Abraham Maslow, psychologist, was interested in how our actions are often motivated by our most urgent needs. He wanted to know what brings people the most happiness and what we can do to live our best lives. Maslow introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Essentially, the hierarchy suggests that people are first motivated to fulfill basic needs before they can move onto more complex, advanced needs. A central belief to his theory was that people are born with the desire to self-actualize—meaning they want to be all they can be. Before reaching the ultimate goal of self-actualization, however, people must meet their most basic needs such as food, safety, love, and self-esteem.
As you can see above, Maslow’s hierarchy is most easily understood displayed as a pyramid. The lower levels of the pyramid display a person’s most basic needs, and the complex, harder to achieve needs are towards the top. There are five different levels:
Physiological Needs: These include everything essential for survival. Basically food, water, air and sleep. These needs are instinctive, and all other needs are secondary until these primary physiological needs are reached.
Security Needs: They consist of the need for security and safety. Security needs are also critical for survival, but to a lesser extent than physiological needs. Examples include shelter from the environment, employment, a safe living environment, and health care.
Social Needs: Humans are naturally social animals. This means we thrive from interaction, belonging, love, and affection. Friendships, romantic attachments, and family relationships all fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance.
Esteem Needs: Esteem needs include the need for things that reflect on personal worth, self-esteem, social recognition, and accomplishment.
Self-Actualization: People who reach this ultimate need realize their personal potential and self-fulfillment, and they seek personal growth and peak experiences. Self-actualization is when a person essentially finds a meaning in life that is important to them. These people are fully aware of their potential and know exactly what they are capable of. While self-actualization might mean creating works of art or writing a novel for some, it could be excelling in a sport, the classroom, or even your career.
In your journal entry today, comment on Maslow’s pyramid. Does it make sense to you? Where do you see yourself on this pyramid? Also, if you can envision yourself having reached “self-actualization,” what might this look like for you?
It’s not an essay at all it’s just a journal I have to right a page about my opinion
