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There are many models in psychology designed to seek our well-being and guide our internal motivation. One of the best-known models is that of Abraham Maslow, this humanistic psychologist dedicated much of his career to creating a model of hierarchies of needs known as Maslow’s pyramid. This model is widely known throughout the world since it is very useful in psychological practice. The main objective of the pyramid is to organize our needs and establish a hierarchy.
If you are interested in Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, in this Psychology-Online article, we will see Maslow’s pyramid with practical examples of needs and images. We will look at personal examples of all of Maslow’s needs and even how the pyramid applies to marketing.
Contributions of Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970) was an American psychologist born in Palo Alto, California. He is known for founding, together with other experts, humanistic psychology, a discipline born as an alternative to behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Maslow was the eldest brother of seven children, he himself stated that he grew up alone, with few friends and among many books. He began his studies in psychology by investigating sexual behaviors in primates. Years later and after much evolution in his postulates, he brought to light a theory about human motivation called “the hierarchy of needs“. One of his main mentors was Alfred Adler, a pioneer of individual psychology and an important student of personality theories.
As humanistic psychologist, Maslow explored people’s internal motivations, innate desires, and the meaning of our lives. The humanistic approach focuses on developing people’s potential and the qualities that distinguish us as empathetic, rational and, as its name suggests, human beings. It is necessary to understand them to accurately understand Maslow’s pyramid theory.
What is Maslow’s pyramid
For the psychologist Abraham Maslow, motivation is defined as the human being’s impulse to satisfy his needs, these needs needed a classification or hierarchysince some are more important for human survival than others.
In this context, Maslow proposed a theory of motivation in which he stated that there was a hierarchy in human needs and that, first of all, those that are considered most basic had to be satisfied. With each need met, the human being advances in the hierarchy until his highest desires are satisfied.
Being a hierarchical organization, this model is shaped like a pyramid and consists of five levels:
- Physiology
- Security
- Membership
- Recognition
- Self realisation
Broadly speaking, we can affirm that the most basic needs (also known as primary needs) constitute the lowest part of the pyramid while, on the other hand, the highest or growth needs are located at the upper end of the figure. This order is because, first of all, Maslow states that we must take care of the needs that keep us alive, such as eating, drinking and maintaining good health. When we are stable and maintain a basic balance, we can try to achieve and satisfy our needs for knowledge and personal fulfillment.
Examples of Maslow’s pyramid
Next, we will explain each level of this model and give practical examples to better understand how the hierarchy of human needs works. Let’s look at some examples of each level of Maslow’s pyramid:
1. Physiological needs
The base of this pyramid includes the needs of our organic system. The human body must maintain a certain balance in order to function correctly and this balance is achieved with correct nutrition, rest, hydration… Maslow also adds sex as a physiological need. Despite being a debatable element at the individual level, it is true that sex is essential for the survival of the species.
- Examples of physiological needs: the first thing we are going to need as a human being will be to breathe, eat, drink and sleep. Until we have these needs met, we will not be able to focus on other concerns.
2. Need for security
Once basic physiological needs are met, we begin to worry about our safety. This level includes the stability work, the fact of having a home, having resources available…feeling safe and stable reduces our alert systems and allows us to advance in the hierarchy. This level also includes needs related to the stability of the family circle.
- Example of security need: A security need is to know that we have a roof under which to sleep. After having our organic state controlled, we will want to cover this type of need.
3. Need for affiliation
The need for affiliation corresponds to that related to the social relationships, participation in events and meetings and peer acceptance. Human beings are social by nature (to a lesser or greater degree) and we need to maintain a circle of social networks to obtain correct mental stability.
- Example of affiliation need: Once we have a plate on the table and a roof to sleep under, we begin to worry about our friends and our peer group. Companionship, affection between other people and sexual intimacy are clear examples of this level of Maslow’s pyramid.
4. Need for recognition
When we talk about recognition we refer to the need to esteem and appreciation, both for others and for promoting self-esteem. Inferiority complexes are born when this level of the pyramid is not satisfied.
- Example of need for recognition: For human beings, it is practically essential that someone appreciates us and values our actions. In addition, strengthening is essential to achieve correct mental balance.
5. Need for self-actualization
According to Maslow, this last level is no longer considered a primary need. This is because we can only focus our attention on them when we manage to completely satisfy other human needs. This level includes such as morality, creativity, acceptance of facts…
- Example of the need for self-actualization: When we finally feel at ease physically and mentally, we are able to direct our efforts toward higher goals. Personal and human development is completed by reaching this level. An example of a person who has reached this end of the pyramid is one who has all their needs covered and dedicates a large part of their time to altruism, social work and spiritual growth.
What is Maslow’s pyramid used for?
Once we know the practical examples of each level of the pyramid, it is important to analyze the basic rules that maintain order in this hierarchy of needs:
- The behavior of human beings is altered when any of the needs are not satisfied, especially if they are basic needs.
- Physiological needs They are born from the individual himselfthe rest appear over time
- Non-primary needs (such as self-actualization needs) can also be satisfied even though basic needs are not completely met. However, according to the same hierarchy of needs, it is more important to seek the satisfaction of basic needs.
- Human needs are shared by all individuals to a greater or lesser extent.
Therefore, Maslow’s pyramid allows us to better understand people’s behavior.
Criticisms of Maslow’s pyramid model
Although this theory is still applied today, Maslow’s hierarchy of priorities has some bugs when analyzing how human beings act in real life. There are cases of people who, for example, put their basic physiological needs at risk in search of self-esteem and social acceptance.
This is the case of eating disorders, people who suffer from it stop eating and atrophy the organic system with an objective quite far from the bases of the pyramid. Another example is infidelity in marriages, where one of the parties puts family security at risk due to other needs for self-esteem and acceptance.
Currently, the hierarchy of needs model It is not something dogmaticwe know that it has flaws and that not always applied. Even so, it is a very useful theory to learn to set priorities in our lives and detect our emotional motivations.
Maslow’s pyramid in marketing
In addition to being a very widespread theory in the field of social psychology and motivational psychotherapies, the hierarchy of needs is also applied to the economic model, more specifically in marketing. Advertising campaigns use strategies that appeal to the satisfaction of one or more needs. How can Maslow’s pyramid be applied in the workplace and business area? How to apply Maslow’s pyramid in a product?
Let’s see with examples Maslow’s needs applied to marketing in cologne advertisements, although the product sold is a spray with fragrance, the sales strategies focus the content of the advertisements on the affiliation and self-actualization needs (attractive actors and actresses, surrounded by people and many metaphors appealing to success).
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Castellanos, JCC (2016). Neuromarketing and its relationship with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Contributions to the Economy(2016-01).
- Muñoz, MDPV, & de la Fuente, FV (2010). Abraham Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs. Negotiation strategies and tactics1-4.
- Maslow, A. (1951). Hierarchy of Human Needs. Mexico, FCE