Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Physical Belonging Self-Acutalization
Safety Self Esteem

Abraham Maslow was a humanistic psychologist who proposed a five-tiered hierarchy to explain the motivations behind behavior. Maslow's contribution was two-fold: 1) arranging human needs into a hierarchy, and 2) separating out self-actualization needs and placing them at the pinnacle. According to Maslow, in general, lower (or more basic) needs must be satisified to at least a reasonable level before the higher level needs can even manifest themselves.

You may have studied this in another class. In this class, we want to see how we can use the concept to help us be more effective persuaders.

The needs include:

  1. Pysiological Needs These are the most basic needs: survival needs such as food, water, air, shelter. It also includes the need for a reasonably comfortable environment. For example, people find it difficult to keep their minds on things when they are too hot or cold, or somewhere exposed to a truly noxious odor. Although in our culture for the most part (with definite exceptions) we take the satisfaction of these needs for granted, keep in mind that we are talking about psychological motivation. Many people who have not gone hungry in years may still be haunted by experiences from childhood in the depression or during World War II, and so be motivated by the fear of losing in this area. You may also be able to make use of this area by arousing an awareness of a lack of which the audience was unaware prior to your speech.
  2. Safety/security needs. This is basically dealing with the need to be free from threats or predators, and the need to have life run smoothly (a very unsatisfied need in our society). Includes appeals to safety and control as well as to tradition.
  3. Belongingness and love needs. Includes the need for satisfying relationships with other people, the needs for acceptance, the need to be part of a group. Political campaigns often appeal here (the bandwagon appeal). Includes the need for friendship, nurturance, and sexual gratification.
  4. Esteem needs. The need for esteem basically is the need for others to look up to you. It includes the need to be respected by others and recognized by others (praise, status symbols, etc.). Basically, the need to be treated as a valuable and important person. Independence and success are values here as well as in self-actualization. Note the discussion there for the difference in these, depending on whether they are based in esteem needs or in self-actualization needs.
  5. Self-actualization needs. The need to develop and grow as a person, to find one's identify, to fully realize one's potential. Also includes the need to achieve satisfaction by a personal standard of excellence (as opposed to whether someone else thinks so or not). Success and independence comes in here. Basically, under esteem needs we would talk about whether other people believe you are successful and independent; here, we would talk about whether you feel successful and independent.
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