Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 to understand human behavior and motivations. The hierarchy of needs consists of five main levels: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

Abraham Maslow, a psychologist, has worked to understand what underlies people's behavior, goals, and motivations. He focused on the needs of people in his works and gathered these needs in a pyramid of needs under five headings. The needs are, in order, physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Let's examine them in detail one by one.

1. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS

These needs, which form the lowest layer of the pyramid, are the most primitive needs of people. According to Maslow, these needs are innate. The physiological needs that enable humans to survive are: breathing, food, water, shelter, clothing, excretion, sexuality, reproduction, and sleep.

2. THE NEED FOR SECURITY AND PROTECTION

The second level of need for security and protection refers to people's search for physical and emotional security. Protection from dangers and seeking a stable environment are the main features of this level. Safety needs include: job, resource, body, order/law, stability, health, and property security.

3. THE NEED FOR LOVE AND BELONGING

The third level of need for love and belonging encompasses people's needs for relationships, belonging, and love. This group of needs allows us to have a healthy and positive relationship with other people and ourselves. The need for love is not just a need that we can meet from other people, we need to establish a relationship with ourselves in the same way. Love and belonging needs include: family, friendship, intimacy, self-love, belonging, love and affection.

4. NEED RESPECT

The need for esteem, which is at the fourth level, refers to the desire of individuals to earn their own dignity and to gain the respect of others. In this need group, we want to respect others and be respected by others. Not only respectful communication with other people, but also our communication with ourselves should be in this direction, so self-esteem and self-confidence are also included in this need group. The esteem needs include: self-confidence, self-esteem, achievement, status, power, dignity, respect, and being respected.

5. THE NEED FOR SELF-ACTUALIZATION

At the top of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is the need for self-actualization. So what is self-actualization? Self-actualization is the realization and development of one's potential and abilities. This level represents people's willingness to achieve their personal goals using their highest abilities. The need for self-actualization includes: being creative, virtuous, unprejudiced, problem-solving, and accepting truth.

While Maslow was creating the pyramid, he determined that people progressed from the lowest layer to the top layer, so he created the pyramid starting from the very foundation. According to Maslow, a person cannot pass to the other layer without meeting the needs in one layer. For example, let's take a person who does not live in a safe environment, this individual cannot reach the level of love and belonging without meeting the second level of security and protection needs. It must first meet the needs of the level at which it is located.

Maslow argued that few people pass/can pass the level of self-actualization. In addition, Maslow said that people who pass will show distinct differences from people who do not pass.

Finally, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory provides an important framework for understanding human psychology and explaining motivation. This hierarchy, from physiological needs to the highest level of self-actualization, can be a valuable tool for understanding human behavior and goals.