Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Coley L. Boone
ODV 420
March 15, 2015
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
‘What motivates people?’—Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychology, helps understand and answer this question. Maslow’s theory of human motivation is based on the premise that a set of motivation systems, quite independent of rewards and unconscious desires, drives people. Maslow organized people’s needs into a hierarchy and said that people feel motivated to achieve these needs. The largest and lowest-level needs are at the bottom. From the bottom up, the levels in the hierarchy are Physiological needs, Safety needs, Social needs, Esteem needs, and Self-actualization. While the former four are referred to as basic or deficiency needs or d-needs, the last one is termed growth needs.
When people’s lower level needs are met, they move on to achieve the next level of needs. When the basic needs are not satisfied, people feel the urge to fulfill them, and the longer the needs are denied, the stronger the urge becomes. After the growth needs are satisfied to a reasonable extent, people achieve self-actualization—though Maslow noted that only one in a hundred achieve complete self-actualization. (McLeod). Out of the four levels of d-needs, namely esteem and respect, love and friendship, safety, and physical needs, when the top three are not met for people, they feel a sense of anxiety and tension, though there are no physical indications. This means, once a level of needs is met, there is no full stop; instead, people begin to feel the dearth of the next level of needs and reach out to get them. Expanded Maslow’s Hierarchy, developed in the sixties and seventies, includes Cognitive and Aesthetic needs after Esteem needs and before Self-actualization, and Transcendence needs after Self-actualization needs. Physiological or physical needs encompass the needs for human survival—from breathing, eating and drinking to maintaining homeostasis, indulging in
Coley L. Boone
ODV 420
March 15, 2015
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
‘What motivates people?’—Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychology, helps understand and answer this question. Maslow’s theory of human motivation is based on the premise that a set of motivation systems, quite independent of rewards and unconscious desires, drives people. Maslow organized people’s needs into a hierarchy and said that people feel motivated to achieve these needs. The largest and lowest-level needs are at the bottom. From the bottom up, the levels in the hierarchy are Physiological needs, Safety needs, Social needs, Esteem needs, and Self-actualization. While the former four are referred to as basic or deficiency needs or d-needs, the last one is termed growth needs.
When people’s lower level needs are met, they move on to achieve the next level of needs. When the basic needs are not satisfied, people feel the urge to fulfill them, and the longer the needs are denied, the stronger the urge becomes. After the growth needs are satisfied to a reasonable extent, people achieve self-actualization—though Maslow noted that only one in a hundred achieve complete self-actualization. (McLeod). Out of the four levels of d-needs, namely esteem and respect, love and friendship, safety, and physical needs, when the top three are not met for people, they feel a sense of anxiety and tension, though there are no physical indications. This means, once a level of needs is met, there is no full stop; instead, people begin to feel the dearth of the next level of needs and reach out to get them. Expanded Maslow’s Hierarchy, developed in the sixties and seventies, includes Cognitive and Aesthetic needs after Esteem needs and before Self-actualization, and Transcendence needs after Self-actualization needs. Physiological or physical needs encompass the needs for human survival—from breathing, eating and drinking to maintaining homeostasis, indulging in
References: Cherry, Kendra. “Hierarchy of Needs.” Psychology About. Web. 14 Mar. 2015. <http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm>. “Maslow’s Hierarchy.” College of the Redwoods. Web. 14 Mar. 2015. < http://www.redwoods.edu/Departments/Distance/Tutorials/MaslowsHierarchy/maslows_print.html>. McLeod, Saul.”Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology. 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2015. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html>.