Abraham Maslow The Hierarchy of Needs

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Abraham MaslowThe Hierarchy of Needs
Linda Zimmerman Professor of Student
Development Oakton Community College
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ABRAHAM MASLOW

• was a leading humanistic psychologist (Third
  Force)
• developed the Hierarchy of Needs
• promoted the concept of self-actualization
• was born in 1908, Brooklyn, New York

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Maslows Early Life

• was the eldest of seven siblings
• was a poor student as an adolescent
• was pressured by dad to become an attorney
• took one law class, dropped out of college for
  one year
• entered U of WI one year later to study
  scientific psychology

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Maslows Professional Life

• studied dominance in monkeys
• received Ph.D. in experimental psychology in 1934
• was on the Brooklyn College faculty, 1937-1951
• was on the Brandeis U faculty, 1952-1969
• became a fellow of Laughlin Foundation in CA
• died in 1970, age 62

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Hierarchy of Needs
growth
emotional
physical
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Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological Needs
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Physiological Needs

• food
• water
• air
• sleep

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Food A Most Powerful Need

• South American Rugby team crashed in 1970
• Food was the most pressing problem.
• They ate human flesh for survival.
• Even the strongest taboo was broken to fill the
  basic need for food.

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Food A Most Powerful Need

• Ik tribe in Uganda forced to give up hunting and
  live on unfertile land
• long standing social mores dissolve - people
  became psychopathic
• ngag, word for food, also becomes word for
  good
• parents steal food from children, children from
  other children

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Hierarchy of Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
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Safety Needs

• from physical attack
• from emotional attack
• from fatal disease
• from invasion
• from extreme losses (job, family
  members, home, friends)

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Safety A Most Powerful Need

• when frightened, our thoughts and energies are
  diverted
• threat of, or actual attack creates fight or
  flight reaction
• threats to safety can be physical or emotional

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Hierarchy of Needs
Love Belonging Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
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Love and Belonging (social/emotional)

• Inclusion - part of a group colleagues, peers,
  family, clubs
• Affection - love and be loved
• Control - influence over others and self

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Love and Belonging A Most Powerful Need
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Hierarchy of Needs
Esteem Needs
Love Belonging Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
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Esteem Needs emotional (ego)

• respect from others through awards
  honors
  status
• respect for self through
  mastery achievement
  competence

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Esteem from Self and Others A Most Powerful
Need
Congratulations
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Hierarchy of Needs
B- Needs (being) Higher needs
Self-Actualization Needs
Esteem Needs
Love Belonging Needs
D- Needs Deficit Survival
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
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Some Self-Actualizing People from History

• Abraham Lincoln
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Albert Einstein
• Eleanor Roosevelt
• William James
• Benedict Spinoza

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Self-Actualization Needs

• stop cruelty and exploitation
• encourage talent in others
• try to be a good human being
• do work one considers worthwhile
• enjoy taking on responsibilities
• prefer intrinsic satisfaction
• seek truth
• give unselfish love
• be just

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B-Needs of the Self-Actualized

• Truth
• Goodness
• Beauty
• Unity
• Aliveness
• Uniqueness
• Perfection and Necessity

• Completion
• Justice and order
• Simplicity
• Richness
• Effortlessness
• Playfulness
• Self-sufficiency
• Meaningfulness

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Qualities of the Self-Actualized

• An non-hostile sense of humor
• Intimate personal relationships
• Acceptance of self and others
• Spontaneity and simplicity
• Freshness of appreciation
• More peak experiences
• Democratic values
• Independence

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Peak ExperiencesMoments of Pure Bliss