Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in 1970 proposed a theory of needs to account for the range of human motivation. The theory arranges needs in order of urgency, ranging from physical needs of security needs, love and belonging needs to extreme needs involving desire for respect, confidence and finally to self actualization, meaning doing what you are best suited and realizing ones’ own potential to the maximum.

Diagram showing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

The needs at one level must be at least partially satisfied before those at the next level become important determinants of action. When food and safety are difficult to obtain, the satisfaction of these needs will dominate the person’s actions and higher motives will have little significance.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

An interpretation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper.

A theory of Human motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans’ innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. Maslow use the terms physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem and self actualization needs to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through.

Hierarchy

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top. While the pyramid has become the de facto way to represent the hierarchy, Maslow himself never used a pyramid to describe these levels in any of his writings on the subject.

 The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called deficiency needs or d-needs. Esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. With the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) needs, if these deficiency needs are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense. Maslow’s theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus upon motivation). The secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term Meta-motivation to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment. Meta-motivated people are driven by b-needs (being needs), instead of deficiency needs (d-needs).

 Physiological needs: this are obvious, they are the literal requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body simply cannot continue to function. Physiological needs are the most proponents of all the other needs. Therefore, the human that lacks food, love, esteem or safety would consider the greatest of his/her needs to be food.

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 shape more by sexual competition than maintaining a birth rate adequate to survival of the species.

 Safety needs: with all the physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual’s safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety due to war, natural disaster, or in case of a family violence, childhood abuse, etc. people experience post traumatic stress disorder and trans-generational trauma transfer. In the absence of economic crisis and lack of work opportunities these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability, accommodations, and the like. This level is more likely to be found in children because they have a greater need to feel safe.

 Safety and security needs include;

1.    Personal security

2.    Financial security

3.    Health and well being

4.    Safety net against accidents or illness and their adverse impacts.

 Love and belonging

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layers of human needs are interpersonal and involve feelings of belongingness. The need is especially strong in childhood and can over ride the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiency with respect of Maslow’s hierarchy. de to hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism etc, can impact individuals’ ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as;

1.    Friendship

2.    Intimacy

3.    Family

 Human need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group , such as clubs, culture, religion, organizations, sports or gangs intimates partners, mentors, close colleagues. They need to love and be loved both sexually and non-sexually by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an anorexic, for instance, you may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.