Analysis Of Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

Introduction
The idea of Universal needs establishes those needs that are experienced by all human beings. These needs are those that are encapsulated in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Maslow underlines that these needs are genetically built into our bodies and that their satisfaction is vital for survival and overall health maintenance (Boeree,2006).This assignment will explain Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs with reference to real life communication examples and how they relate to the theory.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Abraham Harold Maslow is a famous humanistic psychologist who, in 1954, identified 5 basic human needs and organised these into a hierarchical pyramid (Mersham and Skinner, 2012). This is a theory of self actualisation and is more famously known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The development of this pyramid forms part of Maslow’s research focussing on how humans can reach their fullest potential and achieve healthy personalities. The hierarchy of needs can also be used to explain why people behave the way they do, as he, much like other social scientists of his time, believed that needs that remain unsatisfied will inevitably motivate our behaviour. This hierarchy of needs was also an effort to find a link between communication and the satisfaction of our needs.
In the order of most important to least important, these basic needs include: physiological (survival) needs, safety needs, social needs, the need for esteem and the need for self-actualisation. Without the satisfaction of the first level needs, one cannot satisfy the second level needs.

Image of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Gerard Keegan Psychology. (2010). Hierarchy of needs. 2010. Retrieved 27 February, 2014 from http://gerardkeegan.com/...

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...ree,2006).This is not completely accurate as we are able to study self-actualisers such as Nelson Mandela who was raised in the dangerous apartheid era, which meant that the necessary safety and security needs as well as basic survival needs were often compromised. Yet today, the world acknowledges this individual as a historic figure who reached true self-actualisation.

Conclusion
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has taught us that needs inevitably influence behaviour. These needs are satisfied in the order of the most basic physiological needs such as air to more complex self actualisation needs such as individual growth. An individual’s ability to satisfy these needs may vary as it is influenced by factors such social status and the living environment. Nonetheless, it is vital that these needs are satisfied in order to ensure the survival of mankind.