Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
I love books that debunk common myths, and Transcend by Scott Barry Kaufman does just that with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
The Myth:
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is traditionally presented as a pyramid.
• The hierarchy is a strict progression, where each level must be completed before moving to the next.
The Truth:
• Maslow never depicted his hierarchy as a pyramid; that popular image was created by a management consultant in the 1960s. Maslow’s vision of self-actualization was far more fluid and interconnected.
• Maslow’s hierarchy reflects a dynamic process, where needs influence each other. He distinguishes between “deficiency needs” (like food, safety, and belonging) and “growth needs” (self-actualization and transcendence). Achieving wholeness requires integrating both.
Balancing Defense and Growth
Our brains are wired to prioritize safety over growth, but Maslow believed in balancing “defensive-wisdom” (focused on safety) with “growth-wisdom” (a clearer understanding of reality that fosters integration and wholeness). He argued that everyone has the potential for self-actualization—a balance between safety and growth.
Key elements in growth, according to Maslow, include exploration, love, and purpose, which lead to transcendence—harmony with oneself and the world. Excessive focus on uncertainty and psychological entropy can harm mental health, making healthy self-esteem essential. Real self-esteem is rooted in meaningful achievements, connections, and personal growth. Embracing challenges and managing uncertainty are crucial to development, as shedding defensive mechanisms allows for genuine growth.
Maslow linked adventure-seeking to resilience, especially in those who’ve experienced trauma. A low anxiety, low avoidance approach encourages post-traumatic growth and a sense of life’s meaning. Openness to experience and intellect are important for problem-solving and seeking truth, while reduced “latent inhibition” (openness) makes each experience unique.
The Bottom Line
The “light triad” traits—Kantianism, Humanism, and Faith in Humanity—reflect a loving orientation towards others. Equally essential is self-care, foundational for well-being.
Seeing work as a calling brings greater satisfaction, because one's purpose is then built on security, connection, self-esteem, exploration, and love. Sometimes, moving on from limiting roles is necessary for growth, as discomfort isn’t inherently negative.
Memento Mori
Maslow found that contemplating mortality, such as through an “end-of-life game,” can foster transformation, leading to a shift from material concerns to existential and spiritual growth. Exercises like seeking new experiences, meditation, embracing the past, and cultivating wonder can deepen this shift.
Final Thought
Transcend shows the value of revisiting original ideas. It inspired me to read Maslow’s original theory.
The Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological needs are the most basic survival needs, such as food, water, and shelter. They dominate human behavior when unmet, overshadowing all other motivations. For example, extreme hunger focuses all of an individual's energy and thoughts solely on obtaining food.
Once physiological needs are satisfied, individuals seek safety and security. This includes physical safety, financial stability, health, and a predictable, structured environment. These needs are prominent in children and in adults facing threats or neuroses. Societies and families play critical roles in fulfilling these needs.
After safety, people desire relationships, affection, and a sense of belonging. These needs drive individuals to form friendships, romantic relationships, and community ties. Their frustration often leads to psychological issues, highlighting their importance.
People seek self-respect and recognition from others, this includes self-confidence, achievement, and social status. Meeting these needs support self-worth, while failure leads to feelings of inferiority or compensatory behaviors.
The highest level in the hierarchy, self-actualization involves realizing one’s potential and pursuing personal growth. It varies greatly among individuals, such as artistic expression, athletic excellence, or intellectual pursuits. This need emerges only after other needs are sufficiently met.
Motivations evolve with fulfillment. When basic needs are consistently met, higher-level aspirations emerge. Deprivation at any level reactivates those specific needs, changing the individual’s behavior and focus.
Freedoms (e.g., speech, inquiry) are prerequisites for satisfying basic needs. Humans also have innate drives for knowledge and understanding, forming a smaller hierarchy where the desire to know precedes the desire to understand.
No pyramid
The hierarchy of needs is not rigid, like the pyramid that is often used as its illustration. Exceptions occur in the typical progression. For instance, self-esteem may precede love in individuals who associate self-confidence with gaining affection. In some inherently creative individuals, creativity takes precedence over basic needs, even without their satisfaction. Individuals who face extreme deprivation (e.g., chronic poverty) may remain satisfied with minimal needs. Love needs may be permanently lost in individuals starved of affection early in life. Long-term satisfaction of basic needs can lead individuals to undervalue them.
Needs are not satisfied in an all-or-none manner. Instead, they are fulfilled to varying degrees. For example: An average person might be 85% satisfied in physiological needs, 70% in safety, 50% in love, and so on. Higher needs gradually emerge as lower needs become more fulfilled. Basic needs are often unconscious, though they can be made conscious with introspection or specific techniques. While specific desires vary across cultures, basic needs reflect common human characteristics, transcending cultural differences.
Behavior is rarely driven by a single need. Most actions satisfy multiple needs simultaneously. For example: Eating might fulfill hunger while also providing comfort or satisfying social needs. Complex motivations underline even basic acts like love or food consumption.
Not all behavior is motivated by needs; some are determined by external factors (e.g., conditioned reflexes) or expressive traits reflecting personality.
Gratified needs cease to be active motivators. A satisfied person is not driven by those needs but focuses on unmet or higher-order needs. Threats to fulfilling basic needs or conditions that support them (e.g., freedom, safety) result in psychological distress. Chronic frustration of basic needs can lead to psychopathology.
Broad connections
Motivation theory connects deeply to broader areas, including values, early childhood development, societal structures, and psychotherapy. A person thwarted in basic needs is inherently sick, much like someone lacking essential nutrients.
Source:
Maslow, A.H. (2017), A Theory of Human Motivation, Dancing Unicorn Books.