Thursday, September 20, 2007

Hierarchy of needs



Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow’s theory contended that as humans meet ‘basic needs’, they seek to satisfy successively ‘higher needs’ that occupy a set hierarchy. Maslow’s theory was regarded as an improvement over previous theories of personality and motivation.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as deficiency needs associated with physiological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs.

Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personal growth. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus once all the lower needs in the pyramid are satisfied. Once an individual has moved past a level, those needs will no longer be prioritized. However, if a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs – dropping down to that level until the lower needs are reasonably satisfied again

The five levels are self explanatory and are explained in the attached picture also, therfore I am not describing them.

It is very interesting to understand the needs of humans, structured in this manner. Though someone can debate on the hierarchy, the fact remains that this model explains why a child cries, why a boy in your locality behaves in that manner, and why the subordinate of Hari Sadhu is frustrated….

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