What is the Hierarchy of Needs?
‘Hierarchy of Needs’ is a theory put forward by American psychologist Abraham Maslow, which states that human desires can be categorized by the force and necessity of those desires.
Based on this principle, he also shared a pyramid structure, with the most important needs at the bottom and aspirations and goals at the top. The categorization from bottom to top is as follows:
- Physiological: It includes basic needs like breathing, eating, sleeping, etc.
- Safety: It includes needs such as health, physical safety, shelter, etc.
- Love: It includes friendships, family, love, etc.
- Esteem: It includes confidence, achievements, respect, etc.
- Self-actualization: It includes one’s dreams and goals, accepting reality, morality, etc.
The pyramid has to be satisfied from the bottom to the top. Hence, the bottom levels are called ‘deficiency needs’, since the non-fulfillment of those needs will result in innate anxiousness.
