Personal Interpretations of Maslow's Needs
In 1943 Abraham Maslow, one of the founding fathers of humanist approaches to management, wrote an influential paper that set out five fundamental human needs and their hierarchical nature. They are quoted and taught so widely now that many people perceive this model as the definitive set of needs and do not look further. Abraham Maslow was what I consider to be a great, well accomplished phi anthropologist.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a very motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs; they seek to meet successively higher needs which I believe are better understand in pyramid form. Maslow felt as though conditioning theories did not adequately capture the complexity of human behavior. In a 1943 paper called A Theory of Human Motivation, Maslow presented the idea that human actions are directed toward what he referred to as “Goal Attainment”. Any given behavior could satisfy several functions at the same time, for instance, going to a bar could satisfy one’s needs for self esteem and for social interaction. What I’ll do is explain all five needs in a very detailed form, as well as give my own interpretation of each.
I’ll start off with what is considered to be the least important of the five needs, which is a Psychological need. For the most part, physiological needs are obvious-they are the literal requirement for human survival. If these requirements are not met (with the exception of clothing, shelter, and sexual activity), the human body cannot continue to function. Physiological needs are to do with the maintenance of the human body. If we are unwell, then little else matters until we recover. Physical needs include breathing, eating, food, water, homeostasis, and even sleep. Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. The intensity of the human sexual instinct is shaped more by sexual
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a very motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs; they seek to meet successively higher needs which I believe are better understand in pyramid form. Maslow felt as though conditioning theories did not adequately capture the complexity of human behavior. In a 1943 paper called A Theory of Human Motivation, Maslow presented the idea that human actions are directed toward what he referred to as “Goal Attainment”. Any given behavior could satisfy several functions at the same time, for instance, going to a bar could satisfy one’s needs for self esteem and for social interaction. What I’ll do is explain all five needs in a very detailed form, as well as give my own interpretation of each.
I’ll start off with what is considered to be the least important of the five needs, which is a Psychological need. For the most part, physiological needs are obvious-they are the literal requirement for human survival. If these requirements are not met (with the exception of clothing, shelter, and sexual activity), the human body cannot continue to function. Physiological needs are to do with the maintenance of the human body. If we are unwell, then little else matters until we recover. Physical needs include breathing, eating, food, water, homeostasis, and even sleep. Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. The intensity of the human sexual instinct is shaped more by sexual