Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy

Maslow strove to fuse his observations as a clinical psychologist with various traditions of psychological thought to create a holistic and dynamic theory of human needs and corresponding motivations to meet them. His hierarchical conception is often represented as a pyramid, wherein the sets of needs at the lower and broader base represent the absolute fundamentals of life while movement toward the higher and narrower point of the pyramid symbolizes the quest for growth and fulfillment. Critical to this hierarchy is the notion that the lower, basic needs precede psychological needs and the “metaneed” of self-actualization, which tops the structure. Maslow characterized the higher needs as inherently prepotent, that is, as having exceptional power. He theorized that people do not concern themselves with the highest needs unless the ones underneath have been fulfilled. Maslow gave the name postgratification forgetting to the process by which the pressing need is left behind upon its satisfaction and the individual turns his or her focus to the next level of need.

Maslow sometimes describes basic needs as “instinctoid” because when they remain unfulfilled, [Page 589]humans may become sick or lose some of the characteristics that we think of as both human and humane. Also, anything lower in the structure than self-actualization may also be labeled a deficiency need, because when it is not met, people will make every effort to satisfy it, even to the point of acting in ways that are contrary to their otherwise good natures.

The Needs

Though subject to other interpretations and slight variations of the terminology, Maslow's hierarchy of needs is generally understood to include the basic physiological needs and safety, the psychological needs for a sense of belonging and love and esteem, and the metaneed of self-actualization.