The Basis of Human Psychology: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow is the founder of human psychology. He created the series of needs that concern individuals and put them in a hierarchical order. These are theories of motivation. According to this theory, people’s needs are based on their internal needs rather than external factors.

According to Maslow, human needs are unlimited. It is not possible to be completely satisfied in the process of fulfilling the need. However, after the need is satisfied, the motivation for the need loses its effect.

Man is such a structure that he constantly tends towards the greater completion of his being…. a will to good values, such as calmness, kindness, courage, honesty, love, being unselfish and being good.
-Abraham Maslow

In Maslow’s Theory of Needs; It is meaningless to meet the higher need without meeting the lower need. Because at the bottom of the pyramid are our indispensable needs, and as we meet our needs and rise, our level of satisfaction increases.

5 Levels of Needs Theory

With the change of society, its needs have also changed. The changes had effects on natural desires. It caused the emergence of needs that are incompatible with today’s needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. However, it also revealed a remarkable reality: as the demand for goods and services increased, our desires began to take shape in material terms.

1) Physiological Needs

Creates the lowest rung. There are basic needs such as hunger, thirst, sex , oxygen and sleep. According to Maslow, people struggle throughout their lives to meet these needs.

2) Security Needs

At the second level in the hierarchy, we encounter the situation of being protected from external factors and being in safety. When the person is afraid and worried, he tries to find solutions and cope with it. Maslow said, “The more this need is satisfied, the less hindrance there will be. The less there is, the less courage will be.”

3) The Need for Belonging and Love

The need for the individual to establish a relationship and to have a one of his own arises. This situation can also be called meeting social needs. If this need is not met, Maslow states that two different types of love in the individual are not completed. One of them is ‘Love of Lack’ and the other is ‘Love of Existence’.

Lack of love; It is the filling of love that is empty in a person. The love of existence is the love we feel for the existence of another.

4) The Need for Respect

It is a need that arises from a person’s self-confidence. A person wants his/her environment to respect him/her. Maslow at this level; It emphasizes the self-esteem and self-states of the person.

5) The Need for Self-Realization

At the highest level comes the need to discover one’s own potential. Although at the lower levels it starts from necessity and moves towards what should be, this level will be shaped by human questions and wishes. Maslow says that the psychological development of a person is also an important point for this situation.