Signature Assignment

PSY - 1100
Charles Martin

6 August 6, 2016

Understanding human development is very complex. As time passes and technology

changes humans adapt to the conditions, the understanding theorists thought they knew seems to
change ever so slightly. Even amidst all these changes and conflicting ideas from theorists on
human development one things stands out to me of being unchanged. It is the idea that everyone
has specific needs. This does not change because someone is from a developed country or
whether they are black, white or brown. Abraham Maslow provided a framework that helped
understanding these needs.
Maslow believed that all people, no matter their culture, gender or back ground have the
same basic needs and drives (Berger, 2014). These needs were put into a specific order that
Maslow believed needed to be fulfilled one on top of the other. This idea is called Maslows
Hierarchy of Needs. Each step is specific in detailing which need must be fulfilled until an
individual can move to the next step in the hierarchy.
First are the physiological needs. These include oxygen, water, food and also shelter.
Second in order is safety and security needs. These needs are generally thought of as needing a
home in a safe neighborhood, job security, a good retirement and insurance in the chance that
something bad happens. This aids in getting rid of our anxieties and fears. The third layer is the
need for love and belonging. After physiological needs and safety are taken care of, a person
begins to feel the need for friends, children, affection and a sense of community. People try to
avoid loneliness and do so by joining a club, becoming a member of a church, anything to assist
in finding others to commune with. The fourth need is making sure that we are developing
esteem. Maslow describes two versions of esteem, a higher and a lower. The lower is the need
for the respect of others, the need for status, fame, recognition and appreciation. The Higher form

is developing a sense of self-respect. These feelings include confidence, achievement,

independence and mastery. These first for set of needs are called deficit needs. If you dont have
enough of something you have a deficit, you then feel the need. If there is a period of extreme
insecurity of hunger as a child, or the loss of a family member or significant neglect or abuse, an
individual may fixate on that set of needs the rest of their life. It is important for these needs to
be met (Boeree, 2006).
Different from all of these is Maslows last step on his hierarchy, Self -actualization. Selfactualization involves the continuous desire to fulfill our potentials, to be all that you can be.
(Boeree, 2006). This is one of the most difficult to attain in life. It draws on the need to live up to
ones full potential. They can become truly creative, spiritual, and curious. The person has peak
experiences when life is so intensely joyful that time stops and self-seeking disappears (Berger,
2014)
Now, Maslow contended that each step in order is instrumental however, in a study done
at the University of Illinois. Researchers turned to the Gallup World Poll, which conducted
surveys in 155 countries from 2005 to 2010, and included questions about money, food, shelter,
safety, social support, feeling respected, being self-directed, having a sense of mastery, and the
experience of positive or negative emotions. The researchers found that fulfillment of a diversity
of needs, as defined by Maslow, do appear universal and important to happiness. Meaning that
this was true for everyone across the globe. They continued, the order in which higher and
lower needs are met has little bearing on how much they contribute to life satisfaction and
enjoyment (Yates, 2011) This means that someone can have great social relationships times in
which they a strong self-actualization even if some of their basic safety and needs have not been
completely fulfilled.

I feel like there are areas in my life in which I have fulfilled some of the layers to
Maslows Hierarchy of needs. However, I think that I have always struggled in one category,
esteem. I think my struggles started in middle childhood and have followed me ever since. I grew
up playing sports, I was obsessed with puzzles, collecting items and I was also in many other
extracurricular activities. In school I was in advanced classes that paired for example a third and
fourth grade class and then a fifth and sixth grade class together. Even though I have always
seemed to adapt to my situations I feel like the stress that it placed on my lead to what I believe
is an undiagnosed case of attention-deficits, or at least some form of it that has followed with me.
Many times I would start on a project only to be side track by needing to her a song on the radio,
finish a puzzle I started, come up with different ideas for a project rather than just sitting down
and doing the original project in the first place. It was not until hours before a project is due that
I could finally pull all my faculties together and get things done. Maybe it is because I feel like I
can naturally learn quickly that it hasnt caused me academic problems. I know that it is still a
problem and can be more of a problem for others. According to Berger (2014), it is noted that
children, with ADHD, tend to have academic difficulties; they are less likely to graduate from
high school and college. I had two close friends who were diagnosed with ADHD. I feel like this
enabled them to have an excuse to fail. One dropped out of high school and became addicted to
drugs, the other graduated be the skin of his teeth and eventually by the age of 22 became an
alcoholic.
I think over all this has affected my life especially in my emerging adulthood. One of
which has to do with the layer of Maslows Hierarchy of needs that I brought up earlier. I always
felt insecure about my abilities. I had friends and they for the most part respected me and I
competed well enough at sports that I enjoyed to receive plenty of recognition, but something

was lacking. I seemed to always have a problem with my own self-respect and confidence. May
be that stemmed from never putting into anything all of my time and effort. Maybe I never truly
felt that I had something to shoot for and thats why I never had the confidence of taking my own
path and really excelling at it. In the Psychosocial development phase of emerging adulthood. On
of the ongoing processes is one of Eriksons stages of development, Identity versus role
confusion. Erikson believed that the outcome of earlier crises provides the foundation for each
new stage (Berger, 2014) Maybe that it where I fall. Now, as an emerging adult I can see where
this earlier conflict of my life of difficultly staying on task and appreciating my own work is why
I have problems with my vocational identity. Again, going back to Berger (2014), establishing a
vocational identity is considered part of growing up, not only by developmental psychologists
but also emerging adults themselves. I am still searching for this. I have graduated from the
University of Utah with a bachelors degree but I never truly gave myself to the profession I
wanted to go into. Maybe it was because I only crammed assignments and memorized well
enough to pass or I just didnt have the confidence that I do well at what I was planning to go in.
I think that I recognized this about a year or so ago. I was able to witnesses
someone doing their job and I had a serious conversation with them about it. They seemed
happy. They seemed to enjoy life and what they did and it is something that I had an interest in
many years ago. They held a career in something that I never had the confidence to go through
with. Once I heard that the program was hard to get into I looked at would be easier or less time
consuming. Now after that run in seeing someone who had that great sense of esteem and
identity it helped push me into finally pursuing what I wanted, one for myself and one for my
family. I can see that in my own development that it is helping my esteem. I am enjoying what I

am doing. Yes, it is hard with work, raising a family and trying to succeed. But, knowing that I
am succeeding it bodes well for my esteem.
The positive outcomes for me is that I get to learn from past mistakes. Maybe I do
have problems paying attention, maybe I do have some form of attention deficits but, Maybe I
just never believed in myself the way that I am now. The good thing is, personality is not static.
New characteristics may appear and negative traits diminish. Emerging adults can make choices
that break with the past (Berger, 2014)

References
Boeree, C. (2006). Abraham Maslow. Retrieved August 07, 2016, from.
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html
Berger, K. (2014). Invitation to The Life Span. New York: New York
Worth Publishers.
Yates, D. (2011, June 30). Researchers Look Around The World For Ingredients Of Happiness.
Medical News Today. Retrieved August 6, 2016, from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/230109.php