An Analysis Of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

What does a person need in their lives? Food? Shelter? Love? Family? This is a question that can be answered both with very simply ideas and more complex concepts. In “Sun from America,” Berl and Berlcha would have a fairly dissimilar response to this question than their son, Samuel.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describes what a theoretical person would need in their life. Abraham Maslow supposes, “the fundamental desires of human beings are similar despite the multitude of conscious desires” (Zalenski 1121). This theory crosses all boundaries such as race, religion, ethnic, and geography. Maslow also believes the needs of human beings are hierarchical; lesser needs must be achieved before the greater needs can be explored (Zalenski 1121).
Deficiency needs are rather rudimentary needs that require a preceding base to rise in the hierarchy while growth needs necessitate the lesser deficiency needs, but can be more complex and can be obtained in a less concrete order (Huitt). The first deficiency needs are biological necessities such as sleep, food, and drink (Thielke 475 & 476). One level higher on the model lays safety. In this group, you require the securities of health, employment, and morality. The succeeding group, love and belong, incorporates the needs for affection, family, and relationships (Zalenski 1121). The final deficiency need would be esteem; that includes confidence, respect, and self-esteem (Thielke 478 & 479). Initially, Maslow considered self-actualization the only growth need; however, the philosopher later broke down this group into sub sections that include the cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self- transcendence sections. The cognitive group includes the desire of knowledge and understanding. Order and symmetry are components of the aesthetic group (Huitt). Self-actualization, the second upmost idea, comprises of a yearning for fulfillment and the realization of one’s self-potential