Thursday, November 29, 2012

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs : An Overview

Doing a lot of research, preparing my notes, and consolidating my thoughts before I launch full scale on December 8. Here are some notes straight from Wikipedia.




Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Motivators and Deficiency Needs
*1943 paper – “A Theory of Human Motivation”, extended for human curiosity
*Developmental psychology – stages of human growth
*Studied exemplary people rather than the mentally ill
            * Healthiest 1% of college student population
* Full theory in 1954 book Motivation and Personality
* Bottom most layers most fundamental
* Bottom 4 layers “Deficiency needs”
            * Physiological deficiencies may be physically apparent
* If Esteem, Friendship and Love, Security, and Physical Needs not met, may lead to anxiety and tension in the individual’s life
* Basic needs must be met for the individual to desire and/or focus their motivation toward higher needs
* Metamotivation – goes beyond scope of basic needs to constantly pursue self-betterment
* Needs may overlap, not seen as boxed in but relative, general, and primary
            * Certain needs may dominate motivation
* Motivations can be codependent on different levels of needs, but pyramid outlines primary structural levels

Physiological Needs
Metabolic, Environmental
* Physical needs for human survival
* Metabolic requirements – Air, Water, Food
* Clothing and Shelter to protect from External Environment
* Sexual instinct and competition to maintain the species’ birth rates

Safety Needs
Personal, Financial, Health
* Absence of physical safety can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder and transgenerational trauma
            * Due to war, natural disaster, family violence, childhood abuse, etc.
* Absence of economic safety can lead to seeking out security through multiple or various channels
* Job security, worker’s protection of rights, savings, insurance, disability accommodations, etc.
* Children possess heightened need for safety
* Needs Include:
* Personal security, financial security, health and well-being, safety net against accidents, illness, and their adverse impacts

Love and Belonging Needs
Family, Friends, Intimacy
* Interpersonal connections and feeling of belonging
* Can override need for safety
            * Abusive Relationships, Gang and Substitute “Families”
*Need especially strong in children
* Manifest in emotionally significant relationships
            * Family
            * Friends
            * Intimacy
* Neglect, Shunning, Ostracism, isolation, and severe illness can hinder
* Human need to love and be loved, sexually and non-sexually
* Negative Effects of Deficiency Include:
            * Loneliness, social anxiety, clinical depression
* Need may be overcome by physiological or safety needs depending on strength of peer pressure

Esteem Needs
External Respect and Internal Esteem
* Human need to feel respected, accepted, and valued
* Manifested in self-esteem and self-respect
* Sense of value or contribution can come from a variety of sources
* Professional network, community work, social status, public awards and/or recognition
* Low Esteem can lead to inferiority complexes
            * Overt or covert, can lead individual to seek approval through fame or glory
            * Psychological imbalances, like depression, can hinder a positive self-view
* Lower and Higher version of self-esteem
            * Lower – Need for respect from others
                        * Status, recognition, fame, prestige, attention
            * Higher – Need for self-respect & takes precedence
                        * Strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence, freedom
                        * Deprivation leads to inferiority complex, weakness, helplessness
* Interrelated with other needs, not exclusive

Self-Actualization
Realizing Full Potential
* “What a man can be, he must be.” – Maslow
* Degree of realization of one’s full potential
* To accomplish all that you can must be all that you can be
* Specificity of need varies between individuals
            * Must master previous levels to fully reach this peak of self-actualization

Self-Transcendence
Spiritual Motivation for Higher Connection
* Spiritual dimension of personality
* Individual who seeks to transcend boundaries of ideal self

Criticisms of Maslow’s Model
Evidential Support and Variance
* Sparse evidentiary support of definitive levels or ranking of hierarchies
* Adjustments for poverty, and varying ethnocentric bases & influence
* Difference between social and intellectual needs
* Structured to individualistic society, may not account for collectivism
* Terminology used by Maslow
* Usage of sex in basal level
            * Speaks to individualistic motives
            * Disregards emotional, familial, and community implications

The Role of Circumstance
Culture, Resources, and Current Events
* Not universal, and may vary due to circumstance
* War time vs. Peace time
* Resources by Country and Region
* Self-described ranking of needs and levels vary by survey
* US Peace Time: Survival (physiological, safety) & Psychological (love, self-esteem, self-actualization)
* US War Time: Physiological, Safety, & Psychological (social, self-esteem, self-actualization)
* Needs vary across cultures
            * Unique, Dynamic, and Changing
* Differences by Age Group
            * Children have high physical needs
            * Childhood to young adult love need strong
            * Esteem needs highest among adolescents
            * Young Adults highest self-actualization needs
            * Old Age highest levels of security needs
* Social desirability for needs may affect the expression of the motivation


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