Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs Analysis
1. Introduction
The happiness of an individual highly depends on his financial prosperity and therefore on the economic welfare of the country he lives in consequently raising the income of everybody would also raise the happiness of everybody. The intuition would say ’yes’ but this however is not the reality. One’s own welfare often depends on the welfare of others because people always compare themselves with their social environment (Easterlin, 1994).
Life satisfaction originates through a “good life“ but if the level of well-being of the others also increases, one feels equal or even less satisfied (Frey, 2008). Increasing everybody’s income would not increase everybody’s happiness and the welfare of the country does not always have a …show more content…
The Hierarchy of Needs is a model that categorizes human needs. Every need on the top can only be satisfied when the needs on the bottom are fulfilled, but they are also interrelated so that sometimes a lower need depend on a higher need. From the bottom to the top it includes physiological needs, the need for safety, the social need, esteem and on the very top the need for self-actualization. If the lowest needs, being physiological and the need for safety are not given than happiness can’t be reached (Maslow, 1943). People need a certain standard in their life to be happy. Poverty means that at least one of the two lowest needs are not fulfilled and this makes a development of happiness not impossible but very …show more content…
An extreme example of economic inequality affecting citizens would be total poverty of a country. This would make a happy and satisfied life impossible just through the poorness and hopelessness that is given through the environment. Moreover a political system like communism, which also influences the economy of a country, has a remarkable impact on the people. Imagine the people who lived in East Germany and were not able to buy blue jeans because the system did not allowed imports from foreign countries. In this case referring to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the need self-actualization cannot be satisfied. This shows that the form of the economy and the equality in the economy can change life satisfaction of people as
The happiness of an individual highly depends on his financial prosperity and therefore on the economic welfare of the country he lives in consequently raising the income of everybody would also raise the happiness of everybody. The intuition would say ’yes’ but this however is not the reality. One’s own welfare often depends on the welfare of others because people always compare themselves with their social environment (Easterlin, 1994).
Life satisfaction originates through a “good life“ but if the level of well-being of the others also increases, one feels equal or even less satisfied (Frey, 2008). Increasing everybody’s income would not increase everybody’s happiness and the welfare of the country does not always have a …show more content…
The Hierarchy of Needs is a model that categorizes human needs. Every need on the top can only be satisfied when the needs on the bottom are fulfilled, but they are also interrelated so that sometimes a lower need depend on a higher need. From the bottom to the top it includes physiological needs, the need for safety, the social need, esteem and on the very top the need for self-actualization. If the lowest needs, being physiological and the need for safety are not given than happiness can’t be reached (Maslow, 1943). People need a certain standard in their life to be happy. Poverty means that at least one of the two lowest needs are not fulfilled and this makes a development of happiness not impossible but very …show more content…
An extreme example of economic inequality affecting citizens would be total poverty of a country. This would make a happy and satisfied life impossible just through the poorness and hopelessness that is given through the environment. Moreover a political system like communism, which also influences the economy of a country, has a remarkable impact on the people. Imagine the people who lived in East Germany and were not able to buy blue jeans because the system did not allowed imports from foreign countries. In this case referring to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the need self-actualization cannot be satisfied. This shows that the form of the economy and the equality in the economy can change life satisfaction of people as