Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

What is it?

Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfil the next one, and so on. Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Diagram

Physiological • These are the physical requirements for human survival, without these, there is no

way a human can live. Breathing is an instinct and from birth, you do it straight away. These needs should be met first before anything else.Safety

• This is the next important one as people need to be safe. This is usually found in the early stages of childhood because children will feel the need to be safe within themselves.Love/Belonging

• Some large social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, and gangs. Some examples of small social connections include family members, intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants. Humans need to love and be loved – both sexually and non-sexually – by others.Esteem

• All humans have the need to feel respected. Esteem presents the desire of people wanting to be accepted and valued by others. People often engage in profession or hobby to gain recognition.

Self-Actualization• This level of need refers to what a persons full potential is and the realization of

that potential. Maslow describes this level as a desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.

What Maslow said.

Maslow said that needs must be satisfied in the given order. Aims and drives always shift to next higher order needs. Levels 1 to 4 are deficiency motivators, level 5 are growth motivators.Examples: You can’t motivate someone to achieve their sales target (level 4) when they are having problems with their marriage (level 3).You can’t expect someone to work as a team member (level 3) when they are having their house re-possessed (level 2).