Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Human Needs

Abraham Harold Maslow

“According to Maslow's theory, all

needs have a certain priority. Needs
of one level must at least partially
fulfilled before a person can realize
higher needs.” (Ryder/Decker, 391)
What are Maslow’s Human
Needs? Can you guess
what Maslow’s
levels of needs
are?
Self-actualization

Esteem Needs

Love and Acceptance Needs

Safety and Security Needs

Physical Needs
 Physical needs
What did Maslow mean by
physical needs?

 Food What physical needs do every

person have?
 Water
 Air
 Shelter
 Clothing

These items are essential for good health and well-

being, and for continuation of life.
Physical needs
 In your learning log, consider these
questions? Write your answers in
complete sentences.
 Are you meeting these needs for your well
being and good health?
 Who provides these needs for you?
 Could you provide these needs for a baby?
Safety and Security Needs
 Staying well, avoiding being ill
 Avoiding danger How do these
safety and security
 Safe circumstances needs relate to you?

 Stability
 Protection
 Structure, for order, some limits
Safety and Security Needs
 In the ordinary American adult, this set
of needs manifests itself in the form of
our urges to have a home in a safe
neighborhood, a little job security and a
nest egg, a good retirement plan and a
bit of insurance, and so on.
 Which of these are met for you?
 Which of these needs could you provide for
a baby?
Love and Acceptance Needs
 Friends, sweetheart, children,
affectionate relationships in general,
even a sense of community
What are some examples of love
and acceptance you see in your
life?
The Esteem needs
 Self-esteem
 The need for the respect of others, the
need for status, fame, glory, recognition,
attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity,
even dominance.
 Self-respect
 Confidence, competence, achievement,
mastery, independence, and freedom
Self-actualization
 According to Maslow, only a small
percentage of the world’s population is
truly, predominantly, self-actualizing.
Can you think of people who fit into
the self-actualization category?
Self-actualization
 Knowledge and appreciation of beauty, goodness,
freedom and a realistic view and acceptance of self
and others.
 Reality-centered, differentiate what is fake and
dishonest from what is real and genuine.
 Problem-centered, treating life’s difficulties as
problems demanding solutions, not as personal
troubles to be railed at or surrendered to.
 Different perception of means and ends, felt
that the ends don’t necessarily justify the means,
that the means could be ends themselves, and that
the means -- the journey -- was often more
important than the ends.