas and are generally displayed in a pyramid with the physiological as the foundation of all needs, ending with self-actualisation as the pinnacle. Those needs are defined as follows:

Physiological needs

Generally, physiological needs are obvious - they are the literal requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body simply cannot continue to function.

Physiological needs are considered the most prepotent of all the other needs. Accordingly, the human that lacks food, love, esteem, or safety would consider the greatest of their needs to be food.

Air, water, and food are requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide protection from the elements. The intensity of the human sexual instinct is shaped more by sexual competition than maintaining a Birth Rate adequate to survival of the species.

Safety needs

With physical needs being met, the individual's safety needs take priority and dominate behaviour. In the absence of physical safety, such as exposure to domestic violence, childhood abuse, etc., people can re-live experiences of post-traumatic events and other previous traumas. In the absence of economic security, safety needs can manifest themselves in scenarios such as preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability accommodations, and the like. This level is more likely to be found in children because they have a greater need to feel safe.

Safety and Security needs may include:

Health and a sense of well-being

Personal security

Financial security

Love and belonging

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are interpersonal and involve feelings of belonging. The need is especially strong during childhood and can over-ride the need for safety, as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies with respect to this aspect of Maslow's hierarchy - due to hospitalisation, neglect, ostracism etc. - can impact an individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:

Friendship

Intimacy

Family

As humans we all need to experience a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or social circles, i.e., family members, sexual partners, mentors, close colleagues. They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. The need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure.

Esteem

All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. However, many people with low self-esteem are unable to improve their self-esteem simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally. They must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Most people have a need for a balanced sense of self-esteem. Maslow noted there are two versions of esteem needs; a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-respect, the need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.

Maslow also states that even though these are examples of how the quest for knowledge is separate from basic needs he warns that these "two hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated" This means that this level of need, as well as the next and highest level, are not strict, separate levels but closely related to others, and this is possibly the reason that these two levels of need are left out of most textbooks.

Self-actualization

"What a man can be, he must be." This forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person's full potential is and realising that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. This is a broad definition of the need for self-actualization, but when applied to individuals the need becomes specific. For example: one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in another it may be expressed in painting, Photography, or inventions. In order to reach a clear understanding of this level of need, one must first not only achieve the previous needs - physiological, safety, love, and esteem, but master them.

Answer 2

MaslowÃ?s hierarchy of needs describes the ideas and theories that motivate people to act the way they do. The hierarchy includes 5 basic needs.