When it comes to Maslow, I believe everyone has seen a picture of a pyramid shape divided into five levels. Even if I don’t put this picture, everyone can think of it immediately. Because this picture is used in many psychology-related articles to prove the correctness of these authors’ views. However, in his book “Motivation and Personality”, Maslow did not use such a diagram on the hierarchy of needs to illustrate his point of view. Due to the wide spread of this picture and the specious interpretation of many authors, many readers have some cognitive deviations in their understanding of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: that is, the needs of each level are considered independent, and the needs of human beings are different. Appearance is in strict order. However, it is not.
Cognitive deviations lead to the fundamental behavior of the final result, which is a wrong direction, that is: not knowing how to use theory to guide behavior. As a result, the practical problem arises: “I know that there are five kinds of human needs, but what is the use?” To correct this cognitive bias and bring the individual’s behavior back on the right track, I think first It is necessary to reinterpret Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory to understand the true hierarchy of needs, motivation, and personality.
The five levels of needs mentioned by Maslow in “Motivation and Personality” exist simultaneously in the human body, and there is no situation in normal people where only one need exists alone. But people’s behavior is not only affected by the level of needs, but also limited by the “activation state” that the person is in at that time; that is, when I am in a hungry state, what affects me is mainly the need to eat, and in a very hungry state, my thoughts and all my attention may be attracted by food, but it does not mean that other needs do not exist, it just means that other needs are relatively weak, while food and physiological needs are in a dominant position. In the same way, when the individual is in another motivating state, such as the state of lack of love, the psychological factors of pursuing love and pursuing the attention of the opposite sex occupy a dominant position in behavior.
Maslow classified the needs of physiology and safety as low-level needs, and the needs of love, self-esteem, and self-realization as high-level needs; because the satisfaction of the former needs is based on the satisfaction of material conditions, and needs to be continuously satisfied to bring people The sense of happiness is diminishing. For example, you are very thirsty, so you choose to drink a drink, and you are very happy after drinking the drink. But drinking two or three cups in a row will gradually reduce the happiness it brings. But in terms of higher needs, the satisfaction of needs is based on certain social relationships (that is, higher needs can only be satisfied in a social environment). In addition, although the continuous satisfaction of higher needs brings happiness, it will also weaken, but the weakened ones will not be so weak. obvious. When one person praises me, I will be very happy, when ten people praise me, I will be very happy, and if ten thousand people praise me, I will be even happier.
Maslow divided the evolution trend of needs in the human body. After the lower-level needs are satisfied, the human body will automatically be taken over by the next higher-level needs. After the physiological needs are basically satisfied, the human body enters a state dominated by a sense of security. After the sense of security is satisfied, the human body is mainly dominated by love and belonging. And so on, and when people achieve self-realization, their behavior will be dominated by a lack of needs and changed to growth needs. That is to say, the individual has spontaneity and independence, and becomes a real, self-realized, mentally healthy person.
In addition, Maslow said in the book that the satisfaction of needs can make people healthy, while the unsatisfied needs and the setbacks in reality, conflicts, tolerance, constraints, and other constraints will make people sick; severe cases of Losing one’s self, becoming a pervert, less serious ones lose one’s self, unable to realize one’s full potential. In my opinion, there are two aspects to consider about how to use the theory of needs to guide behavior. One is that when we know what a truly healthy self-actualizing person looks like, we can move forward. Second, to give an example, when a certain level of needs is met, people will enter a relatively motivated state, and their behavior changes from purposeful to relatively emotive and random. Those who truly understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory will understand their own level of needs and psychological environment, and then adjust their behavior in a targeted manner to pursue the satisfaction of the next level of needs.
Reference
Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Neuberg, S. L., & Schaller, M. (2010). Renovating the pyramid of needs: Contemporary extensions built upon ancient foundations. Perspectives on psychological science, 5(3), 292-314.
Hello,
This post was well informative. It got me thinking about how much society uses Maslow’s theory of needs without even realizing it. Do people need Maslow’s theory of needs? I believe they do because Maslow’s theory helps the well-being of individuals. “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid” (Mcleod, 2022). This is essential to meet the needs of every human being because motivation is one of the most important qualities to an individual because it helps them strive and develop healthy habits. This hierarchy of needs theory helps individuals understand their environment and helps them meet their needs.
Do you think humans are dependent on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? My opinion I do not think that people are necessarily dependent on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but more of they use it to guide themselves to achieve the 5 needs, which are “physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization” (Mcleod, 2022). There is a downside to self-actualization. I like how you mention in the end that when someone understands Maslow’s hierarchy of needs they will understand more of their own needs to meet their other needs. What got me thinking is that if one need is not satisfied it can possibly result in the individual being discontent. This could possibly bring setbacks for the individual to reach self-fulfillment and meet the rest of their needs. Besides the 5 basic needs, I think that extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation factors play a key role in individuals’ well-being. “Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual. It is driven by curiosity and a desire to learn and find out things. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the learner. It may be in the form of a reward, or to achieve a goal” (Senior, 2016, p.41). This influences the individual’s lives and behavior and benefits the outcome of their needs.
References
McLeod, S. A. (2022, April 04). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Senior, Lynn. A Teacher’s Guide to 14-19 Policy and Practice, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/pensu/detail.action?docID=4578866
Hi!
I wonder how much the Maslow theory of needs applies to environmental factors of psychology?
As you said, people’s behavior is greatly affected by our needs. What if what we are doing to the environment is inadvertently due to trying to satisfy our needs? Our physiological needs include water, air, clothing, and shelter. The process of making clothes in the modern world creates a lot of pollution. I wonder if we would be able to increase one’s self esteem by applying an intervention to change polluting behaviors (Gruman et al, 2016)? This can be done by changing how people view second-hand shopping, upcycling, and recycling. By making these behaviors more positive, it may increase one’s respect and esteem in the long run for doing the better thing for the environment, as well as satisfying one’s needs.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.