Need·Hierarchy Theory
Maslow has proposed a system of need hierarchies wherein when one ass of needs is satisfied, the individual is motivated by a higher need. This is a scheme for emotionally healthy people where it is assumed that man's inborn nature is basically good, but at the same time weak enough to be overcome by outside pressures. Maslow proposes a "ladder" of needs fr9m lower at the bottom to the higher rung at the top. First come the basic physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst; without these, of course, man could not exist. -econd are the safety needs, protection against danger, threat, and _eprivation, for security and stability. When threatened or made to feel too dependent, the person's struggle for need satisfaction involves a search for protection. Third, when physIological and safety needs are satisfied, social needs become important motivators of behavior as the search goes out for belonging, human association and acceptance by one's fellows, for giving and receiving friendship and love. When social needs, like physiological and safety needs, are thwarted, the individual may become antagonistic, resistant, and uncooperative. This behavior is a result. of need failure, not a cause of it.
In the ladder, on the fourth rung come two kinds of ego needs. On the one hand, we have needs of self-esteem where there are feelings of self-confidence, feelings of independence. And there are needs for status, recognition, and respect. Unlike lower needs, thes~ are more difficult to specify. Finally, at the top of the need-hierarchy scheme is self-actualization or self-fulfillment where the person tries to realize his own potentials.
