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I Chose this article because it gives extra detail on the topic

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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an idea in psychology proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in the journal Psychological Review.[1] Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans’ innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. The theory is a classification system intended to reflect the universal needs of society as its base, then proceeding to more acquired emotions.[3] The hierarchy of needs is split between deficiency needs and growth needs, with two key themes involved within the theory being individualism and the prioritization of needs. While the theory is usually shown as a pyramid in illustrations, Maslow himself never created a pyramid to represent the hierarchy of needs.[4][5] The hierarchy of needs is a psychological idea and also an assessment tool, particularly in education, healthcare and social work.[6] The hierarchy remains a popular framework, for example in sociology research, management training,[7] and higher education.[8]

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This article explains it a little more in dept

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory by Abraham Maslow, which puts forward that people are motivated by five basic categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.

Key Takeaways: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

What Is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

In order to better understand what motivates human beings, Maslow proposed that human needs can be organized into a hierarchy. This hierarchy ranges from more concrete needs such as food and water to abstract concepts such as self-fulfillment. According to Maslow, when a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes our focus of attention.

These are the five categories of needs according to Maslow:

Physiological

These refer to basic physical needs like drinking when thirsty or eating when hungry. According to Maslow, some of these needs involve our efforts to meet the body's need for homeostasis; that is, maintaining consistent levels in different bodily systems (for example, maintaining a body temperature of 98.6°).

Maslow considered physiological needs to be the most essential of our needs. If someone is lacking in more than one need, they're likely to try to meet these physiological needs first. For example, if someone is extremely hungry, it's hard to focus on anything else besides food. Another example of a physiological need would be the need for adequate sleep.

Once people's physiological requirements are met, the next need that arises is a safe environment. Our safety needs are apparent even early in childhood, as children have a need for safe and predictable environments and typically react with fear or anxiety when these are not met. Maslow pointed out that in adults living in developed nations, safety needs are more apparent in emergency situations (e.g. war and disasters), but this need can also explain why we tend to prefer the familiar or why we do things like purchase insurance and contribute to a savings account.

Love and Belonging

According to Maslow, the next need in the hierarchy involves feeling loved and accepted. This need includes both romantic relationships as well as ties to friends and family members. It also includes our need to feel that we belong to a social group. Importantly, this need encompasses both feeling loved and feeling love towards others.

Since Maslow's time, researchers have continued to explore how love and belonging needs impact well-being. For example, having social connections is related to better physical health and, conversely, feeling isolated (i.e. having unmet belonging needs) has negative consequences for health and well-being.﻿﻿

Our esteem needs involve the desire to feel good about ourselves. According to Maslow, esteem needs include two components. The first involves feeling self-confidence and feeling good about oneself. The second component involves feeling valued by others; that is, feeling that our achievements and contributions have been recognized by other people. When people's esteem needs are met, they feel confident and see their contributions and achievements as valuable and important. However, when their esteem needs are not met, they may experience what psychologist Alfred Adler called "feelings of inferiority."

Self-Actualization

Self-actualization refers to feeling fulfilled, or feeling that we are living up to our potential. One unique feature of self-actualization is that it looks different for everyone. For one person, self-actualization might involve helping others; for another person, it might involve achievements in an artistic or creative field. Essentially, self-actualization means feeling that we are doing what we believe we are meant to do. According to Maslow, achieving self-actualization is relatively rare, and his examples of famous self-actualized individuals include Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Mother Teresa.

How People Progress Through the Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow postulated that there were several prerequisites to meeting these needs. For example, having freedom of speech and freedom of expression or living in a just and fair society aren't specifically mentioned within the hierarchy of needs, but Maslow believed that having these things makes it easier for people to achieve their needs.

In addition to these needs, Maslow also believed that we have a need to learn new information and to better understand the world around us. This is partially because learning more about our environment helps us meet our other needs; for example, learning more about the world can help us feel safer, and developing a better understanding of a topic one is passionate about can contribute to self-actualization. However, Maslow also believed that this call to understand the world around us is an innate need as well.

Although Maslow presented his needs in a hierarchy, he also acknowledged that meeting each need is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Consequently, people don't need to completely satisfy one need in order for the next need in the hierarchy to emerge. Maslow suggests that, at any given time, most people tend to have each of their needs partly met-and that needs lower on the hierarchy are typically the ones that people have made the most progress towards.

Additionally, Maslow pointed out that one behavior might meet two or more needs. For example, sharing a meal with someone meets the physiological need for food, but it might also meet the need of belonging. Similarly, working as a paid caregiver would provide someone with income (which allows them to pay for food and shelter), but can also provide them a sense of social connection and fulfillment.

Testing Maslow's Theory

In the time since Maslow published his original paper, his idea that we go through five specific stages hasn't always been supported by research. In a 2011 study of human needs across cultures, researchers Louis Tay and Ed Diener looked at data from over 60,000 participants in over 120 different countries. They assessed six needs similar to Maslow's: basic needs (similar to physiological needs), safety, love, pride and respect (similar to esteem needs), mastery, and autonomy. They found that meeting these needs was indeed linked to well-being. In particular, having basic needs met was linked to people's overall assessment of their lives, and feeling positive emotions was linked to meeting the needs of feeling loved and respected.﻿﻿

However, although Tay and Diener found support for some of Maslow's basic needs, the order that people go through these steps seems to be more of a rough guide than a strict rule. For example, people living in poverty might have had trouble meeting their needs for food and safety, but these individuals still sometimes reported feeling loved and supported by the people around them. Meeting the previous needs in the hierarchy wasn't always a prerequisite for people to meet their love and belonging needs.

Maslow's Impact on Other Researchers

Maslow's theory has had a strong influence on other researchers, who have sought to build on his theory. For example, psychologists Carol Ryff and Burton Singer drew on Maslow's theories when developing their theory of eudaimonic well-being. According to Ryff and Singer, eudaimonic well-being refers to feeling purpose and meaning-which is similar to Maslow's idea of self-actualization.﻿﻿

Psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary built on Maslow's idea of love and belonging needs. According to Baumeister and Leary, feeling that one belongs is a fundamental need, and they suggest that feeling isolated or left out can have negative consequences for mental and physical health.﻿﻿

Additional References

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory puts forward that people are motivated by five basic categories of needs.

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it breaks down every part in great detail

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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Citation: Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from, http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html

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Abraham Maslow (1954) attempted to synthesize a large body of research related to human motivation. Prior to Maslow, researchers generally focused separately on such factors as biology, achievement, or power to explain what energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior. Maslow posited a hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings: deficiency needs and growth needs. Within the deficiency needs, each lower need must be met before moving to the next higher level. Once each of these needs has been satisfied, if at some future time a deficiency is detected, the individual will act to remove the deficiency. The first four levels are:

1) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.;

2) Safety/security: out of danger;

3) Belongingness and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and

4) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition.

According to Maslow, an individual is ready to act upon the growth needs if and only if the deficiency needs are met. Maslow's initial conceptualization included only one growth need--self-actualization. Self-actualized people are characterized by: 1) being problem-focused; 2) incorporating an ongoing freshness of appreciation of life; 3) a concern about personal growth; and 4) the ability to have peak experiences. Maslow later differentiated the growth need of self-actualization, specifically identifying two of the first growth needs as part of the more general level of self-actualization (Maslow & Lowery, 1998) and one beyond the general level that focused on growth beyond that oriented towards self (Maslow, 1971). They are:

5) Cognitive: to know, to understand, and explore;

6) Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty;

7) Self-actualization: to find self-fulfillment and realize one's potential; and

8) Self-transcendence: to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential.

Maslow's basic position is that as one becomes more self-actualized and self-transcendent, one becomes more wise (develops wisdom) and automatically knows what to do in a wide variety of situations. Daniels (2001) suggested that Maslow's ultimate conclusion that the highest levels of self-actualization are transcendent in their nature may be one of his most important contributions to the study of human behavior and motivation.

Norwood (1999) proposed that Maslow's hierarchy can be used to describe the kinds of information individual's seek at different levels of development. For example, individuals at the lowest level seek coping information in order to meet their basic needs. Information that is not directly connected to helping a person meet his or her needs in a very short time span is simply left unattended. Individuals at the safety level need helping information. They seek to be assisted in seeing how they can be safe and secure. Enlightening information is sought by individuals seeking to meet their belongingness needs. Quite often this can be found in books or other materials on relationship development. Empowering information is sought by people at the esteem level. They are looking for information on how their egos can be developed. Finally, people in the growth levels of cognitive, aesthetic, and self-actualization seek edifying information. While Norwood does not specifically address the level of transcendence, I believe it is safe to say that individuals at this stage would seek information on how to connect to something beyond themselves or to how others could be edified.

Maslow published his first conceptualization of his theory over 50 years ago (Maslow, 1943) and it has since become one of the most popular and often cited theories of human motivation. An interesting phenomenon related to Maslow's work is that in spite of a lack of empirical evidence to support his hierarchy, it enjoys wide acceptance (Wahba & Bridgewell, 1976; Soper, Milford & Rosenthal, 1995).

The few major studies that have been completed on the hierarchy seem to support the proposals of William James (1892/1962) and Mathes (1981) that there are three levels of human needs. James hypothesized the levels of material (physiological, safety), social (belongingness, esteem), and spiritual. Mathes proposed the three levels were physiological, belonginess, and self-actualization; he considered security and self-esteem as unwarranted. Alderfer (1972) developed a comparable hierarchy with his ERG (existence, relatedness, and growth) theory. His approach modified Maslow's theory based on the work of Gordon Allport (1960, 1961) who incorporated concepts from systems theory into his work on personality.

Alderfer's Hierarchy of Motivational Needs

Level of Need

Definition

Properties

Growth

Impel a person to make creative or productive effects on himself and his environment

Satisfied through using capabilities in engaging problems; creates a greater sense of wholeness and fullness as a human being

Relatedness

Involve relationships with significant others

Satisfied by mutually sharing thoughts and feelings; acceptance, confirmation, under- standing, and influence are elements

Existence

Includes all of the various forms of material and psychological desires

When divided among people one person's gain is another's loss if resources are limited

Maslow recognized that not all personalities followed his proposed hierarchy. While a variety of personality dimensions might be considered as related to motivational needs, one of the most often cited is that of introversion and extroversion. Reorganizing Maslow's hierarchy based on the work of Alderfer and considering the introversion/extraversion dimension of personality results in three levels, each with an introverted and extroverted component. This organization suggests there may be two aspects of each level that differentiate how people relate to each set of needs with different personalities relating more to one dimension than the other. For example, an introvert at the level of Other/Relatedness might be more concerned with his or her own perceptions of being included in a group, whereas an extrovert at that same level would pay more attention to how others value that membership.

A Reorganization of Maslow's and Alderfer's Hierarchies

Level

Introversion

Extroversion

Growth

Self-Actualization (development of competencies [knowledge, attitudes, and skills] and character)

Transcendence (assisting in the development of others' competencies and character; relationships to the unknown, unknowable)

Other
(Relatedness)

Personal identification with group, significant others (Belongingness)

Value of person by group (Esteem)

Self
(Existence)

Physiological, biological (including basic emotional needs)

Connectedness, security

At this point there is little agreement about the identification of basic human needs and how they are ordered. For example, Ryan & Deci (2000) also suggest three needs, although they are not necessarily arranged hierarchically: the need for autonomy, the need for competence, and the need for relatedness. Thompson, Grace and Cohen (2001) state the most important needs for children are connection, recognition, and power. Nohria, Lawrence, and Wilson (2001) provide evidence from a sociobiology theory of motivation that humans have four basic needs: (1) acquire objects and experiences; (2) bond with others in long-term relationships of mutual care and commitment; (3) learn and make sense of the world and of ourselves; and (4) to defend ourselves, our loved ones, beliefs and resources from harm. The Institute for Management Excellence (2001) suggests there are nine basic human needs: (1) security, (2) adventure, (3) freedom, (4) exchange, (5) power, (6) expansion, (7) acceptance, (8) community, and (9) expression.

Notice that bonding and relatedness are a component of every theory. However, there do not seem to be any others that are mentioned by all theorists. Franken (2001) suggests this lack of accord may be a result of different philosophies of researchers rather than differences among human beings. In addition, he reviews research that shows a person's explanatory or attributional style will modify the list of basic needs. Therefore, it seems appropriate to ask people what they want and how their needs could be met rather than relying on an unsupported theory. For example, Waitley (1996) advises having a person imagine what life would be like if time and money were not an object in a person's life. That is, what would the person do this week, this month, next month, if he or she had all the money and time needed to engage in the activities and were secure that both would be available again next year. With some follow-up questions to identify what is keeping the person from engaging in these activities at the present time, this open-ended approach is likely to identify the most important needs of the individual.

There is much work still to be done in this area before we can rely on a theory to be more informative than simply collecting and analyzing data. However, this body of research can be very important to parents, educators, administrators and others concerned with developing and using human potential. It provides an outline of some important issues that must be addressed if human beings are to achieve the levels of character and competencies necessary to be successful in the information/conceptual age (Huitt, 2007). Huitt's (2006) " Becoming a Brilliant Star" framework is intended to provide a framework to discuss the needs of children and youth across three core elements and ten domains.

References

Alderfer, C. (1972). Existence, relatedness, & growth. New York: Free Press.

Allport, G. (1960). Personality and social encounter: Selected essays. New York: Beacon Press.

Allport, G. (1961). Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Daniels, M. (2001). Maslows's concept of self-actualization. Retrieved February 2004, from http://www.mdani.demon.co.uk/archive/MDMaslow.htm

Franken, R. (2001). Human motivation (5th ed.).. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Huitt, W. (2006, April 26). Becoming a Brilliant Star: A framework for discussing formative holistic education. Paper presented at the International Networking for Educational Transformation (iNet) Conference, Augusta, GA. Retrieved May 2006, from

Huitt, W. (2007). Success in the Conceptual Age: Another paradigm shift. Paper delivered at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association, Savannah, GA, October 26. Retrieved December 2007, fromhttp://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/papers/conceptual_age_s.doc

Institute for Management Excellence. (2001). The nine basic human needs. Online Newsletter. Retrieved February 2004, from http://www.itstime.com/print/jun97p.htm

James, W. (1892/1962). Psychology: Briefer course. New York: Collier.

Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. Retrieved June 2001, from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm.

Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper.

Maslow, A. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York: The Viking Press.

Maslow, A., & Lowery, R. (Ed.). (1998). Toward a psychology of being (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley & Sons.

Mathes, E. (1981, Fall). Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a guide for living. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 21, 69-72.

Nohria, N., Lawrence, P., & Wilson, E. (2001). Driven: How human nature shapes our choices. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Norwood, G. (1999). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The Truth Vectors (Part I). Retrieved May 2002, from http://www.deepermind.com/20maslow.htm

Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. Retrieved February 2004, from http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/publications/documents/2000RyanDeciSDT.pdf.

Soper, B., Milford, G., & Rosenthal, G. (1995). Belief when evidence does not support theory. Psychology & Marketing, 12(5), 415-422.

Thompson, M., Grace, C., & Cohen, L. (2001). Best friends, worst enemies: Understanding the social lives of children. New York: Ballantine Books.http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345438094/qid=1024322725/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-0382559-6049463

Wahba, A., & Bridgewell, L. (1976). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 15, 212-240.

Waitley, D. (1996). The new dynamics of goal setting: Flextactics for a fast-changing world. New York: William Morrow.

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Educational Psychology Interactive: Maslow's hierarchy of needs

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Citation: Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from, http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html Return to: | Conative Domain | Courses | Home | Abraham Maslow (1954) attempted to synthesize a large body of research related to human motivation.

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it talks about the origin of where it all began

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Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of the best-known theories of motivation. Maslow's theory states that our actions are motivated by certain physiological and psychological needs that progress from basic to complex.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abraham Maslow first introduced the concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper, titled "A Theory of Human Motivation," and again in his subsequent book, "Motivation and Personality." This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs.

While some of the existing schools of thought at the time-such as psychoanalysis and behaviorism -tended to focus on problematic behaviors, Maslow was more interested in learning about what makes people happy and what they do to achieve that aim.

As a humanist, Maslow believed that people have an inborn desire to be self-actualized, that is, to be all they can be. To achieve this ultimate goal, however, a number of more basic needs must be met. This includes the need for food, safety, love, and self-esteem.

Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. There are five different levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, starting at the lowest level known as physiological needs.

Physiological Needs

The physiological needs include those that are vital to survival. Some examples of physiological needs include:

In addition to the basic requirements of nutrition, air, and temperature regulation, physiological needs also include shelter and clothing. Maslow included sexual reproduction in this level of the hierarchy as well, since it is essential to the survival and propagation of the species.

Security and Safety Needs

At the second level of Maslow's hierarchy, the needs start to become a bit more complex. At this level, the needs for security and safety become primary.

People want control and order in their lives. Some of the basic security and safety needs include:

Finding a job, obtaining health insurance and health care, contributing money to a savings account, and moving to a safer neighborhood are all examples of actions motivated by security and safety needs.

Social Needs

The social needs in Maslow's hierarchy include love, acceptance, and belonging. At this level, the need for emotional relationships drives human behavior. Some of the things that satisfy this need include:

Friendships

Romantic attachments

Family relationships

Social groups

Community groups

Churches and religious organizations

In order to avoid loneliness, depression, and anxiety, it is important for people to feel loved and accepted by others. Personal relationships with friends, family, and lovers play an important role, as does involvement in groups-such as religious groups, sports teams, book clubs, and other group activities.

Esteem Needs

At the fourth level in Maslow's hierarchy is the need for appreciation and respect. Once the needs at the bottom three levels have been satisfied, the esteem needs begin to play a more prominent role in motivating behavior.

At this level, it becomes increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to accomplish things, then have their efforts recognized. In addition to the need for feelings of accomplishment and prestige, esteem needs include such things as self-esteem and personal worth.

People need to sense that they are valued by others and feel that they are making a contribution to the world. Participation in professional activities, academic accomplishments, athletic or team participation, and personal hobbies can all play a role in fulfilling the esteem needs.

People who are able to satisfy esteem needs by achieving good self-esteem and the recognition of others tend to feel confident in their abilities. Conversely, those who lack self-esteem and the respect of others can develop feelings of inferiority.

Self-Actualization Needs

At the very peak of Maslow's hierarchy are the self-actualization needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested in fulfilling their potential.

"What a man can be, he must be," Maslow explained, referring to the need people have to achieve their full potential as human beings.

Maslow's said of self-actualization: "It may be loosely described as the full use and exploitation of talents, capabilities, potentialities, etc. Such people seem to be fulfilling themselves and to be doing the best that they are capable of doing. They are people who have developed or are developing to the full stature of which they capable."

Progressing Through the Pyramid of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid of needs are made up of the most basic needs while the most complex needs are at the top.

Once lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs. As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social.

At the top of the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority. Like Carl Rogers, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential.

Different Types of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be separated into two types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs.

Deficiency needs: Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs, which arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences.

Growth needs: Maslow called the needs at the top of the pyramid growth needs. These needs don't stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.

While the theory is generally portrayed as a fairly rigid hierarchy, Maslow noted that the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not always follow this standard progression.

For example, he noted that for some individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. For others, the need for creative fulfillment may supersede even the most basic needs.

Criticisms of Maslow's Theory

Maslow's theory has become wildly popular both in and out of psychology. The fields of education and business have been particularly influenced by the theory. But Maslow's concept has not been without criticism. Chief among the long-held objections are:

Needs don't follow a hierarchy: While some research has shown support for Maslow's theories, most of the research has not been able to substantiate the idea of a needs hierarchy. Wahba and Bridwell (researchers from Baruch College) reported that there was little evidence for Maslow's ranking of these needs and even less evidence that these needs are in a hierarchical order.

The theory is difficult to test: Other critics of Maslow's theory note that his definition of self-actualization is difficult to test scientifically. His research on self-actualization was also based on a very limited sample of individuals, including people he knew as well as biographies of famous individuals who Maslow believed to be self-actualized.

Some of the more recent critiques suggest that Maslow was inspired by the belief systems of the Blackfoot nation, but neglected to acknowledge this. Maslow's studied the Northern Blackfoot tribe as an anthropologist. However, this foundational basis disappeared over time, causing him to misuse the concepts he was originally there to assess.

Impact of Maslow's Hierarchy

Regardless of these criticisms, Maslow's hierarchy of needs represented part of an important shift in psychology. Rather than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow's humanistic psychology was focused on the development of healthy individuals.

There has been relatively little research supporting Maslow's theory, yet the hierarchy of needs is well-known and popular both in and out of psychology. And in a study published in 2011, researchers from the University of Illinois set out to put this hierarchy to the test.

What they discovered is that, while the fulfillment of the needs was strongly correlated with happiness, people from cultures all over the world reported that self-actualization and social needs were important even when many of the most basic needs were unfulfilled.

Such results suggest that while these needs can be powerful motivators of human behavior, they do not necessarily take the hierarchical form that Maslow described.

The Expanded Hierarchy of Needs

In 1970, Maslow built upon his original hierarchy to include three additional needs at the top of his pyramid, for a total of eight:

Cognitive needs. This centers on knowledge. People generally want to learn and know things about their world and their places in it.

Aesthetic needs. This addresses the appreciation of beauty and form. People might fulfill this need through enjoying or creating music, art, literature, and other creative expressions.

Transcendence needs. Maslow believed that humans are driven to look beyond the physical self in search of meaning. Helping others, practicing spirituality, and connecting with nature are a few ways we might meet this need.

A Word From Verywell

Whether you accept Maslow's hierarchy of needs or not, his theory shines a light on the many needs we have as human beings. And even if we don't all place these needs in the same order, keeping them in mind when interacting with others can help make our interactions more caring and respectful.

Frequently Asked Questions

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How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explains Human Motivation

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs describes five levels of needs that motivate human nature. Learn more about the pyramid of needs and why it matters.

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this also breaks down every aspect

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Video transcript

so we talked about before that there's five approaches and understanding motivation and one of these approaches is called Maslow's hierarchy of needs and it's actually broken down into a pyramid so it looks just like this and it was created by a famous psychologist named Maslow so Maslow said that we have needs that need to be fulfilled in a specific order and it has to start from the bottom of the pyramid all the way to the top so our most basic need is our physiological need so this can include anything from food water breathing sleep all of these are essential needs to survive basically the second level is our need for safety so safety of resources safety of employment safety in our health property so all of these are basic needs as well but they can only be fulfilled when our physiological needs are fulfilled so we call these two levels the basic levels now he went on to name a third level and this is our level of love our need for love our need to belong a need to have friends and family so this level of needs is what we call our social needs the fourth level is our need for esteem self esteem so we like to feel confident and have a sense of achievement and what we do so this level is called our level of respect we like to gain respect from others when we reach this level and the last level is called self-actualization it's a big word but it's basically our need for wanting morality a sense of morality a need for acceptance and also creativity so we call this our full potential so think of this as climbing Mount Everest you have to start at the bottom but then along the way you're going to have different checkpoints each of these checkpoints are managed by all the Sherpas on the mountain you can't go from the bottom to the next level unless you check in with the Sherpa and he makes sure that you're okay you've eaten properly you're getting enough rest and only then can you jump to the next level again a Sherpa there at the higher level is going to check and make sure you're breathing okay you're not you're getting enough oxygen and so on so you get to the next checkpoint in the next checkpoint and finally you're at the top where you've realized your maximum potential so this is called Maslow's hierarchy of human needs

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs (video) | Khan Academy

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the basic understanding

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a detailed explanation on how it works

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"Help! My needs aren't being met!"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a fundamental theory in psychology, but it's of more than just abstract interest.

This theory - invented by Abraham Maslow in 1943 - could be useful for your everyday life. The idea is that our needs range from the very basic, such as the things required for our survival, through to higher goals such as altruism and spirituality. The hierarchy is often presented as a pyramid; if the needs at the base of the pyramid aren't met, then achieving the higher-level goals is extremely difficult. To put it more bluntly, if you're starving, or without shelter, it's much harder (though not impossible) to keep in touch with your higher-level needs, such as preserving the respect of your peers. As the Snickers advert says, "You're not you when you're hungry."
Maslow's Hierarchy also helps to answer what seems like a typical first-world-problems quehttps://www.oxford-royale.comstion: if I have everything I need, why I am still unhappy? The answer the hierarchy suggests is that your basic needs are being met, but perhaps your higher-level ones are not. It's a thought-provoking idea, and it's easy to see why Maslow's Hierarchy has remained a popular tool not just for psychologists, but also in education, business and management as well.

1. Physiological needs

The most basic level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs covers physiological needs. These are the things that we simply cannot live without: air, food, drink, warmth, sleep and shelter. At this end of the hierarchy, all the needs are 'deficiency needs'. We need them because when they are deficient, it's unpleasant for us. At the top end of the hierarchy, there are 'growth needs' - we don't need them because we're lacking in something, but instead in order to grow as individuals.
Hierarchical order here ranges from the most basic needs to the most advanced needs. It is, of course, possible to feel a sense of social belonging (for instance) when you lack food or shelter; it's just a lot harder. If you're struggling with the needs that lie further up the list, it might be worth considering whether all your basic physiological needs are being met. For instance, among teenagers,sleep deprivation has become the norm rather than the exception, with surveys reporting between 50% and 90% of teenagers failing to meet this basic physiological need.

2. Safety needs

Safety needs come just behind physiological needs, as they also relate to our basic health and well-being. This is about physical safety, such as protection from violence, but also about financial security, freedom from accidents, and the security of easily accessible healthcare. More generally, having your safety needs met means that you aren't regularly afraid of anything: you're not afraid of having a debilitating accident or contracting a dangerous disease, of getting into financial difficulties, or of being physically attacked. But having this need met isn't just about living in a safe country with good social norms. Workplace or schoolyard bullying, for instance, can mean that your safety needs are not met.

3. Social belonging

An updated version of this need has been described as 'belongingness and love', which perhaps addresses its scope more accurately. We need friendships, family connections and emotional intimacy with others. Different people in different societies meet this need in different ways: for some people, their need for social belonging might be met entirely within their extended family; for others, it might be organised activities such as a church community; for others, it might be a network of friendships and romantic relationships that meet this need.
It's also worth noting that meeting this need can enable us to overcome a lack of our basic needs - people suffering hardship in war zones (lacking safety) or famines (lacking food) often manage to keep going through the strength of their relationships with others.

4. Esteem

Maslow noted that esteem comes in two different forms. The 'lower' form is the need for the esteem of others. We need our colleagues, peers and friends to respect us and the work we do; to value our contribution to society; to think well of us. The need for the esteem of others is often referenced in a workplace context (unsurprising, given the popularity of Maslow's Hierarchy with management trainers) but having the esteem of our friends is just as important.
The 'higher' form of esteem is self-esteem or self-respect. It's higher because people with self-esteem still have their need for esteem met even in circumstances that others around them don't respect them. Being without either kind of esteem can leave you feeling useless, helpless or inferior. The need for belonging and the need for esteem are classed as the psychological needs.

4a. Cognitive needs

Maslow's original hierarchy had just five levels, but over the years he adapted it and added two further levels. The first of these is sometimes treated as level 5, but we're sticking to Maslow's original numbering, so we've called this 4a.
Cognitive needs make a sensible addition to Maslow's original 5 levels. This is the need for knowledge; our sense of curiosity; our desire for exploration, education, and meaning. While this sounds like a highbrow, intellectual need best satisfied through long hours in a library, it doesn't have to be. Cognitive needs are not academic needs, and it's entirely possible that someone could have this need met by striving to understand the roots of Taylor Swift's feud with Kanye West. (Though, to be fair, there will probably be people writing PhD theses on that in a few years' time).

4b. Aesthetic needs

Another later addition to Maslow's original hierarchy is our aesthetic need. That's our desire, separate from anything else, to experience beauty in whatever form. That could be anything from experiencing the wonder of unspoiled nature in the heart of a National Park, to admiring a beautiful painting. This shouldn't be seen as a materialistic need - it's not about a beautiful painting - but instead about a desire for the experience of beauty. Romantic poets and artists might call it the sublime.

5. Self-actualisation

The pinnacle of Maslow's original hierarchy was self-actualisation. This is perhaps the hardest level to define, as it means different things to different people. Broadly, it's about fulfilling the full extent of your own potential across all the areas that are personally important to you. It's about not depending on the opinions of others, but about knowing what matters most to you, achieving it, and finding satisfaction in that. It involves a high level of self-awareness, and unlike other needs on the hierarchy, cannot be achieved without a person's basic needs being met. Maslow felt achieving self-actualisation was rare, as people's goals seldom match their lives.

5b. Self-transcendence

Maslow's later writings criticise his earlier idea of self-actualisation as the highest level of needs. Instead, he proposed self-transcendence, which involves altruistically helping others to achieve self-actualisation. Not long before his death, he wrote "Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos." If this sounds like spirituality, then that was very much Maslow's intention. After all, self-transcendence, or something like it, is a key goal of many religions.

Maslow's Hierarchy has stood up remarkably well given it's over seventy years old and was developed in a scientifically dubious way. Maslow felt - in his own words, which carry overtones of eugenics - that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy".
Instead, he studied the biographies and writings of 18 people he believed to be self-actualised. The list reads more like a primary school project about notable people through history than a serious piece of psychological study, including Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frederick Douglass, Aldous Huxley and Ludwig van Beethoven. It's a list that's clearly biased towards the white, Western and male, and includes people about whom it seems unlikely that Maslow could have known enough to determine that they had definitely achieved self-actualisation.
Its dubious basis is only one criticism of Maslow's Hierarchy. Another is that the very notion of a hierarchy can be disproven; it's arguable that for most of history, most people's basic needs were not met. Does that mean none of them achieved self-actualisation? Or it is the case that in fact, it is possible to be motivated by higher needs even when your basic needs such as food and shelter are not fully being met?
Furthermore, Maslow's focus primarily on people from Western societies flavours the needs in the hierarchy. It's been suggested that these are not general human needs, but instead the needs of people who live in an individualistic society, rather than a collectivist one. In a collectivist hierarchy, it's been argued, belonging is paramount, self-esteem irrelevant and the pinnacle of the hierarchy associated with achieving societal rather than personal goals.

Despite these criticisms, Maslow's Hierarchy can still be useful. It's simply worth taking it as an idea that can spark inspiration, rather than as the be-all and end-all of human fulfilment. Here are some ways that you can put Maslow's Hierarchy to use in your life

1. In your personal life

It's worth using Maslow's Hierarchy when you know something's getting you down but you're not sure what it is. Running through the different needs can help you pin down what it is that you're missing, whether you're feeling the cognitive need to stretch your brain cells or the need to catch up with some friends and feel a sense of social belonging.

2. In leadership and management

Similarly, if you're in any kind of leadership role, you can find out for yourself why Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is so valuable to managers and use it to make sure that you're meeting the needs of the people you're leading as much as you reasonably can. Let's say you're in charge of a group to do a charity run. That might offer a sense of social belonging, the esteem of others, self-respect for doing something worthwhile, and meet cognitive needs by representing an exciting new challenge. But if run meetings take place in a dangerous area, you're not satisfying the need for safety, and that would need to be addressed.

3. In remembering the importance of feelings

It's not usually made explicit, but Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is as much about how things as about how they . For instance, in management uses, the need for security has been used to advise employers to handle sacking people carefully. If you make one person redundant, they lose their security, but the entire company might lose their of security and so have that need unmet, even if their jobs ultimately turn out to be safe. Most of the needs in the pyramid are not met by cold hard facts, but instead by whatever changes our feelings about ourselves, the people and the environment around us. If you rationally know that your needs are being met, but can't convince yourself to feel emotionally that they are, Maslow's Hierarchy helps you understand why that isn't sufficient for happiness.

4. In getting some perspective

In daily life we often focus on our basic and psychological needs; we think much more often about whether we're eating healthily and sleeping enough, and what our friends think of us, than we think about whether we've met our need for experiencing beauty or worked towards self-actualisation. Maslow's Hierarchy helps remind us of what's really important and worth striving for, rather than getting bogged down in minutiae. At the same time, the fact that the top of the pyramid requires the support of the base helps remind us to take care of the little things too, and not to neglect our personal well being in pursuit of a distant but greater goal.

Images: girl eating noodles; boy being bullied; friendship bracelets; woman rock climbing; book and tea; woman in art gallery; lemurs; sad girl looks at water; happy people in a meeting; man just been sacked; person standing on cliff top; crying baby;

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The 5 Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and How they Affect Your Life - Oxford Royale Academy

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"Help! My needs aren't being met!"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a fundamental theory in psychology, but it's of more than just abstract interest. You should also read... 8 Ways to Develop Your Leadership Skills The 6 Levels of Educational Complexity and How to Use Them This theory - invented by Abraham Maslow in 1943 -...