Theory of Need

Abraham Harold Maslow was born April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, NY. He studied law at the City College of New York (CCNY). He received his BA in 1930, his MA in 1931 and his PhD in 1934 all in psychology from the University of Wisconsin.

One of the interesting things Maslow noticed while working with monkeys early in his career, was that needs is more important over other things. For example if you are hungry and thirsty you will tend to try to take are of the thirst first. By nature you can do without food longer, but you can only do without water for a couple of days. In this case thirst is a stronger “need” than hunger. Maslow took this concept and created his famous hierarchy of needs theory. Beyond the need of air, water, food and sex he laid out broader layers displayed in the form of a pyramid. The needs consist of physiological, safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem, and the need ton actualize the self.

The physiological needs

The physiological needs consist of the human biological needs such as oxygen, food, water, and a constant body temperature. These are considered to be the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all physiological needs these would come first in the search for satisfaction of self.

Safety and Security Needs

When the physiological needs are taken care of the second layer comes to play. Safety and Security needs include personal, financial, health and well being and a safety net in case of illness, accidents, or sudden impacts. This level I believe to be the second most important because every American strives for, trying to find themselves in a safe position, stability, protection, structure and order. We set goals for ourselves as to having a home in a safe neighborhood, job security, savings, a good retirement plan and some type of insurance and so on. Trying to achieve this level is difficult because we as adults have to overcome many obstacles. The only hope we have is to really motivate and...