Maslow's Hierarchy of Basic Needs

Abraham Harold Maslow's theory of human motivation postulates that all human beings, regardless of culture, have basic needs that can be arranged on a hierarchy according to prepotency or pressing drive for gratification. His earlier writings presented five basic sets of needs (or need groups), and he later added two additional need groups. From the lowest level of needs (the most prepotent needs) to the highest level, these include physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and need for self-actualization (see Figure 1). Maslow classified the four lowest need groups on his hierarchy as deficiency needs (physiological, safety, belongingness and love, and esteem) and the three highest need groups as growth needs (cognitive, aesthetic, and self-actualization). Table 1 ...