Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
- Physiological Needs
- These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen,
food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are
the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs,
the physiological ones would come first in the person's search for
satisfaction.
-
- Safety Needs
- When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer
controlling thoughts and behaviors, the needs for security can become
active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except
in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social
structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the
signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.
-
- Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness
- When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are
satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness
can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of
loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving
love, affection and the sense of belonging.
-
- Needs for Esteem
- When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs
for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both
self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans
have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect,
and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person
feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When
these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless
and worthless.
-
- Needs for Self-Actualization
- When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only
then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes
self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the
person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must
paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in
signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking
something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not
loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know
what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a
person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.
Simons, J. A., Irwin, D. B., &
Drinnien, B. A. (1987).
Psychology: The search for
understanding. New York, NY:
West Publishing.
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