Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs are a series of physiological and emotional requirements for human contentment, arranged in order of necessity.

Learning Objective

Explain Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Key Points

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the greatest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top.
The order of needs as categorized by Maslow are physiological; safety; love and belonging; esteem; and self-actualization.
Maslow acknowledged that many different levels of motivation are likely to be present in a human all at once. His focus in discussing the hierarchy was to identify the basic types of motivation and the order that they generally progress as lower needs are reasonably well met.

Terms

esteem
to regard someone with respect.
security
The condition of not being threatened, especially physically, psychologically, emotionally, or financially.
potential
currently unrealized ability.

Examples

For the most part, 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. Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary 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.
With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety – due to war, natural disaster, or, in cases of family violence, childhood abuse, etc. – people (re-)experience post-traumatic stress disorder and trans-generational trauma transfer. In the absence of economic safety – due to economic crisis and lack of work opportunities – these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a 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.
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are interpersonal and involve feelings of belongingness. The need is especially strong in 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 hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism etc. – can impact individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general.
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.
The perceived need for self-actualization pertains to what a person's full potential is and realizing 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. 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, pictures, or inventions.

Full Text

The most fundamental and basic needs are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs":

Esteem
Friendship and love
Security
Physical needs

If these "deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense. Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will focus on higher level needs.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy captures the varying degree of needs by which humans are motivated. According to the psychological perspective, decision makers are motivated by these needs and decisions are influenced accordingly.

The human mind is complex, so many different motivations from different levels of Maslow's pyramid usually occur at the same time. Maslow was clear about speaking of these levels and their satisfaction in terms such as "relative" and "general" and "primarily. " Maslow acknowledged that many different levels of motivation are likely to be going on in a human all at once. His focus in discussing the hierarchy was to identify the basic types of motivations and the order that they generally progress as lower needs are reasonably well met.

Physiological Needs

Physiological needs are generally obvious because they are requiremed for survival. If requirements are not met, the body cannot continue to function. People lacking food, love, esteem, or safety would consider food to be their greatest need. Air, water, food, clothing, and shelter are the basic physiological needs.

Safety Needs

Once physical needs are satisfied, individual safety takes precedence. Safety and Security needs include:

Personal security
Financial security
Health and well-being
Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts
Love and belonging

Interpersonal Needs

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are interpersonal. This involves feelings of belongingness. Deficiencies in interpersonal needs, due to neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc., can impact an individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:

Friendship
Intimacy
Family

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, religious groups, professional organizations, gangs, family, or mentors. Humans need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. Without these connections, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can sometimes overcome physiological and security needs. For example, an anorexic may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.

Esteem

Esteem represents 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. Many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances, such as depression, can prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs: a "lower" version and a "higher" version. The "lower" version of esteem is the need for respect from others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The "higher" version manifests itself as the need for self-respect. For example, the person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence , independence, and freedom. This "higher" version takes precedence over the "lower" version because it relies on an inner competence established through experience. Deprivation of these needs may 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 quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions. As previously mentioned, Maslow believed that to understand this level of need, the person must not only achieve the previous needs, but master them.

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