Maslow is famous for what is called the hierarchy of needs. Simply put the type of need you experience is dependant on the types of other needs fulfilled. These needs are arranged in a hierarchy which shows which needs need to be fulfilled before the next need is experienced.

Some needs are very fundamental, like warmth or food, and some are less fundamental like the need for a beautiful environment. The crucial point is that you will always experience needs; furthermore, the needs experienced are dependent on those already fulfilled - hence hierarchy of needs…

Different sources enumerate different numbers of needs as Maslow himself developed his theory over time. One model I feel demonstrates the full breadth of the theory incorporates eight levels: (adapted from this article)

Starting from the bottom of the pyramid the needs become progressively more removed from the basic survival, or physiological needs for warmth, food, etc.

The concept is that until each preceding need has at least largely been met then the next need does not manifest itself. For example, unless I fell secure and safe I am unlikely to be concerned about my need for a loving family unit of the acceptance of my peer group.

These basic needs can be grouped together - as the lower four are - into what Maslow termed "deficiency needs", that is a need as a result of a deficiency of something. Without these needs being met we cannot move beyond the basic required psychophysical inputs required for us to exist. Essentially the first four needs are more animalistic, and are certainly basic and inherent. In this way these deficiency needs can be compared to Herzberg's hygiene factors.

Assuming these needs are largely met, the 'higher' needs can then be experienced. Maslow termed these "growth needs". In the middle band, these include the need for knowledge and intellectual exploration as well as the need for beauty and to appreciate aesthetics.

Once these are largely fulfilled one can then experience the need to achieve your potential, that of self-actualisation, as Maslow says "What humans can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization". Finally a need go beyond the ego or to help others achieve their self-actualisation is experienced. This last need is termed transcendence (Connection: Transcendence).



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