Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Representations
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is predetermined in order of importance. It is often depicted as a pyramid
consisting of five levels: the first lower level is being associated with Physiological needs, while the top levels
are 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 when the lower needs in the pyramid are met. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next
level, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the
individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs, but will
not permanently regress to the lower level. For instance, a businessman at the esteem level who is diagnosed
with cancer will spend a great deal of time concentrating on his health (physiological needs), but will continue
to value his work performance (esteem needs) and will likely return to work during periods of remission.

Deficiency needs
The lower four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D-needs". With the
exception of the lowest needs, physiological ones, if the deficiency needs are not met, the body gives no
indication of it physically, but the individual feels anxious and tense. These deficiency needs are:
physiological, safety and security, love and belonging, and esteem.

1. Physiological needs

For the most part, physiological needs are obvious - they are the literal requirements for human survival. If
these requirements are not met (with the partial exception of sex), the human body simply cannot continue to
function.

Physiological needs include:

 Breathing
 Homeostasis
 Water
 Sleep
 Food
 Excretion
 Sex

2. Safety needs

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take over and dominate their
behavior. These needs have to do with people's yearning for a predictable, orderly world in which injustice
and inconsistency are under control, the familiar frequent and the unfamiliar rare. In the world of work, these
safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for
protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, and the like.

For the most part, physiological and safety needs are reasonably well satisfied in the "First World". The
obvious exceptions, of course, are people outside the mainstream — the poor and the disadvantaged. If
frustration has not led to apathy and weakness, such people still struggle to satisfy the basic physiological and
safety needs. They are primarily concerned with survival: obtaining adequate food, clothing, shelter, and
seeking justice from the dominant societal groups.

Safety and Security needs include:

3. Social needs

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. This psychological
aspect of Maslow's hierarchy involves emotionally-based relationships in general, such as:

 friendship
 intimacy
 having a supportive and communicative family

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such
as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs ("Safety in
numbers"), or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues,
confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these
elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and Clinical depression. This need
for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer
pressure; an anorexic, for example, ignores the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control
and belonging.

4. Esteem

All humans have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self-respect, and to respect others. People need
to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of
contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result
in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may
seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. It may be noted, however, that many people with low self-
esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory
externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also
prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

5. Aesthetic needs / Self Actualization

6. Self-transcendence
Near the end of his life Maslow revealed that there was a level on the hierarchy that was above self-
actualization: self-transcendence [6]. "[Transcenders] may be said to be much more often aware of the realm
of Being (B-realm and B-cognition), to be living at the level of Being… to have unitive consciousness and
“plateau experience” (serene and contemplative B-cognitions rather than climactic ones) … and to have or to
have had peak experience (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with illuminations or insights. Analysis of reality or
cognitions which changed their view of the world and of themselves, perhaps occasionally, perhaps as a usual
thing."[7]