Hierarchy of Needs The Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs By Kendra Cherry

Psychologist Abraham Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation"¹ and his subsequent book, Motivation and Personality.² This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid. Needs at the bottom of the pyramid are basic physical requirements including the need for food, water, sleep and warmth. Once these lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs, which are for safety and security.

As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Soon, the need for love, friendship and intimacy become important. Further up the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority. Like Carl Rogers, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person to achieve individual potential.

Types of Needs

Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs(also known as D-needs), meaning that these needs arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences.

Maslow termed the highest-level of the pyramid as growth need (also known as being needs or B-needs). Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.

Five Levels of the Hierarchy of Needs

There are five different levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

1. Physiological Needs
   These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met.


2. Security Needs
   These include needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a desire for steady employment, health insurance, safe neighborhoods and shelter from the environment.


3. Social Needs
   These include needs for belonging, love and affection. Maslow considered these needs to be less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community or religious groups.


4. Esteem Needs
   After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly important. These include the need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition and accomplishment.


5. Self-actualizing Needs
   This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested fulfilling their potential.

Sex Ed: Keeping up with the johns

By Jay Dixit, published on November 01, 2009 - last reviewed on December 06, 2009

Conventional wisdom holds that men who visit prostitutes are lonely losers who can't find sex any other way. But the vast majority of johns are ordinary guys—and most are married or in committed relationships.

In fact, men who go to prostitutes often have more sexual partners than those who don't, says Donna Hughes, a professor of women's studies at the University of Rhode Island. "It's a real cross section," says a Toronto vice cop who asked to remain anonymous. "A lot of them are homeowners, good guys with good jobs. Of the guys I've dealt with, there's nothing that puts anybody in a category different from any other guy."

Men have different motives for paying for sex. Many crave variety and use prostitutes to supplement their sex lives, or to act out fantasies they couldn't with their wives or girlfriends. Some like the adventure and the thrill of the hunt; others get a rush from the illicit, secret nature of it.

Some men seek out prostitutes because they're too busy for a relationship—they want to avoid drama and they like the convenience of shopping for sex whenever they want it. Others are in search of the "girlfriend experience"—seeking not just sex but pseudointimacy.

What johns have in common, says Victor Malarek, author of The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy It, is that they don't think about the women they use and how they came to be there. Prostitution requires the creation and maintenance of a comfortable illusion—that prostitutes actually like the men who pay them for sex, that they're attracted to them, and that they enjoy the sex, explains Martin Monto, a sociologist at the University of Portland in Oregon.

Of course, that fantasy is a delusion. "A man can fool himself into thinking every moan that emanates from her lips is because of his magnetic masculinity," says Malarek, "but the truth is, these women know how to act." Once that illusion is gone, many men are deterred.

Prostitution harms both women and men, says Melissa Farley, a psychologist who runs prostitutionresearch.com. Men who come to view women as objects may have difficulty sustaining interest in normal relationships, argues Doug Weiss, the Webmaster of sexaddict.com. "This is not healthy sexuality for men either," says Farley. "It's damaging to them too."

Service Charge

Three men who've paid for sex explain their motivations.

• "I wanted to get laid. It was less hassle than trying for a one-night stand, spending $200 in a smoke-filled bar with no guarantees. It fulfilled what I was looking for."

• "I was trying to prove I wasn't a homosexual and prove my manhood by being with as many women as I could. I'd call and ask her what she looked like, then I'd decide based on how she talked to me, if she were reassuring and nice, comforting, easy to talk to."

• "I went out of curiosity. It seemed like a normal, interesting thing to do in Amsterdam. In the end, it was lame, very clinical. I tried to be warm with her and she treated me like a nurse would, wouldn't let me caress her back. Her coldness made staying hard a challenge."

Natural Element: the drama-free household!

By Victoria Stern, published on March 01, 2009 - last reviewed on April 15, 2009

The odd couple exemplified opposites cohabiting without killing each other. What are the keys to maintaining a drama-free household?

Negotiate Beforehand
"Your well-being depends on your relationship with your roommate," says Jennifer Crocker, a psychologist at the University of Michigan. Before living together, find out whether your roommate is vocal or passive-aggressive about problems, and set up rules in advance to avoid potential conflict. Determine when each person is responsible for doing the dishes or taking out the trash, and what noise levels are appropriate.

All Hands on Deck
Even with a plan mapped out, it's common for roommates to slack off. When that happens, it's time to enforce stricter guidelines: The sink must be empty before bed each night, or whoever goes to bed last must take the garbage out (or they may find the trash under their covers the next morning).

The Tragedy of the Commons
Respect the space you and your roommates share. One woman says her roommate used to leave dirty, wet sports paraphernalia in the hallway for up to a week. To avoid letting the issue fester, her roommates called an apartment meeting. "Instead of pointing fingers and saying, 'You need to do this,' we said, 'We're making a new house rule for all of us,'" she says. They reached a compromise that satisfied all: a 24-hour limit for personal items to remain in communal spaces.

Teen suicide

'A very dangerous time' drives up teen suicides after years of decline

March 02, 2010, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Mar. 2--A celebrity's son plunged eight stories to his death Friday night in Los Angeles after writing a note that said he was unhappy.

Two Pennsylvania girls in their midteens stood in front of an onrushing Amtrak train last week, having texted how upset they were by a boyfriend's death in a traffic accident.

An academically and athletically gifted junior at Odessa High School came home drunk six years ago, climbed the stairs to his bedroom and put a rifle to his head.

"As a parent, I didn't notice the difference between depression and normal 15- and 16-year-old behavior until after the fact," Tracy Peter said of her son, Evan Hedicke, who was 16 when he killed himself.

What experts are noticing is that after a decline in the 1990s, the number of youths who kill themselves began to rise about five years ago.

Though no one can explain with certainty the reason for the increase, experts point to teens having more pressures at home and at school, financial worries for families and an increase of alcohol and drug use.

"This is a very dangerous time for our young people," said Kathy Harms, a staff psychologist at Kansas City's Crittenton Children's Center, which provides psychiatric care for children and adolescents. "We're seeing more anxiety and depression in children of all ages. ... We see kids as young as 3 who come in."

In this country, a teen takes his, or her, own life every 100 minutes, according to Suicide. org, a national suicide-prevention Web site.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24 in Missouri. It ranks second in Kansas.

"Teens think they are invincible, so when they feel psychological pain, they are more apt to feel overwhelmed by hopelessness and the belief that they have no control over their lives," said Tony Jurich, the author of a 2008 book on suicidal adolescents.

Hopelessness and helplessness is "the Molotov cocktail that triggers teen suicide," said Jurich, a professor of family therapy at Kansas State University.

The issue is in the headlines again after Marie Osmond's 18-year-old son jumped off his apartment balcony. Michael Blosil, the son of the 1970s TV and music star, left a note thanking a friend and detailing a few last moments, according to news reports.

Schools, counselors and psychologists across the nation -- including the Kansas City area -- see more young people battling severe depression and other psychological issues.

A study released in January found that five times as many high school and college students today deal with mental health issues as those surveyed in the Great Depression.

A study that is scheduled to be released today shows that a decadelong decline in substance abuse among teens has ended.

The annual survey found that 6.5 million high schoolers -- or 39 percent -- reported alcohol use in the last month. That was an increase from 35 percent in 2008, according to The Associated Press. One out of four high schoolers now says he or she smoked pot in the last month, up from less than one in five in 2008.

When Harms gets to Crittenton each morning, dealing with new admissions is like maneuvering through a hectic emergency room.

"We hit the ground running every morning," she said. "We're trying to treat as many kids as possible in as quick a time as we can."

Tracy Peter said she wishes she could have gotten her son treated in time. More than five years after her son's suicide, she knows the warnings were there.

"What if I had recognized the signs?" she said.

A deer hunter, Evan knew how to handle a rifle. Since her son used the rifle on himself that June day in 2004, Peter has gotten help through a support group that meets in Independence. Peter said she now realizes the pain her son was going through.

Evan's father had been in prison. In his sophomore year, Evan was kicked off the football squad for being part of a team hazing and got in trouble at school for being caught with marijuana, which cost him his spot on the baseball team.

Evan left a note telling his mother he loved her and asking her to divide his things among friends. Peter said she believes the note was written days earlier, that Evan had made his mind up, that he got drunk to numb himself.

A "ripple effect" means that one suicide affects at least six others, said Fred Newton, the director of counseling services at K-State.

This year, K-State and other colleges went online to create virtual communities that allow students to talk.

High schools also try to be proactive. In the Blue Valley School District, every elementary school, middle school and high school completes a student well-being plan to address substance abuse, bullying and suicide prevention.

The district also has a "Who Knows Me Chart" that spots students who aren't known by faculty or staff. Such students then are paired with an adult.

"Kids need to know they have someone at school who knows them, who cares," said Sue Denny, the district's executive director of student services.

Society can't afford to ignore the signs of depression and suicidal tendencies, said Wanda Porter of Crittenton.

"It's just critical," she said, "because our kids are dying."

KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS: Signs that someone may be at risk for committing suicide:

--Talking or writing about dying, disappearing or types of self-harm.

--Personality changes: withdrawal from family and friends, anxious or irritable, sad, indecisive or apathetic.

--Inability to concentrate on school, work, routine tasks.

--Change in sleep, including insomnia, oversleeping and nightmares.

--Dressing down, unkempt and poor hygiene.

--Change in eating habits.

--Low self-esteem or overwhelming guilt, self-hatred or shame.

--Loss of hope, believing things never will get better.

--Giving away favorite things, extravagant spending, arranging care for pets.

Sources: Suicide.org and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention