Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy of Needs Theory was developed by Abraham Maslow.

The theory is based on the basic assumption that human needs are sequential and cannot be motivated by higher order needs without satisfying one’s next needs.

See also : Theories of Max Weber

In this theory, Maslow listed human needs in a hierarchy starting from basic needs and ascending to more complex psychological needs:

See also : Karl Marx and the Foundations of Capitalism

Physiological Needs,

Need for Security,

Social Needs,

Need for Dignity,

The Need for Self-Realization

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS:

Accordingly, physiological needs such as breathing, eating, drinking water or sleeping are at the bottom of the hierarchy and are the most basic needs for human life.

An important feature of physiological needs is their continuity. Drinking water, sleeping, eating are the needs that must be met continuously.

SAFETY NEEDS:

In order to ensure that these needs can be met continuously, another group of needs emerges. These needs are safety needs that take precedence over physiological needs.

The most basic example of these needs, which enable people to keep both themselves and their relatives away from danger, is the need for shelter, which will protect people from bad weather conditions and external dangers.

SOCIAL NEEDS:

According to Maslow’s theory, after these needs, which form the lowest two levels of the hierarchy, are met, human beings encounter higher-level needs.

These needs are the needs that human beings begin to separate from other living things, and in a sense, human beings begin to become human as they are met.

The first of these is the need for love and belonging.

The needs in this category are those that express the need to be loved by others and to feel that one belongs to a group. The most fundamental role in satisfying this need belongs to the family.

NEED FOR RESPECT:

After man meets this need, he will meet another need. According to Maslow, this need is the need to know that he is valued by others, to be successful and to be appreciated and respected.

This level of the hierarchy is also called value needs.

This need expresses the desire to have a valuable position in the society in which one lives.

NEED FOR SELF-REALIZATION:

As can be seen, not only physiological needs but also personal development needs have an important place in Maslow’s theory.

The most important of these needs is the need for self-actualization. According to Maslow, the most fundamental thing that separates humans from animals is their capacity for self-actualization.

Self-actualization needs are at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

According to Maslow, a self-actualized person is a person who accepts himself, is creative, has empathy, can oppose cultural influences, and has a democratic personality structure.

Maslow; He cites Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein as examples of self-actualized people.