Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Podcast Transcript

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the best-known theories in psychology.

First introduced in 1943, the theory posits that people have an innate desire to reach their maximum potential, but to achieve this goal, they must first have their basic needs met.

These needs can be both physical and psychological, but they play a major role in understanding people’s motivations.

Learn more about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, how they came to be, and how the psychology behind it can be used to explain human behavior on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Abraham Maslow was born in New York City on April 1, 1908. His parents were both Jewish immigrants from modern-day Ukraine, who had fled to escape Russian persecution.

As a young child in Brooklyn, Maslow faced hardship. He was terrorized by anti-Semitic gangs, who would throw rocks at him and chase him. This caused Maslow to face prejudice at a very young age, something that shaped his worldview.

Maslow tended to view the world more idealistically and attempted to understand why people acted the way they did.

He attended several schools during his college years, but ultimately enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Wisconsin. It was here that he would study psychology.

His approach to psychology was considered to be that of an experimental-behaviorist. He primarily conducted research on primates’ behavior and sexuality.

His studies of primates and the behaviorist perspective led Maslow to develop a positivist approach to psychology.

Positivists believe that knowledge is gathered through sensory experiences or, in simpler terms, through measurable or observable variables, not unproven theories or speculation.

Positivists are those who believe in strictly following testimony, observations, and experiences. Positivists reject ideas not bound in fact, and believe that anything that cannot be proven or tested is not meaningful to general knowledge.

After achieving his master’s from the University of Wisconsin, Maslow continued his research at Columbia University. At Columbia, Maslow would be mentored by Alfred Adler.

Adler was an early colleague of Sigmund Freud, but had a different theory. Alder is credited with establishing individual psychology and creating Adlerian therapy.

Adler focused on improving individuals’ connections with society and their community. His perception of the world was much more positive as he held a more optimistic perception of human nature.

Following his studies, Maslow would join the faculty of Brooklyn College. He would work there from 1937 to 1951.

Post-World War II, Maslow had a vision of peace, leading him to seek how individuals achieve this phenomenon. Additionally, he became curious about how psychologists developed their ideas and theories of psychology. He did not wholly disagree with earlier theories, but had his own interpretations.

Unlike many prior psychologists, Maslow was less interested in what makes people’s psychology “abnormal” or “ill.” Instead, he was interested in what allowed people to have “positive” mental health.

This led to Maslow being part of the creation of a new psychological discipline known as “humanistic psychology.” This approach emphasizes the inherent worth and potential of individuals, as well as on personal growth and self-actualization, or the drive to fulfill one’s full potential.

These ideas led to Maslow to create the theory of the hierarchy of needs, which aims to explain how people can achieve self-actualization.

Maslow was critical of earlier psychologists, like Freud.

As a positivist, he felt Freud’s methods of psychology were not provable and therefore not sufficiently reasonable to explain human behavior.

Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis dealt with the unconscious mind, and that humans were blindly reacting to their desires. Freud explained this with his theory of the human psyche.

Freud theorized that the human psyche consists of three components: the ID, the ego, and the superego.

The ID is the unconscious, primitive portion of the mind. It is often described as a person’s “animal instincts,” or the urge or impulse someone has to do something.

The ID seeks immediate pleasure regardless of consequences. This “pleasure principle” seeks immediate satisfactions for needs like hunger and sex.

The Superego typically works in opposition to the id. Unlike the id, it does not work to get immediate satisfaction, but rather to set standards and moral ideals.

For all intents and purposes, the superego is the moral conscience of a person. It represents societal, familial, and personal beliefs, often suppressing many of the id’s urges. If the id is the devil on the shoulder, the superego can be considered the angel on the shoulder.

The ego operates as the middleman between the id and the superego. It is the rational part of the brain that mediates between the wants of the id and the constraints imposed by the superego.

The ego serves as the decision-maker between the two other parts of consciousness, making decisions that satisfy both.

Instead of focusing on the negative side of human behavior, Maslow focused on the positive. He focused his studies on more mentally healthy individuals rather than people with severe mental health problems.

He wanted to find what made people happy, and what was the best way to achieve happiness.

By studying with more mentally healthy individuals, Maslow was able to study people with “optimal” psychological health. This would allow him to see high points in people’s lives and how they got there, and why others didn’t achieve the same level of peace.

Taking these ideas, Maslow went on to develop the Hierarchy of Needs.

The hierarchy of needs primarily explains the motivations and desires that drive human behavior. The hierarchy of needs has evolved a bit over time, but I’ll explain the original structure presented by Maslow.

The hierarchy of needs is typically laid out as a pyramid. To climb up the pyramid, you must climb the lower levels before you can go up to the next.

It is important to note that Maslow himself did not present these ideas in the form of a pyramid. This was done by later psychologists who popularized the theory. Still, the pyramid does provide a good visual representation of Maslow’s ideas.

The lowest rung on the hierarchy of needs is physical. These are considered basic survival needs. This includes having food and water, being able to breathe, having shelter and clothing, being healthy, and being able to reproduce.

The next level of the hierarchy of needs is safety. Humans desire to feel safe rather than be physically or emotionally threatened. This portion of the pyramid includes both physical security and financial stability.

The third level of the pyramid is the need for love and belonging, the last of the “lower needs.”

These are bonds of relationship, whether with family or friends. It speaks to the emotional intimacy people need to feel as though they belong.

The higher needs start with esteem, which is driven by the ego. This includes having self-respect and believing you have value, and having self-esteem or confidence in yourself.

Maslow breaks the idea of esteem down into two parts. The first part is the esteem you give yourself, whereas the second part is based on the respect others give you.

Moving up the pyramid, the final step is self-actualization, the fulfillment you experience from your personal potential.

These needs are found in areas of personal enjoyment and hobbies. This can be bettering yourself through education or improving your skills in something like cooking.

These five levels make up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

After establishing the hierarchy of needs, Maslow sought to delve further into the concept of self-actualization.

He began studying fulfillment, leading him to consider the “peak experiences” of individuals. These experiences were moments of love, happiness, or understanding that made the person feel a profound connection to the world. These moments allow the individual to realize their human potential.

Accompanied by “peak experiences” came Maslow’s idea of “being-cognition” or B-cognition. These were essentially the traits of positive, accepting ideas within self-actualization. This includes the truth, wholeness, beauty, goodness, among other ideas.

With the peak experience studies, Maslow later moved to study what he would call “plateau experiences,” a term he borrowed from the Indian academic U. A. Asrani. These experiences were considered to be long periods of feeling serene.

He believed that a change from peak to plateau experiences was part of the aging process, where individuals would naturally shift their life values to what was actually important for happiness and satisfaction.

Additionally, in Maslow’s later work, he added to the hierarchy of needs. The new idea added is known as self-transcendence.

Self-transcendence is a shift from self-actualization to fostering higher connections. These connections can be to other people, to nature, to the universe, or something else. It’s spiritual and related to things greater than personal wants and desires, like causes.

This is used in modern therapy to help people discover a more profound meaning in life and shift from looking internally to finding purpose externally.

The hierarchy of needs, while being a popular theory, is not without criticism.

Humanistic psychology, in general, has a weakness as it is incredibly rigid. This is a problem for critics, who believe there isn’t enough evidence to show that there is a strict order of needs. This is a problem because humans are not always going to think, act, or prioritize in a linear way.

Another issue for critics is cultural bias.

In different cultures, there may be different emphases on which needs are actually “needed.” Self-actualization is inherently Western and individualistic. In other cultures, there’s greater emphasis on community and connection, making the more self-focused perspective problematic.

In modern times, the hierarchy of needs has been revised by psychologists to better align with the 21st century.

Changes to the hierarchy have appeared at a few levels.

At the physiological level, nutrition has been incorporated to encourage a more balanced diet. This is because a more balanced diet is correlated with psychological well-being.

Additionally, at the physiological level, ideas of sleep and physical activity have also been added. In modern times, the longer work cycle and the increase in technology have disrupted natural sleep patterns, making sound sleep more crucial to mental well-being.

This same phenomenon can be seen in the lack of physical activity. We are now less active in our everyday lives than our historical ancestors. There is a link between physical health and mental well-being, leading to greater emphasis on exercise at the first level.

As for safety needs, financial security has been linked with mental health, as having concerns about losing your job, amongst other fiscal problems, can add mental strain.

On the third level, belonging, not much has changed in the need itself, but rather in how it is approached.

Things like social media and online communities have drastically changed how humans interact with each other when compared to Maslow’s time. With these changes, many psychologists have simply altered or adapted to the new mental problems associated with them.

Social media and the internet also play a role in the fourth level, the need for esteem. In the modern world, validation can be given by just a few clicks. This makes the distinction between recognition and self-esteem different from what it was in the past.

For many psychologists, the challenge has been to adapt a healthy medium between the pressure of the online world and their true selves. The key is to foster internal validation rather than relying on validation from the digital world.

As for self-actualization, its core idea has remained the same despite the challenges of the modern world. Self-actualization is a mindset. Teaching the skills of adaptation while encouraging expression and fulfillment remains the best way to reach this level and help find meaning and purpose.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a useful tool for explaining how people find fulfillment in life. These ideas offer a different approach to psychology, focusing on the positive rather than the negative, helping people find fulfillment, rather than just focusing on diagnosing problems.

The Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The Associate Producers are Austin Oetken and Cameron Kieffer.

Research and writing for this episode were provided by THE Olivia Ashe.

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