A system of beliefs that concentrates on human needs and seek ways

Belief Systems: what they are and how they affect you

Your belief system is the invisible force behind your behavior.

Together with other factors such as your personality, your genetic set up and your habits, your belief system is one of the strongest forces that affects any decision that you are making. The communication styles you are using. The ways in which you react to any things that happen in your life.

Any aspect of your behavior, really.

You have probably heard of the famous nature-nurture debate. In case you haven’t, its the discussion whether human behavior is primarily driven by genetic factors, or primarily by environmental factors.

Belief systems are a part of the environmental side of the coin. Humans accumulate thousands of beliefs throughout our lifetime, about all aspects of life. We gain them through things that other people say to us, things we hear on the news, things we read, or any other external influences that we are exposed to.

All of these beliefs are interacting with one another, affecting one another, and together form a system.

A brief introduction to systems thinking

“A system isn’t just any old collection of things. A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something”

In other words, there are three main characteristics that define a system:

The elements of a belief system obviously are beliefs. If we wanted to complicate the issue, we could also argue that values and assumptions are also part of a belief system. And that would certainly be correct.

But for simplification, in this article I am going to exclusively talk about beliefs as such.

These beliefs are interconnected with one another. A change in one belief will affect the system as a whole. If it is a core belief, a change can potentially lead to the disruption of the system as a whole. If a set of beliefs changes, other parts of the system will have to rearrange in order to rebuild the coherence of the system.

The ultimate goal of any belief system is a to ensure human survival and the passing on of your genes.

Intelligence and culture have developed as a way for human beings to evolve faster — not on a physical level, but on a mental level. Cultural evolution happens much quicker than biological evolution. Belief systems have evolved as part of this development in order to ensure the survival of human beings.

Besides that ultimate goal of achieving survival, there are also sub-goals of belief systems in different aspects of life.

For example, beliefs around sexuality and dating behavior are meant to ensure the passing of an individual’s genes onto the next generation.

Beliefs around effective decision-making, negotiation and business exist in order to help you achieve a certain status in the social hierarchy.

Beliefs around dealing with things like uncertainty and anxiety exist in order to help you maintain mental health and so on and so forth.

In other words, the sub-goals of your belief systems exist to ensure that you are capable of fulfilling certain needs that you have, whether that is related to fulfilling sexual desires, being secure, feeling loved, feeling a sense of belonging, or being able of developing your self-esteem.

Belief systems strive towards maintaining congruence among their elements

“Cognitive and behavioral change was seen to result from the need to maintain balance or congruence among the elements of the belief system and between beliefs and behaviors” — Grube, Mayton & Ball-Rokeach

I remember well the time when I was starting to get exposed to the writings of people like Seth Godin, who are basically arguing that the world is shifting towards a project-based economy, and that long-term job security can not exist in such an economy.

According to this worldview, there will be only very few conventional jobs like the one’s our parents had for the current generation of millennials. Jobs that people were doing for many years at a time, that were stable with a regular income and a large set of benefits.

For somebody who has grown up in Germany — a culture which is trying hard to avoid uncertainty, which is very conservative and therefore focuses on providing as many social services and as much stability as possible — these kind of thoughts are very disruptive.

Being exposed to a highly different viewpoint as compared to your own belief system won’t change it that quickly.

But if, over time, you are exposed to thoughts and beliefs that are in contradiction to your belief system, then there is a chance that eventually you will start to question some of your existing beliefs.

Most of the time, this process is more like water dripping on a piece of rock constantly. Eventually, the water will be able to shift the shape of the rock, but it will take a long period of time.

Sometimes, though, we are thrown into a radically different environment, which exposes us to a completely different way of thinking so suddenly and with so much force that this process can happen very quickly.

This could happen in many different circumstances like joining a new community of people. Reading the works of new and radically different thinkers. Or moving to another country.

Sudden disruptions of a belief system, however, have very strong effects on one’s sense of self and one’s emotional stability.

If you are in a situation where you suddenly get exposed to very different thoughts and beliefs which really put your current belief system into question, you are likely to experience emotions such as anxiety, anger, confusion, shock and frustration.

In very drastic circumstances, your core beliefs get affected.

Core beliefs are those which are at the very center of your own sense of self. Those beliefs that are so central to who you are, that putting them into question would mean that you even start to question who you are at the core of your being.

Culture shock, for example, is the condition that describes such a situation upon entering a different cultural environment.

It describes a situation where we are exposed to such a drastically different worldview so suddenly and on such a large scale, that we are forced to start questioning some of the most central assumptions which we had made about life so far.

A disruption of your belief system is a chance for growth

When we are facing a situation where our belief system gets disrupted so strongly that we are facing very negative emotions for a long time, we tend to think that there is something wrong with us.

Facing a long period of negative emotions doesn’t necessarily have to be a sign that you have a problem. It can simply be a result of external influences which have caused you to question some of your core beliefs, which has subsequently caused a disruption of your belief system. In those circumstances, it will take time for you to process this new information to the point where it becomes integrated into your belief system. Eventually, your existing beliefs will rearrange themselves in a way that the system reaches congruence once again.

However, there are some real dangers here:

What is the solution for this? Well, basically it is to let go and to accept this period of confusion and anxiety for what it is.

When we embrace the pain of the process and simply let it be, we give our brain the space unconsciously work on the integration of the new beliefs into our belief system, and the rearrangement of existing beliefs in ways that make synthesis between two different viewpoints possible. Even if these different viewpoints are so contradictory that it seems impossible on first view.

That is when real personal growth happens. When we start becoming a significantly different person than who we used to be. When our beliefs change so drastically that people around us start to wonder why we have changed so much in such a short period of time.

Three key elements of belief systems

Homeostasis: belief systems are constantly striving towards reaching a state of equilibrium. This is a state in which the elements of the system only have contradictions that do not affect the stability of the system as a whole. A state of relative congruence.

Self-regulation: belief systems have the capability to adapt themselves to the external conditions in which they are placed. In that sense, the system is capable of reaching a state of congruence regardless of the circumstances through a constant feedback mechanism between internal beliefs and external factors.

Autopoiesis: belief systems are capable of reproducing and maintaining themselves. This goes beyond the capability of mere self-regulation in the sense that it has the ability to change quite significantly and become significantly more complex as part of this process.

To paraphrase the inventor of the concept himself, Humberto Matuana:

“if the organization of beliefs changes, the belief system as a whole changes”

In other words, when you are exposed to new ideas and beliefs, your belief system starts rearranging itself. In the process of doing so, it will evolve and change into something significantly different than what it used to be.

What does all this mean for you?

Firstly, it means that you should not be too worried when you are at a stage of your life that you feel lost, confused, anxious or so. It may very well be a period during which your belief system is restructuring itself due to things you’ve experienced, ideas you’ve been exposed to, changes in your life circumstances and so on and so forth.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be worried about having a negative emotional state for an extended period of time at all. If you feel that something isn’t quite right, and if it stays that way for a long period of time, then certainly seeking out professional help is the best possible option.

Secondly, it means that you should use those periods during which your belief system is weak and in a stage of reconstruction for the sake of changing yourself for the better.

This can mean, during this period of time, that you could expose yourself to the right ideas and the right environment which you think will help you to grow in the way that you desire. It also means that during this period of time, you should be especially reflective.

Ask yourself questions like these:

Thirdly, it means that when you are at a stage of stagnation, or at a stage where you do not want to be, you can actively expose yourself to environments that will trigger a state of shock for your belief system.

Expose yourself to a completely different kind of environment. Join a community that is very different from what you are used to. Move to another country. Take on a job in a completely different field than you were trained in. Read books about a topic that you normally would’ve never touched.

For most people, their belief system is this invisible force that is influencing their behavior without them noticing. Become aware of how your beliefs affect your behavior, and consciously shape how your belief system develops. Your behavior and your habits will follow.

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Human Needs and Motivation

Human needs are things all humans require for normal growth and development. These needs have been studied by psychologists and categorized in a number of ways. Henry A. Murray, one of the founders of personality psychology who was active in developing a theory of motivation, identified a list of core psychological needs in 1938. He described these needs as being either primary (based on biological needs, such as the need for food) or secondary (generally psychological, such as the need for independence). Murray believed the interplay of these needs produce distinct personality types and are internal influences on behavior.

Murray’s research underpins the work of psychologist Abraham Maslow who also studied human needs, motivation, and personality. While working with monkeys during his early years of research, he noticed that some needs take precedence over others. For example, thirst is relieved before hunger because the need for water is a stronger need than the need for food. In 1954, Maslow published what has become known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which remains valid today for understanding human motivation. [Figure 1-2] According to Maslow, human needs go beyond the obvious physical needs of food and shelter to include psychological needs, safety and security, love and belongingness, self esteem, and self actualization to achieve one’s goals.

Figure 1-2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Human needs are satisfied in order of importance. Once a need is satisfied, humans work to satisfy the next level of need. Need satisfaction is an ongoing behavior that determines everyday actions.

Human Needs That Must Be Met To Encourage Learning

Physiological

These are biological needs. They consist of the need for air, food, water, and maintenance of the human body. If a student is unwell, then little else matters. Unless the biological needs are met, a person cannot concentrate fully on learning, self-expression, or any other tasks. Instructors should monitor their students to make sure that their basic physical needs have been met. A hungry or tired student may not be able to perform as expected.

Security

Once the physiological needs are met, the need for security becomes active. All humans have a need to feel safe. Security needs are about keeping oneself from harm. If a student does not feel safe, he or she cannot concentrate on learning. The aviation instructor who stresses flight safety during training mitigates feelings of insecurity.

Flight Literacy Recommends

Belonging

When individuals are physically comfortable and do not feel threatened, they seek to satisfy their social needs of belonging. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection, and the sense of belonging. For example, aviation students are usually out of their normal surroundings during training, and their need for association and belonging is more pronounced. Instructors should make every effort to help new students feel at ease and to reinforce their decision to pursue a career or hobby in aviation.

Esteem

When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the need for esteem can become dominant. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect and respect from others. Esteem is about feeling good about one’s self. Humans get esteem in two ways: internally or externally. Internally, a person judges himself or herself worthy by personally defined standards. High self-esteem results in self-confidence, independence, achievement, competence, and knowledge.

Most people, however, seek external esteem through social approval and esteem from other people, judging themselves by what others think of them. External self-esteem relates to one’s reputation, such as status, recognition, appreciation, and respect of associates.

When esteem needs are satisfied, a person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless, and worthless. Esteem needs not only have a strong influence on the instructor-student relationship, but also may be the main reason for a student’s interest in aviation training.

Cognitive and Aesthetic

In later years, Maslow added cognitive (need to know and understand) and aesthetic (the emotional need of the artist) needs to the pyramid. He realized humans have a deep need to understand what is going on around them. If a person understands what is going on, he or she can either control the situation or make informed choices about what steps might be taken next. The brain even reinforces this need by giving humans a rush of dopamine whenever something is learned, which accounts for that satisfying “eureka!” moment. For example, a flight student usually experiences a major “eureka!” moment upon completing the first solo flight.

Aesthetic needs connect directly with human emotions, which makes it a subtle factor in the domain of persuasion. When someone likes another person, a house, a painting, or a song, the reasons are not examined—he or she simply likes it. This need can factor into the student-instructor relationship. If an instructor does not “like” a student, this subtle feeling may affect the instructor’s ability to teach that student.

Self-Actualization

When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person’s need to be and do that which the person was “born to do.” To paraphrase an old Army recruiting slogan, self-actualization is to “be all you can be.”

Self-actualized people are characterized by:

Helping a student achieve his or her individual potential in aviation training offers the greatest challenge as well as reward to the instructor.

Instructors should help students satisfy their human needs in a manner that creates a healthy learning environment. In this type of environment, students experience fewer frustrations and, therefore, can devote more attention to their studies. Fulfillment of needs can be a powerful motivation in complex learning situations.

Exam Prep

Preporation for the TOEFL, IELTS, and GMAT

January 2015

Text: Understanding the Milky Waу

Materials for 7th June

The Solar System in which the Earth is situated is part of the Milky Way galaxy, the pale band of light crossing the night sky. This is one of a vast number of galaxies in the universe, each eonsisting of billions of stars (such as our Sun) bound together by gravity. The ancient Greek philosophers speculated on the nature of the Milky Way, and around 2,500 years ago Pythagoras appears to have believed that it was composed of a vast number of faint stars. The astronomer Hipparchus is thought to have created the earliest known catalogue of the stars in the 2nd century ВС. But it was only with the development of the telescope in the 17th century, making far more stars visible, that the nature of the Milky Way could really begin to be understood. When Galileo first turned his telecope on the sky, in 1609, he found proof that, as Pythagoras had suggested, the Milky Way indeed consisted of innumerable stars.

The idea that the Milky Way is a vast disc-shaped aggregation of stars comprising all the stars seen by the naked eye or with a telescope was first, put forward by Thomas Wright in 1750. William Herschel and his sister Caroline set out to map the structure of the Milky Way by counting the numbers of stars they could see in different directions. Their efforts were severely hampered by the dimming effect of the dust between the stars. William Herschel at first believed that there were other galaxies besides the Milky Way, a theory that had been advanced earlier by Christopher Wren. However he later came round to the view that the universe consisted solely of the Milky Way system, and by the end of the 19th century this was the prevailing view.

In the early 20th century the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn used star-counts to derive a model of the Milky Way in wWch the sun lay close to the centre of a huge disc, a mistake that Herschel had also made. This work, like Herschel’s, was flawed by neglect of the role of interstellar dust, which Edward Barnard was beginning to uncover. In a 1922 debate in the USA, Harlow Shapley argued that the Milky Way included all known structures in the universe, while Heber Curtis advocated the theory that other galaxies existed. The core of the debate was the issue of the size of the Milky Way system. Shapley arrived at a size about three times too great. Curtis, on the other hand, used Kapteyn’s star-counts to derive a size about three times too small. In both cases it was interstellar dust which caused the error.

An important development in our. understanding of the galaxy cfcme in 1933, when Karl Jansky detected radio waves from the Milky Way. He was working for Bell Telephone Labs on the problem of the hiss on transatlantic telephone lines. He built an antenna to try to locate the origin of this noise, and found to his surprise that it arose from the Milky Way. Radio astronomy made a’ new start in 1942, during World War II, when John Hey started monitoring German jamming of British radar. For two days there was a remarkably intense episode of radar jamming which knocked out all the coastal radar stations. Hey realised that the direction of the jamming followed the sun, and learnt from the Royal Greenwich Observatory that an exceptionally active sunspot had crossed the solar disc at that time. Hey had discovered radio emission from the sun.

Look at the following descriptions (1-9) and the list of people below. Match each description with the appropriate person.

Examples:
A Pythagoras: mentioned twice in the first paragraph. Description 4 might at first seem to apply to him, but although he believed the Milky Way to be made up of a large number of stars, there is nothing in the passage to suggest he found evidence for this. A is not the answer to any of the questions.
В Hipparchus: mentioned in the first paragraph. ‘Created the earliest known catalogue of the stars’ matches description 7.

1 changed his mind about the number of galaxies in the universe
2 discovered noise coming from the Milky Way
3 overestimated the size of the Milky Way
4 was the first to find evidence that the Milky Way is made up of a large number of stars
5 identified an effect of solar activity
6 originated the idea that every visible star is part of the Milky Way
7 identified and listed a number of stars
8 found that dust between stars affected understanding of the Milky Way
9 first proposed the idea that there are a number of galaxies

List of People
A Pythagoras
В Hipparchus
С Galileo
D Thomas Wright
E William Herschel
F Christopher Wren
G Jacobus Kapteyn
H Edward Barnard
I Harlow Shapley
J Heber Curtis
К Karl Jansky
L John Hey

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

By Saul McLeod, PhD | published 2007, updated April 04, 2022

Article Content

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

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From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualization.

Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up.

Deficiency needs vs. growth needs

This five-stage model can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (D-needs), and the top level is known as growth or being needs (B-needs).

Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the motivation to fulfill such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.

Maslow (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. However, he later clarified that satisfaction of a needs is not an “all-or-none” phenomenon, admitting that his earlier statements may have given “the false impression that a need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges” (1987, p. 69).

When a deficit need has been ‘more or less’ satisfied it will go away, and our activities become habitually directed towards meeting the next set of needs that we have yet to satisfy. These then become our salient needs. However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have been engaged.

Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person. Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization.

Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences, including divorce and loss of a job, may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.

Therefore, not everyone will move through the hierarchy in a uni-directional manner but may move back and forth between the different types of needs.

The original hierarchy of needs five-stage model includes:

Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others.

Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.

If these needs are not satisfied the human body cannot function optimally. Maslow considered physiological needs the most important as all the other needs become secondary until these needs are met.

For example, emotional security, financial security (e.g. employment, social welfare), law and order, freedom from fear, social stability, property, health and wellbeing (e.g. safety against accidents and injury).

Examples of belongingness needs include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection, and love.

4. Esteem needs are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy and include self-worth, accomplishement and respect. Maslow classified esteem needs into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).

Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or dignity.

5. Self-actualization needs are the highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy, and refer to the realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Maslow (1943) describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.

Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed economically, academically or athletically. For others, it may be expressed creatively, in paintings, pictures, or inventions.

Maslow posited that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy:

«It is quite true that man lives by bread alone — when there is no bread. But what happens to man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled?

Maslow continued to refine his theory based on the concept of a hierarchy of needs over several decades (Maslow, 1943, 1962, 1987).

Regarding the structure of his hierarchy, Maslow (1987) proposed that the order in the hierarchy “is not nearly as rigid” (p. 68) as he may have implied in his earlier description.

Maslow noted that the order of needs might be flexible based on external circumstances or individual differences. For example, he notes that for some individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. For others, the need for creative fulfillment may supersede even the most basic needs.

Maslow (1987) also pointed out that most behavior is multi-motivated and noted that “any behavior tends to be determined by several or all of the basic needs simultaneously rather than by only one of them” (p. 71).

Hierarchy of needs summary

(a) human beings are motivated by a hierarchy of needs.

(b) needs are organized in a hierarchy of prepotency in which more basic needs must be more or less met (rather than all or none) prior to higher needs.

(c) the order of needs is not rigid but instead may be flexible based on external circumstances or individual differences.

(d) most behavior is multi-motivated, that is, simultaneously determined by more than one basic need.

The expanded hierarchy of needs

It is important to note that Maslow’s (1943, 1954) five-stage model has been expanded to include cognitive and aesthetic needs (Maslow, 1970a) and later transcendence needs (Maslow, 1970b).

Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and include a seven-stage model and an eight-stage model; both developed during the 1960s and 1970s.

Self-actualization

Instead of focusing on psychopathology and what goes wrong with people, Maslow (1943) formulated a more positive account of human behavior which focused on what goes right. He was interested in human potential, and how we fulfill that potential.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that human motivation is based on people seeking fulfillment and change through personal growth. Self-actualized people are those who were fulfilled and doing all they were capable of.

The growth of self-actualization (Maslow, 1962) refers to the need for personal growth and discovery that is present throughout a person’s life. For Maslow, a person is always ‘becoming’ and never remains static in these terms. In self-actualization, a person comes to find a meaning to life that is important to them.

As each individual is unique, the motivation for self-actualization leads people in different directions (Kenrick et al., 2010). For some people self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others through sport, in the classroom, or within a corporate setting.

Maslow (1962) believed self-actualization could be measured through the concept of peak experiences. This occurs when a person experiences the world totally for what it is, and there are feelings of euphoria, joy, and wonder.

It is important to note that self-actualization is a continual process of becoming rather than a perfect state one reaches of a ‘happy ever after’ (Hoffman, 1988).

Maslow offers the following description of self-actualization:

‘It refers to the person’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially.

The specific form that these needs will take will of course vary greatly from person to person. In one individual it may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions’ (Maslow, 1943, p. 382–383).

Characteristics of self-actualized people

Although we are all, theoretically, capable of self-actualizing, most of us will not do so, or only to a limited degree. Maslow (1970) estimated that only two percent of people would reach the state of self-actualization.

He was especially interested in the characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as individuals.

By studying 18 people he considered to be self-actualized (including Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein) Maslow (1970) identified 15 characteristics of a self-actualized person.В

Characteristics of self-actualizers:

1. They perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty;

2. Accept themselves and others for what they are;

3. Spontaneous in thought and action;

4. Problem-centered (not self-centered);

5. Unusual sense of humor;

6. Able to look at life objectively;

7. Highly creative;

8. Resistant to enculturation, but not purposely unconventional;

9. Concerned for the welfare of humanity;

10. Capable of deep appreciation of basic life-experience;

11. Establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships with a few people;

12. Peak experiences;

13. Need for privacy;

14. Democratic attitudes;

15. Strong moral/ethical standards.

Behavior leading to self-actualization:

(a) Experiencing life like a child, with full absorption and concentration;

(b) Trying new things instead of sticking to safe paths;

(c) Listening to your own feelings in evaluating experiences instead of the voice of tradition, authority or the majority;

(d) Avoiding pretense (‘game playing’) and being honest;

(e) Being prepared to be unpopular if your views do not coincide with those of the majority;

(f) Taking responsibility and working hard;

(g) Trying to identify your defenses and having the courage to give them up.

The characteristics of self-actualizers and the behaviors leading to self-actualization are shown in the list above.В Although people achieve self-actualization in their own unique way, they tend to share certain characteristics.В However, self-actualization is a matter of degree, ‘There are no perfect human beings’ (Maslow, 1970a, p. 176 ).

It is not necessary to display all 15 characteristics to become self-actualized, and not only self-actualized people will display them.

Maslow did not equate self-actualization with perfection. Self-actualization merely involves achieving one’s potential. Thus, someone can be silly, wasteful, vain and impolite, and still self-actualize. Less than two percent of the population achieve self-actualization.

Educational applications

Maslow’s (1962) hierarchy of needs theory has made a major contribution to teaching and classroom management in schools. Rather than reducing behavior to a response in the environment, Maslow (1970a) adopts a holistic approach to education and learning.

Maslow looks at the complete physical, emotional, social, and intellectual qualities of an individual and how they impact on learning.

Applications of Maslow’s hierarchy theory to the work of the classroom teacher are obvious. Before a student’s cognitive needs can be met, they must first fulfill their basic physiological needs.

For example, a tired and hungry student will find it difficult to focus on learning. Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential.

Maslow suggests students must be shown that they are valued and respected in the classroom, and the teacher should create a supportive environment. Students with a low self-esteem will not progress academically at an optimum rate until their self-esteem is strengthened.

Maslow (1971, p. 195) argued that a humanistic educational approach would develop people who are “stronger, healthier, and would take their own lives into their hands to a greater extent. With increased personal responsibility for one’s personal life, and with a rational set of values to guide one’s choosing, people would begin to actively change the society in which they lived”.

Critical evaluation

The most significant limitation of Maslow’s theory concerns his methodology. Maslow formulated the characteristics of self-actualized individuals from undertaking a qualitative method called biographical analysis.

He looked at the biographies and writings of 18 people he identified as being self-actualized. From these sources, he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of this specific group of people, as opposed to humanity in general.

From a scientific perspective, there are numerous problems with this particular approach. First, it could be argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher. Personal opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity of any data obtained. Therefore Maslow’s operational definition of self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as scientific fact.

Furthermore, Maslow’s biographical analysis focused on a biased sample of self-actualized individuals, prominently limited to highly educated white males (such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, William James, Aldous Huxley, Beethoven).

Although Maslow (1970) did study self-actualized females, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa, they comprised a small proportion of his sample. This makes it difficult to generalize his theory to females and individuals from lower social classes or different ethnicity. Thus questioning the population validity of Maslow’s findings.

Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow’s concept of self-actualization in a way that causal relationships can be established.

Another criticism concerns Maslow’s assumption that the lower needs must be satisfied before a person can achieve their potential and self-actualize. This is not always the case, and therefore Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in some aspects has been falsified.

Through examining cultures in which large numbers of people live in poverty (such as India), it is clear that people are still capable of higher order needs such as love and belongingness. However, this should not occur, as according to Maslow, people who have difficulty achieving very basic physiological needs (such as food, shelter, etc.) are not capable of meeting higher growth needs.

Also, many creative people, such as authors and artists (e.g., Rembrandt and Van Gogh) lived in poverty throughout their lifetime, yet it could be argued that they achieved self-actualization.

Psychologists now conceptualize motivation as a pluralistic behavior, whereby needs can operate on many levels simultaneously. A person may be motivated by higher growth needs at the same time as lower level deficiency needs (Wahba & Bridwell, 1973).

Contemporary research by Tay and Diener (2011) has tested Maslow’s theory by analyzing the data of 60,865 participants from 123 countries, representing every major region of the world. The survey was conducted from 2005 to 2010.

Respondents answered questions about six needs that closely resemble those in Maslow’s model: basic needs (food, shelter); safety; social needs (love, support); respect; mastery; and autonomy. They also rated their well-being across three discrete measures: life evaluation (a person’s view of his or her life as a whole), positive feelings (day-to-day instances of joy or pleasure), and negative feelings (everyday experiences of sorrow, anger, or stress).

The results of the study support the view that universal human needs appear to exist regardless of cultural differences. However, the ordering of the needs within the hierarchy was not correct.

«Although the most basic needs might get the most attention when you don’t have them,» Diener explains, «you don’t need to fulfill them in order to get benefits [from the others].» Even when we are hungry, for instance, we can be happy with our friends. «They’re like vitamins,» Diener says about how the needs work independently. «We need them all.»

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs important?

Maslow’s theory has given rise to a new way to look at people’s needs. For example Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is widely used in health and social work as a framework for assessing clients’ needs.

Problems or difficult circumstances at one point in a person’s life can cause them to fixate on a particular set of needs, and this can affect their future happiness.

For example, a person who lived through a period of extreme deprivation and lack of security in early childhood may fixate on physiological and safety needs. These remain salient even if they are satisfied.

So even if this person later has everything they need they may nonetheless obsess over money or keeping enough food in the fridge.

This, for Maslow, was the root cause of many ‘neurotic’ mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression.

What are some of the weaknesses of Maslow’s theory?

Maslow proposes a positive view of humans, however, it could be argued that this might not be very realistic when considering the everyday reality such as domestic violence and genocides.

Furthermore, the hierarchy ’s focus on meeting our needs and fulfilling our growth potential reflects an individualistic, self-obsessed outlook that is part of the problem faced by our society rather than a solution.

How many levels are there in Maslow’s pyramid of needs?

There are five levels in Maslow’s pyramid. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualization.

Maslow asserted that so long as basic needs necessary for survival were met (e.g., food, water, shelter), higher-level needs (e.g., social needs) would begin to motivate behavior.

What is at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

According to Maslow, the highest-level needs relate to self-actualization, a process by which we achieve our full potential.

Self-actualising people have both a more efficient perception of reality and more comfortable relations with it. This includes the detection of what is phoney and/or dishonest and the accurate perception of what really exists – rather than a distortion of perception by one’s needs.

Self-actualisers accept themselves, others and nature. They are not ashamed or guilty about being human, with its shortcomings, imperfections, frailties, and weaknesses.

Nor are they critical of these aspects in other people. They respect and esteem themselves and others.

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About the Author

Saul Mcleod is a qualified psychology teacher with over 17 years’ experience of working in further and higher education. He has recently worked as a psychology teaching assistant for The University of Manchester, Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology

He previously worked for Wigan and Leigh College, where he was a psychology lecturer for ten years, primarily teaching A-level psychology and sociology.

Fact Checking

Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication.

Cite this Article (APA Style)

McLeod, S. A. (2022, April 04). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

APA Style References

Hoffman, E. (1988). The right to be human: A biography of Abraham Maslow. Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher.

Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., Griskevicius, V., Becker, D. V., & Schaller, M. (2010). Goal-driven cognition and functional behavior: The fundamental-motives framework. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(1), 63-67.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96.

Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper and Row.

Maslow, A. H. (1962). Toward a psychology of being. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Company.

Maslow, A. H. (1970a). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.

Maslow, A. H. (1970b). Religions, values, and peak experiences. New York: Penguin. (Original work published 1966)

Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and personality (3rd ed.). Delhi, India: Pearson Education.

Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Needs and subjective well-being around the world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 354-356.

Wahba, M. A., & Bridwell, L. G. (1976). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory. Organizational behavior and human performance, 15(2), 212-240.

Wulff, D. M., & Maslow, A. H. (1965). Religions, values, and peak-experiences. The Journal of Higher Education, 36(4), 235.

A system of beliefs that concentrates on human needs and seek ways

Задание №6325.
Чтение. ЕГЭ по английскому

Установите соответствие между заголовками 1 — 8 и текстами A — G. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

1. Remembering the 3D’s
2. Having Self-Belief
3. Taking Action
4. Choosing a Course of Action
5. Staying Focused
6. Investing Money
7. Having Commitment
8. Setting Goals

A. One of the first steps in the process of becoming successful is to make the decision to achieve something. All of us know that nothing can move forward until that first decision to do so is made. The initial action is always the decision to go ahead, which many people tend to overlook. So, decide on moving forward, put your decision down in writing, just to keep it in focus, and then carry on from there.

B. Having clarity of vision and purpose is perhaps one of the most important factors of achieving success. The fact is that most people simply have no idea about what they really want. Clarity means understanding exactly what you want and how it will affect your life. Once you acquire clarity of vision and purpose, the next vital step of becoming successful is determining aims you want to achieve.

C. You should be able to accomplish what you set out to do with unwavering concentration. Life is full of distractions — TV, family, e-mail and telephones — all of which can be completely overwhelming. How can you concentrate on your goals? Willpower is one of the factors although willpower alone will not be sufficient to achieve your aims. One of the best ways is to make a plan and then stick to it.

D. Before beginning any new activity, examine it to see if it will help in moving you nearer to your goals. If a certain activity can be put away for a later time, defer it. If that activity can be done by somebody else, delegate it. And if it does not really need to be done at all, it can be deleted. This kind of close examination of each activity will help in keeping you focused on the things that are really important.

E. Success often involves being willing to pay the price that everything has. The price may not be in monetary terms. It could be sacrifice, effort, time, and also money, or maybe something else. The point is that in order to become successful, you must be ready to work hard and to put all your effort into achieving your purpose. Success takes a lot of dedication.

F. Lack of confidence is one of the biggest hurdles that many people need to get over in order to become successful. People often think they are not good enough or not smart enough, which can actually prevent them from finding the success they seek. It is common knowledge that if you think you can do something, you will, and conversely, if you think that it cannot be done, it will lead to failure.

G. Nothing can be achieved until action is taken to achieve it. After all the above steps of taking a decision, setting goals, making plans and choosing a strategy, you will need to go ahead and act on what you want to achieve. By putting your plan of action into play, you will get to what you set out to achieve — becoming successful!

Решение:
Заголовок 4 (Choosing a Course of Action. — Выбор курса действий) соответствует содержанию текста A: «All of us know that nothing can move forward until that first decision to do so is made.»

Заголовок 8 (Setting Goals. — Ставить цели) соответствует содержанию текста B: «. the next vital step of becoming successful is determining aims you want to achieve.»

Заголовок 5 (Staying Focused. — Оставаясь сосредоточенным) соответствует содержанию текста C: «How can you concentrate on your goals?»

Заголовок 7 (Having Commitment. — Имея обязательство) соответствует содержанию текста E: «It could be sacrifice, effort, time, and also money, or maybe something else.»

Заголовок 2 (Having Self-Belief. — Имея уверенность в себе) соответствует содержанию текста F: «Lack of confidence is one of the biggest hurdles that many people need to get over in order to become successful.»

Заголовок 3 (Taking Action. — Принятие мер) соответствует содержанию текста G: «Nothing can be achieved until action is taken to achieve it.»

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Источник: ЕГЭ-2018, английский язык: 30 тренировочных вариантов для подготовки к ЕГЭ. Е. С. Музланова
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