Maslow's hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

There are many hierarchies in society, and throughout history, but none are as crucial to our lives as Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As a humanistic psychologist, he believed in humanity’s potential. He deduced that there are five levels of needs that must be filled for us to be stable and healthy individuals. If some of those needs are missing, there is often a high possibility of someone becoming unstable or deranged. The lack of fulfillment of our needs can cause severe damage to the way we learn, our emotional states, mental capacity, or functional capacity.

It is actually found that many understand Maslow’s theories, and can even find they exhibit similar traits and deficiencies that are predicted in his ideas. This is because his ideas were based in highly practical areas, using logistics and observations to create accurate ideas as to the effects of deprivation of needs. For example, one of his key points is that a person cannot function beyond a certain capacity, of feel the need of a higher level, until their basic needs are met.

Level One- Biological

These are the very instinctual needs. This includes food, water, sleep and physical comfort. These needs are also the most powerful, as without them, a person does not think of anything except satisfying these physiological needs. When these needs are not met, the mind focuses solely on these things.

Level Two- Safety

The second most powerful need is that of safety and security. A person feels the need to know they will have a constant source of protection and stability in their lives. This need is often unrecognized unless there is something such as a terrorist attack or widespread rioting in progress. However, children often feel very insecure and need a stronger feeling of safety.

Level Three- Love and Acceptance

Right in the center of these needs lays the need to feel loved, and to feel connected to other human beings. After the first levels, humans feel the need to overcome any social or personal isolation and alienation. Often, this is through giving and receiving love, but this can also be through general friendship, popularity, or intercourse, depending on age and personality. A lack of proper love can often lead to susceptibility for addictions, as the person will use sex or drugs to excess to feel loved. This is also why popularity is such an important aspect of many teenagers’ lives.

Level Four- Esteem

This level includes being respected by one’s self, and by others. We all have a need for a stable and high-standing position of respect in the eyes of those around us. When we feel respected, we feel confident and valuable to society. When others put us down, and we are made to feel less respected, we naturally feel inferior and/or worthless.

Level Five- Self-actualization

This is the final, but hardest to satisfy, level of needs. Once the others have been fulfilled, this level drives an individual to find and adhere to their life’s calling. If they are not in pursuit of their life’s goals, they will often feel tense and restless. For example, if someone born to be a lawyer is currently managing a supermarket, they will feel dissatisfied and aggravated by their job.

Self-actualization Interruption

Some people do not pursue the goal they feel their life was destined to fulfill, and there can be several reasons for this. Maslow theorized that the strongest deterrent from one’s dreams is the educational system. A lack of proper education will not enable them to perform certain jobs. Also, the system is designed to give children a general field of learning, but not to enhance the knowledge of subjects they truly wish to learn.

Maslow says the system should address these points:
1. We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their inner-feeling voices.
2. We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens.
3. We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate.
4. We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes life worth living.
5. We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature. From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what potentials are really there.
6. We must see that the person's basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs.
7. We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the other good things in nature and in living.
8. We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes control to improve the quality of life in all areas.
9. We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death.
10. We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good choices
(Taken from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow...)

Now what happens if these needs are not met? Let’s take a look:

The first level, the basic level, goes without saying. People are tortured by being deprived of food, sleep and water. After a time, all they can think of is how greatly they crave a drink, or a meal, and their patriotism or family no longer matters. If deprived of food for long enough, a person can be controlled to do almost anything. They would do anything to satisfy the need.

The second level, security, is very important in children. Children that move a lot, or whose parents fight a lot, often are deprived of security and stability of the home. This can cause them severe emotional distress, but in the long run, deprivation of this need can lead to psychological issues, anxiety, agoraphobia, and other such disease.

The third level, love, is quite obviously crucial. When a person feels alone, and unloved by the world, their thoughts often become depressive and suicidal. Without affection, and without feeling emotionally connected to someone, they can wind up becoming delusional and treating inanimate objects as friends or lovers. Moreover, a lack of this need during childhood can lead to disorders such as Dissociative Identity Disorder, Schizophrenia, Bi-polar disorder, or others, from the severe damage to their emotions and psyche.

The fourth level, esteem, is also as crucial as love. If treated with disrespect, we will often feel downtrodden, worthless, and again, suicidal. Teenagers who become depressive and unstable have often been found to be the victim of countless jeers and rude comments. On the contrary, those who are often given compliments and treated with respect are confident, often charismatic, and successful, as they believe in themselves and ensure they do well in life.

The fifth level is important, but not crucial. Self-actualization is not necessary to our function, but will often lead to notable happiness and success if it is achieved. If we are stuck in an unfavorable job, it will simply be a job we do not enjoy doing. People will rarely become unstable and deranged over a bad job.

Do our needs have to be fulfilled in that order?

“While Maslow’s 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 order.1 For example, he notes 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.” (Taken from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds_2.htm)

To put it simply, no! If being loved is more important than security to you, then this hierarchy would be altered, in your scenario. In addition to describing what is meant by self-actualization in his theory, Maslow also identified some of the key characteristics of self-actualized people:

Acceptance and Realism: Self-actualized people have realistic perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them.

Problem-centering: Self-actualized individuals are concerned with solving problems outside of themselves, including helping others and finding solutions to problems in the external world. These people are often motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and ethics.

Spontaneity: Self-actualized people are spontaneous in their internal thoughts and outward behavior. While they can conform to rules and social expectations, they also tend to be open and unconventional.

Autonomy and Solitude: Another characteristics of self-actualized people is the need for independence and privacy. While they enjoy the company of others, these individuals need time to focus on developing their own individual potential.

Continued Freshness of Appreciation: Self-actualized people tend to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe. Even simple experiences continue to be a source of inspiration and pleasure.

Peak Experiences: Individuals who are self-actualized often have what Maslow termed peak experiences, or moments of intense joy, wonder, awe and ecstasy. After these experiences, people feel inspired, strengthened, renewed or transformed

However!

There are many, including myself, who give dispute to this being a hierarchy! There is very little evidence to show either level being more important than the other, or that all levels are even evident in the needs of some people. For instance, hermits would have no need of love or social acceptance, as they are deliberately removing themselves from society. Others are thrill seekers. People like Evil Knievel obviously have no regard for their own safety and security, so this should not be considered in their construct of needs.

Obviously, this theory may be considered flawed, though it could easily apply to most, if not all, pre-adolescent persons. At those stages in life, our personalities have yet to become distinguished and profound, so the hierarchy may stand firmly rooted in their young lives.