Theory of Personality Essay

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,

Maslow believed that everyone has fundamental needs that must be met in order for each person to reach their full potential. These needs include warmth, food and shelter as well as demonstrations of love and having their confidence and self-esteem boosted.

Abraham Maslow created a ‘needs theory’ where “human needs are ranked on an ascending scale according to how essential the needs are for survival” (Kozier & Erb, 2014, p. 237). “Once a lower need is fulfilled, a next

While in college, Behavioral Psychology greatly intrigued Maslow but, soon found aspects he disagreed with. He found Behavioral and Psychoanalytic psychology only focused on the negative primitive aspects of humanity. Maslow argued that although humans can be cruel and negative there are also positive aspects of humanity such as compassion, kindness, empathy and many others. He felt that current schools of thought during his time watered down humanity made it seem simplistic and he wanted there to more positivity to add to the complexity that is humanity. Humanistic Psychology according to Shiraev (2015), “a value of orientation that holds a hopeful and constructive view of people and of their substantial capacity to be self-determining” (p. 389).

With these few thoughts in mind Abraham Maslow made up a hierarchy of needs. (Boeree, Page 2) The hierarchy of needs has five levels: the bottom one is Physiological Needs, the next one up is Safety needs, the next one is Belonging needs, the next one is Esteem Needs and finally the last one is Self-actualization needs. As Maslow thought he “saw human beings needs arranged like a ladder”, the most basic needs at the bottom and at the top the need to fulfill yourself. (pbs.org, Page 1) Below is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

What do you think a normal human being needs to have a good, hearty life? What are the most basic needs that are vital to one’s survival? According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs are those required to sustain life, such as air, water, nourishment, and sleep. If such needs are not satisfied, then one’s motivation will arise from the quest to satisfy them. Higher needs such as social needs and esteem are not felt until one has met the needs basic to one’s bodily functioning. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, Maslow laid out five broader layers: the physiological needs, the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the

* The need for love and belongingness are next aspired to, although in some cases, they are so strong as to trump the need for safety, such as someone in an abusive relationship would cling to, even when their safety is compromised.

As it was mentioned before, the key idea of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory relates to the existence of several sets of motivation and needs that govern human behavior. Hence, the major concepts of this theory include certain needs that are grouped into sets based on their place within the hierarchy of all the needs. The first version of the theory has five needs, which are divided into

Maslow’s Theory is separated into five different categories of needs. These include physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. (“Maslow, Abraham”). Maslow categorized these needs into a pyramid structure. At the base of Maslow’s Pyramid are physiological needs which need to be met before a person can go higher up on the pyramid. Once these needs are met, then a person can begin fulfilling other needs such as safety, love and so on. Physiological needs include the basic needs of oxygen, food, water, sleep, proteins and minerals. Another part of these needs include being active, avoiding pain and removing waste from your body. As the physiological needs are meet, safety and security needs begin to dominate behavior (Boeree). Safety and security needs have to do with the natural desire for a predictable, orderly world that is somewhat within our control. This also includes protection, and safe

Describing humanistic needs Abraham Maslow also shows people how he sees the makeup of individual personality. Each need and stage is based on priority. Maslow's theory shows us the influences of the human needs to personality. Physiological needs are needs people need for survival or benefit to them. Health, food, water, shelter, clothing, and sleep are physiological needs. Coping information is needed to meet these needs. Safety and security, helping information, need to feel safe from physical danger. The ability to have a sense of security, knowing what to expect, is a good example of coping. After these needs are met an individual can experience life in a better quality so one can expand their personality. If living in fear and not meeting the needs of safety or security you are trapped and little room to grow with your personality expand your experiences. As well belonging, need for love, affection, being a part of something, is

Maslow's foundation tier, the one upon which all others are built upon, is the physiological need. Air to breathe, food and water, and adequate sleep are all basic biological needs that the individual must have met. Not only to be motivated by the next level of need in the hierarchy, but to survive. The body's biological drives to fulfill these needs will predominate all other activities, as the very life of the organism is at stake. ( Boeree 1998, 2006)

The humanistic perspective on personality deals exclusively with human behavior. Humanistic psychologists believe that human nature includes a natural drive towards personal growth, that humans have the freedom to choose what they do regardless of environmental factors, and humans are mostly conscious beings and are not controlled by unconscious needs and conflicts. They also believe that a person's subjective view of the world is more important than objective reality. Two of the humanistic theorists that have made an impact of humanism are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

As well as, “Safety needs”, consisting of the sensations of security and safety. Maslow believed that these first two levels were the basic needs of human existence, and without them no further levels could be achieved. The second sub-section, entitled, “Psychological needs,” consists of another two levels entitled “Belongingness and love needs,” and “Esteem needs,” in that order. “Belongingness and love” contains such needs as friendship, intimacy, and affection from those around the individual.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow formulated a theory of hierarchy of needs, according to Saul McLeod for Simply Psychology. This theory outlines various physiological and psychological needs in a pyramid-style hierarchy of importance. Maslow believed that people are generally motivated by their needs. After a person meets the basic physiological needs required for living, next come the needs for security, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization, according to Psychology Today. Security of body, employment, resources, morality, health, family and property are considered psychological needs in addition to love, family, friendship and sexual intimacy.

He placed the most basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid and the most advanced needs at the top of the pyramid. According to Maslow , when people satisfy one level of need, they then move up to the next level. In his theory, the most basic need is the survive – to have enough money to buy food, shelter and necessary clothes. When they have satisfied the need for survival, they then need to feel safe and secure – perhaps from unemployment. So that second level of need is the security. After that, people need to belong to a group and to have friends – these are their social needs. They then move on the needing status. At this stage they need to be respected in the community, to be esteemed, and to be given recognition for what they do. When all these needs have been satisfied, people finally have self-actualization needs. This is ambition to achieve as much as they possibly can – perhaps to be promoted to high-level position with more responsibility. (Jane, 1999) 4