I recently had to do research on Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs Theory. The information I found turned out to be very interesting. Maslow is a humanistic psychologist. Humanists focus upon potentials. They believe that humans strive for an upper level of capabilities. Maslow formed a hierarchic theory of five levels of basic needs. Within these five levels, the person does not feel the second need until the demands of the first have been satisfied, nor the third until the second has been satisfied, and so on. The hierarchic theory is often represented as a pyramid, with lower levels representing the lower needs, and the upper level representing the highest need for self-actualization.
The four levels he calls deficit needs, or D-needs. If you don’t have enough of something - you have a deficit -you feel the need. But if you get all you need, you feel nothing at all! In other words, your needs cease to be motivating. Maslow sees all these needs as essentially survival needs. Even love and esteem are needed for the maintenance of health. He says we all have these needs built in to us genetically, like instincts; he calls them instinctoid - instinct-like -needs. He calls the fifth level the growth motivator, being needs, or B-needs. The self-actualizer has a different way of relating to others. They enjoy solitude, and are comfortable being alone.
Posted By: Helen Lofton
Thursday, March 10th 2011 at 1:49AM
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