Maslow’s Hierarchy of
needs
Who is Maslow?
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Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970)
Psychologist
Wrote “A Theory of
Human Motivation”
(1943)
Wrote “Motivation and
Personality” (1954)
Born in Brooklyn,
New York
 Maslow
studied what he called exemplary
people such as Albert Einstein, Jane
Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick
Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic
people. He believed that the study of
stunted, immature, and unhealthy
specimens could yield only a stunted
psychology/philosophy. Maslow also studied
the healthiest 1% of the college student
population.
Maslow’s Theory
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Everybody has a set of needs that need to
be gratified.
The journey starts with the most basic
needs, known as physiological needs.
Once the needs on one level have been
gratified, people can move on to the next
level of needs.
After gratification of the bottom 4 levels,
the individual may achieve selfactualization.
Physiological needs
The physiological needs are those which a person
needs to survive in daily life. They are innate needs
that humans unconsciously strive to fulfill.
•Food
•Shelter
•Water
•Sleep
There are many people that may never get past this level. They remain
dominated by the need to fulfill their physiological needs.
Safety needs
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Ideally, in our culture, safety is usually not an issue for
infants and adolescents because we are protected by
parents. But as we move on in life, things are constantly
changing and the defenses that we knew as a child are no
longer there. “Safety needs” is the stage where we strive to
fulfill things such as:
• Security
• Freedom
• Dependency
• Need for structure
• Protection
• Health and well being
from fears
Belonging/love/social needs
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Although now safe, the person who has reached
this level of needs will feel alone, rejected, and
friendless. The person at this level will seek to
find:
• Friendships
• Affection from others
• Intimacy (both physical
and emotional)
• Having supportive and
communicative family
interaction
•Sense of roots
In rare occurrences, the need for love and belonging can transcend
physiological and safety needs.
Esteem needs
These needs can be classified according to
two different areas.
First comes the need for personal achievement,
independence, and freedom.
Second comes the desire for reputation and prestige, the
concern with how others perceive you.
 If the needs at this level are met, it leads to an overall selfconfidence, self- worth, the feeling of being useful and
necessary.
 If these needs are not met, it can lead to inferiority, and
helplessness. If Esteem needs are never met, it can lead to
neurotic behavior.
Self actualization needs
Even if all the other needs are met, some
people may never reach the step of selfactualization.
In order for a person to fulfill this need, they
must be doing something they love.
ie. a musician must make music…
The specific form by which this need is met
varies from person to person, as each
individual has a unique desire.
Maslow Expanded
Since Maslow developed his theory in 1943, many
psychologists have attempted to use his theory to
help explain their work. As a result, there have been
modifications to Maslow’s work.
Beyond the basic five levels of needs, we can now
identify…
Cognitive needs
Aesthetic needs
Self-transcendence
How Maslow is essential to understanding identity
Every person comes from a different background and has a different
inner life. It is important to understand where every individual is
located in their struggle to ascend the pyramid.
This will help us to understand why a person is in a ‘survival’ mode….
Perhaps he/she has not had breakfast this morning. Perhaps, due to
her location, her ethnicity, or her colour, she is a victim of violence,
bigotry, and discrimination.
Understanding Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one step towards
becoming more tolerant and accepting of others.