Maslow's Theory

When you think about Abraham Maslow, Erik Erikson, and Sigmund Freud's theories, they all have to do with psychology. They all have to do with the mind. Abraham Maslow’s theory, Theory of Hierarchy Needs, is a description of the needs that motivate human behavior. Erik Erikson’s theory, Theory Eight Stages of Development, has eight stages that include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Sigmund Freud’s theory, Theory ID, EGO, SUPEREGO, emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and a primary assumption that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than people suspect.

The need that summits the hierarchy of needs can be simply described as the desire to reach one’s full potential. It is not easy to meet and some people go on with their lives without ever meeting it; however, when fulfilled, one can experience many moments of happiness and harmony.

Esteem needs: When the first three classes needs are moderately satisfied, esteem needs calls oriented self-esteem, recognition for the individual, the individual achievement and respect for others arise; to meet these needs, people feel secure about herself and valuable in a society; when these needs are not met, people feel inferior and worthless. In this regard, Maslow noted two esteem needs: a bottom that includes respect for others, the need status, fame, glory,recognition,attention, reputation, and dignity; and an upper, which determinesthe need for self-respect, including feelings as confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence and freedom.

Needs for Esteem-When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.

Maslow`s Hierarchy of Needs has often been represented in a hierarchical pyramid with five levels. The four levels (lower-order needs) are considered physiological needs, while the top level of the pyramid is considered growth needs. The lower level needs must be satisfied before higher order needs can influence behavior. Maslow`s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs, they seek to meet successively higher needs in the form of a pyramid. Nowadays this theory of motivation is still being

Once the hunger is satisfied the pressure is reduced, and the need for food ceases to motivate, then the next higher order need becomes the motivating need. After the fulfillment of the two basics needs, a person can think about the needs of Love and Belongingness ( to obtain and give affection); then self-esteem, self-worth. Then, this person will strive for the highest level of needs "self-actualization (A state of self-fulfillment, it includes growth, achieving one's potential). Becoming all that a person is capable of becoming). People strive to acquire new skills, take on new challenges and behave in a way that will lead to goal's life attainment. Through this theory, Maslow underlines the complexity of human needs, and it emphasizes the idea that an individual's needs at any level on the pyramid emerge only when the more basic biological needs are reasonably satisfied.

At the bottom, the needs are the most basic one. It includes most physiological needs, such as food and sleep, and security needs. The higher the pyramid you go, the tougher the needs can become to achieve. The top needs are about esteem and self-actualisation.

Abraham Maslow stated that humans are driven by biologically established needs, which he identifies as deficiency needs (basic) and growth needs (meta) (The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, 2017). As most theories, the theory of self-actualization theory is based on stages to pass from one to another. The Maslow 's theory is often displayed as a pyramid where the lowest level that has to be fulfilled before any other upper level are the basic needs and the complex needs are at the top of the pyramid. In addition, Maslow contends that these self-actualizing individuals are highly creative and demonstrate a capacity to resolve dichotomies inherent in ultimate contraries, such as life versus death and freedom versus determinism, as examples (Olson, 2013).

The next level would include safety needs, personal and financial security health and well being. As you move up the pyramid the needs increase to love and belonging, self –esteem and the highest level would include self-actualization, reaching one’s full potential. The theory is that you can not reach the highest level without first obtaining the basics. (Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs, 10/20/10)

Physiological needs, such as food and shelter, are followed by needs related to safety. Next, there are needs of love and belonging. Fourth, humans have needs of esteem, such as the need for being respected. The final need in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization (fulfilling one's potential). The hierarchy suggests that basic needs must be met prior to less basic needs; for example, a starving person will seek food before self-actualization.”(Maslow,

In 1954, psychologist Abraham Maslow created a theory of a hierarchy of 5 needs that should be met before a person is complete (“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”). He said that a person must fulfill each need before he could move onto the next one (“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”). These 5 needs have been formed into a pyramid where the bottom identifies the

Physiological needs exist at the base and exist as hunger or thirst. The next need refers to safety needs. Those refer to the feelings of safety, security, and stability. Order and law well exemplify safety needs. The next section of the pyramid, belongingness and love needs, discusses humans need for love, belonging, and acceptance. Friendships exemplify this level of belongingness and love needs. Esteem needs, self-actualization needs, and self-transcendence needs make up the top three sections of the pyramid. Esteem needs refer to the need for self-esteem. Self-respect and respect from others exemplify esteem needs. Self-actualization needs discuss living up to one’s capabilities in life. Fulfilling one’s potential in life exemplifies self-actualization needs. Finally, self-transcendence needs refer to one’s need for identity outside of themselves. For example, this can occur

Maslow or Freud- I think when Jack didn’t keep the fire going he was showing one of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs which is esteem. I think he was showing this because he wanted to prove that he can kill the pig so that he can have respect in the other kids eyes and if he has respect, he also has power. Maslow says that esteem needs are to gain power and respect which is what I personally think Jack was trying to do. It is also proven when it took him some time to sorry even though he knew he was wrong because he didn’t want his self-esteem to go down.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is widely accepted in many social disciplines. However, it still has some weaknesses. Firstly, it is difficult to measure how people are satisfied in every level. There is no methods to measure precisely how satisfied one need is before the next higher need become operative. Secondly, in reality, people may seek different needs simultaneously, for instance, consumer would like to buy the car can offer safety and esteem needs. Thirdly, this theory doesn’t take account of age group consideration. Some old age people concern highest level of security,

Since the beginning of psychology in the year 1879, researchers have approached the field and have studied the human mind in a numerous amount of ways. One psychologist in particular that is said to have enhanced the quality of psychological research is Abraham Maslow. Abraham Maslow is best known for his work in creating the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Humanistic Psychology. There are many things that came out of Maslow’s findings, how he contributed to psychology, how he influenced the field of psychology, and how his findings are still used in today’s society.