Maslow's pyramid: the hierarchy of human needs

Maslow's Pyramid is part of a psychological theory that inquires about motivation and the needs of the human being: what leads us to act as we do. According Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist, Our actions are born from the motivation directed towards the objective of covering certain needs, which can be ordered according to the importance they have for our well-being.

That is, Maslow proposed a theory according to which there is a hierarchy of human needs, and he argued that as the most basic needs are met, human beings develop higher needs and desires. From this hierarchy, what is known as Maslow's pyramid.

Abraham Maslow first introduced the concept of hierarchy of needs in his article "A Theory of Human Motivation" in 1943 and in his book "Motivation and Personality". Later, the fact that this hierarchy used to be represented graphically pyramid shaped made the core of the theory known as Maslow's pyramid, whose popularity is remarkable even today, decades after it was first proposed.

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Maslow's Pyramid: what is it?

While some schools existed in the mid-twentieth century (the psychoanalysis or behaviorism) focused on problem behaviors and learning from a passive being and without too many options to influence the environment more than it influences him, Maslow was more concerned with learning about what makes people happier and what can be done to improve the personal development and self-realization.

As a humanist, his idea was that people have an innate desire to fulfill themselves, to be whatever they want to be, and that they have the ability to pursue their goals autonomously if they are in an environment auspicious. However, the different objectives pursued at each moment depend on which goal has been achieved and which remain to be met, according to the pyramid of needs. To aspire to the goals of self-realization, the previous needs such as food, security, etc. must first be met. For example, we only worry about issues related to self-realization if we are sure that we have a stable job, assured food and some friends who accept us.

In Maslow's Pyramid, from the most basic needs to the most complex needs, this hierarchy is made up of five levels. Basic needs are at the bottom of the pyramid, while more complex needs are at the top.

Thus, the five categories of needs in Maslow's Pyramid are: physiological, safety, affiliation, recognition and self-realization; being the physiological needs the lowest level, and increasing levels in the order indicated. Of course, as we have seen, the visual representation in the form of a pyramid is a subsequent contribution to Maslow's approach to this explanatory model. However, here we will treat it as if it were equivalent to the hierarchy of needs described by this psychologist.

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Types of needs

In Maslow's pyramid, this researcher talks about the instinctive needs and he makes a distinction between “deficient” needs (physiological, security, affiliation, recognition) and “development of being” (self-realization). The difference between one and the other is due to the fact that the "deficient" refer to a lack, while the "development of being" refer to the individual's work. Meeting deficit needs is important to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences.

The needs of the "development of being", on the other hand, are important for personal growth, and they do not have to do with the deficit of something, but with the desire to grow as a person.

Thus, Maslow's pyramid has 5 levels of needs. They are as follows.

1. Physiological needs

They include vital needs for survival and they are of a biological order. Within this group, we find needs such as: need to breathe, drink water, sleep, eat, sex, shelter.

Thus, in this stratum of needs are those that make possible the most fundamental biological processes that make the existence of the body viable. They provide coverage for the physiological functions that maintain balance in our tissues, cells, organs and, especially, our nervous system.

Maslow thinks that these needs are the most basic in the hierarchy, since all other needs are secondary until those at this level have been met.

2. Security needs

Included in this part of Maslow's pyramid are security needs that are necessary to live, but are at a different level than physiological needs. That is, until the first are satisfied, a second link of needs does not arise that is oriented to the personal security, to order, stability and protection.

It can be said that the needs that belong to this level of Maslow's pyramid have to do with expectations and with the way in which living conditions allow the development of medium and long-term projects. They are based on a kind of "cushion" based on assets as well as rights and social capital.

They are listed here: physical security, employment, income and resources, family, health, etc.

3. Membership needs

Maslow describes these needs as less basic, and they make sense when the above needs are satisfied.

For Maslow, this need is expressed when people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and feel that there are emotional ties between them and certain people. That is, when trying to transcend the individual sphere and establish links with the social environment.

These needs are continually presented in daily life, when human beings show desires for getting married, having a family, being part of a community, being a member of a church, or attending a club Social. Belonging to a group, be it more or less small, helps to provide meaning to what is done on a day-to-day basis, and also personal contact and the social relationships that favor these ties stimulate us in a way that, for Maslow, the resulting experience can be described as need.

Examples of these needs are the reciprocated love, affection and membership or affiliation to a certain social group.

4. Recognition needs

This level of the hierarchy of human needs is also known as esteem needs, and has to do with the way in which we value ourselves and others value us, the rest of the society.

After covering the needs of the first three levels of Maslow's Pyramid, the recognition needs appear as those that favor the strengthening of the self-esteem, the recognition towards the own person, the particular achievement and the respect towards the others; By satisfying these needs, the person feels self-confident and thinks that it is valuable within society. When these needs are not met, people feel inferior and worthless.

This need for Maslow's hierarchy is best understood as a way to feel good about oneself. self-concept through those things about ourselves that we see reflected in the way others try.

According to Maslow there are two recognition needs: a lower one, which includes respect for others, the need for status, fame, glory, recognition, attention, reputation, and dignity; and a higher one, which determines the need for self-respect, including feelings such as self-confidence, competence, achievement, independence and freedom.

Thus, this level of the hierarchy of human needs is based on all those advantages that come from enjoying a good status in the eyes of others.

5. Self-actualization needs

Finally, at the highest level are the needs for self-actualization and the development of internal needs, spiritual and moral development, the search for a mission in life, selfless help towards others, etc.

This level of Maslow's pyramid is one of the most difficult ranges of the hierarchy of needs to define, because it has to do with objectives highly abstract and that are not achieved with concrete actions, but with chains of actions that occur over relatively long periods of time. long. Consequently, each individual will have different and personalized needs for self-fulfillment.

Criticism of Maslow's Pyramid

Although some research supports Abraham Maslow's theory, most of the data collected in many investigations they don't seem to go along the same lines than Maslow's pyramid. For example, Wahba and Bridwell (1986) conclude that there is little evidence to demonstrate the hierarchy postulated by Maslow, even though it is still very popular today.

What's more, Maslow's Pyramid has also received criticism for being difficult to prove its concept of self-actualizationas it is very abstract. After all, in science it is necessary to specify very well the meaning of words and propose some "operational" implications of them, and if a concept leaves a lot of room for interpretation, it is not possible to carry out research aimed at studying the same thing, nor to draw conclusions clear. Many of the concepts and categories described in Maslow's pyramid of needs are too ambiguous to be scientifically studied.

In a study published in 2011, researchers at the University of Illinois tested the pyramid of Maslow and found that the satisfaction of the pyramid's needs correlated with the happiness of the person. But this research, contrary to Maslow's theory, concluded that the needs of recognition and self-actualization were also important even though the most basic needs. Therefore, he questioned the sequentiality that Maslow proposed in his theory: it was not necessary to have fulfilled basic needs to aspire to achieve the objectives related to the needs most refined.

On the other hand, Maslow's research was based on a very small and therefore unrepresentative sample of individuals. The criticism of his methodology refers to the fact that he himself chose the people he considered self-actualized, after reading about them or talking to them and coming to conclusions about what the self realisation. In fact, the people Maslow interviewed for his pyramid of needs can hardly represent the majority of the human population, since they were people belonging to Western culture, rich or very influential. Some of the people he investigated are Albert Einstein or Eleanor Roosvelt. Maslow's pyramid was created from the study of exceptional cases, rather than what is normal in human populations.

The relevance and legacy of this theory

Regardless of these criticisms, Maslow's pyramid represents an important contribution in a vision change within psychology and it helped establish a third force within the profession (the other two main forces were psychoanalysis and behaviorism). His approach to psychology and life in general inspires enthusiasm, no longer assuming that people are passive beings, nor does it focus on pathological behaviors. The study of motivations and behavior patterns not related to mental disorders became a sign that psychology does not have to be limited to mental health.

On the other hand, Maslow's works were a first attempt to study something of the utmost importance: the common good, those contextual elements that are a priority for all people. If the need to have access to food is one of the most important aspects for people, it is possible to propose management models for spaces that take this principle into account.

In addition, Maslow's pyramid has had a great impact not only in psychology, but has also been important in the business world (especially in marketing, but also in the world of Human Resources) or in sports, for example. The fact that you establish a hierarchy of needs provides an easy and intuitive way to establish plans to motivate and to generate attractive products depending on the type of people on whom it is intended influence.

Current scientific psychology must continue to investigate what it is that motivates us and leads us to aspire to goals, and perhaps Maslow's pyramid is not a construct that allows us to explain well how we act, but at least it is a first brick in this type of study and can be used as reference. Of course, it is necessary to continue working to generate concrete concepts that lend themselves to research scientific, beyond the appeal to vague ideas that can mean different things for each individual.

Bibliographic references:

• Boeree, George. (2003). Theories of personality, by Abraham Maslow. Translation: Rafael Gautier.
• Camino Roca, J.L. (2013). The Origins of Humanistic Psychology: Transactional Analysis in psychotherapy and education. Madrid: CCS.
• Mahmoud A. Wahba, Lawrence G. Bridwell. (2004). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory. Baruch College, The City University of New York USA.
• Maslow, A. H. (1982). The Creative Personality. Barcelona: Kairos.
• Rosal Cortés, R. (1986). Personal growth (or self-realization): goal of humanistic psychotherapies. Anuario de psicología / The UB Journal of psychology. No.: 34.