Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

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[toc] The list of human needs is a strictly individual concept, which depends on many factors and more on the characteristics of the personal structure. In order to clearly identify the needs of each individual, there are many techniques that psychologists successfully use. The definition of Maslow’s pyramid allows you to understand the basics of changing a person’s way of life, when he addresses a problem with a specialist.

The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the most common technique among professional psychologists. It allows not only to identify the basic needs of the patient, but also to arrange them in order of importance. At the heart of the pyramid of human needs lies the individuality of the human perception of reality and attitude towards it. This theory explains why many people do not understand each other’s values and impose their own principles that seem to them to be the only correct ones. However, the reliability of the presentation of human needs on the Maslow pyramid is still in doubt. The problem is that with the growth of civilization, the strict hierarchy of needs that Maslow provided is becoming less pronounced. However, its foundations still operate, because of which psychologists actively use it.

7 levels of the Maslow pyramid

According to Maslow, human needs are divided into 7 levels: from the most primitive to more complex. His theory is that the lower needs of the individual must be satisfied first, after which he begins to reach out to the needs of the higher level. 7 levels of the Maslow pyramid are not inviolable dogmas, because all people are different. The psychologist did not claim that the need for high knowledge would necessarily arise, but merely noted that for the appearance of such desires, it is necessary to satisfy the most primitive needs.

The Maslow Pyramid allocates the following 7 levels, each of which follows from the previous one. These include:

  • Lower human needs. This includes the physiological needs necessary for the normal functioning of the body. The minimum level of human needs includes: nutrition, water consumption, sleep, reproduction and satisfaction of sexual desire (the last two items are often combined into one).
  • Satisfaction of the instinct of self-preservation or safety. The Maslow Pyramid includes these needs in the hierarchy, since this instinct is the strongest in a person. The previous level can also be attributed to the achievement of self-preservation, but in a more global sense. The second stage of Maslow’s needs includes: comfortable living conditions, availability of housing, lack of trigger factors, for example, wars or disasters.
  • This level of Maslow implies the need for socialization for every person. Love here refers to any positive relationship between a person and society: friends, family, team, membership of a group, and so on.
  • Among the needs of people, respect is located at level 3, that is, it is an important condition for the desire to develop further. As a rule, the previous step is combined with this, but close people cannot always give the degree of recognition that is required by a particular person. For some individuals, this item is below the previous two.
  • The need for cognition. In man, according to Maslow, there is a high need for new information. People constantly learn new facts about the surrounding world or interesting information that they try to apply in life. This point has become especially relevant since the development of the Internet, when the receipt of the necessary material has ceased to require efforts.
  • Aesthetic needs. Of the 7 levels of the Maslow pyramid on the penultimate place is the need to satisfy the feeling of beauty. This level of needs includes: music, visual arts, harmony of nature and other similar things. For some people, this level outshines most of the previous.
  • Self-realization or self-development. Among the 7 levels of the pyramid of needs, this item is in last place, as it is realized among people who are satisfied with the fulfillment of previous needs and this is not enough for them. The desire to achieve these goals does not fully represent the essence of self-realization. People who have developed the last level of the pyramid, constantly need to improve their own personality. Learn new languages, achieve promotions at work, participate in various projects and so on.

There is no categorical hierarchy in the 7 level Maslow pyramid, which causes a lot of critical opinions in its direction. This theory does not imply that the transition to the next level is possible only with the full implementation of the previous one. The formation of levels in the pyramid is often due to the intellectual abilities of man. In order to get to the top of the needs, that is self-realization, it is recommended to keep your brain in tone all the time. This will make a useful resource BrainApps, where everyone will find themselves developing games to their liking.

Features of human needs

The lack of unanimous recognition of the 7 levels of the Maslow pyramid is due to the pronounced differences in the structure of each individual. Misunderstanding between people arises not only due to the fact that only the second level is reached for some, and the third for the others. Some people are in dire need of self-realization and sacrifice for this love, and someone is enough to satisfy the low requirements for a satisfactory life.

When assessing a person, we must not forget that the 7 levels of the Maslow pyramid are only averaged data, which do not have sufficient evidence. But to deny the influence of physiological dissatisfaction on the presence or absence of spiritual desires – also fails. In the pyramid represented by Maslow, the unbreakable concepts of the progress of human needs are laid down, depending on the standard of living.

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