Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
I was thinking about this model as I tried to go to sleep last night.
This model is one of my favorites. I've attached it here.maslows.png
For those not familiar with this- it's a model used in the psych world to show "goals" (from my interpretation and what I've learned) and the "steps" involved in reaching those goals. Self-actualization is at the top of this pyramid. So this would be the ultimate "goal". I've translated self-actualization into what we call serenity on this forum. Pure, self sustaining serenity.
This is taken form an article off of Simple Psychology and I think this explains it well:
Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fullfil the next one, and so on.
One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these 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 failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences including divorce and loss of job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.
Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs
Sooooo...this got me thinking about a post by AboutDone who at that time was angry about not being able to spend time on herself because she was so busy trying to meet the basic needs while A was away.
here is another quote defining the needs
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others.
5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
The more I think about this pyramid, and what I have learned at SR, alanon, therapy, and my own experiences, I am wondering if number 3 should be esteem needs and number 4 should be love and belonging. Just because it would seem that we need our OWN esteem needs met BEFORE we are able to love...
I guess the whole point of this is that I can see why it is such a struggle for us to reach our serenity goals when we are so busy trying just to keep things going, especially when we have alcoholics in our lives. Even getting our physiological needs met, like paying the utilities, keeping the car from getting repo'd, making sure the kids needs are met (even if it means WE go without), cleaning up financial messes from the A (credit cards, blah blah), and the list goes on is insanely difficult when we are with alcoholics. And our goal is to get ourselves healthy so that we can have productive and happy lives regardless of whether or not the A is drinking or not.
According to this pyramid we can't really move on to the next step until we have met the needs of the one below it. Safety is a HUGE on! I like how it stated have safety from fear. NO WONDER this journey is so difficult---we (the friends and family of alcoholics) trying to reach goals that technically cannot be obtained if we don't feel safe. We working against the grain. Not only are we emotionally worse off than "normal" people, but we still trying to achieve self-actualization in a way that technically won't work if we're still fighting for our basic needs to be met, don't feel safe, don't have healthy relationships, etc.
Wow! this is powerful stuff right here! Disheartening in some ways BUT also gives me hope. If we have gotten this far, we can do A LOT more. So what if we are going about in a way that isn't advisable, I think the point is that WE ARE DOING IT!
SELF-ACTUALIZATION HERE I COME!
This model is one of my favorites. I've attached it here.maslows.png
For those not familiar with this- it's a model used in the psych world to show "goals" (from my interpretation and what I've learned) and the "steps" involved in reaching those goals. Self-actualization is at the top of this pyramid. So this would be the ultimate "goal". I've translated self-actualization into what we call serenity on this forum. Pure, self sustaining serenity.
This is taken form an article off of Simple Psychology and I think this explains it well:
Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fullfil the next one, and so on.
One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these 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 failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences including divorce and loss of job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.
Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs
Sooooo...this got me thinking about a post by AboutDone who at that time was angry about not being able to spend time on herself because she was so busy trying to meet the basic needs while A was away.
here is another quote defining the needs
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others.
5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
The more I think about this pyramid, and what I have learned at SR, alanon, therapy, and my own experiences, I am wondering if number 3 should be esteem needs and number 4 should be love and belonging. Just because it would seem that we need our OWN esteem needs met BEFORE we are able to love...
I guess the whole point of this is that I can see why it is such a struggle for us to reach our serenity goals when we are so busy trying just to keep things going, especially when we have alcoholics in our lives. Even getting our physiological needs met, like paying the utilities, keeping the car from getting repo'd, making sure the kids needs are met (even if it means WE go without), cleaning up financial messes from the A (credit cards, blah blah), and the list goes on is insanely difficult when we are with alcoholics. And our goal is to get ourselves healthy so that we can have productive and happy lives regardless of whether or not the A is drinking or not.
According to this pyramid we can't really move on to the next step until we have met the needs of the one below it. Safety is a HUGE on! I like how it stated have safety from fear. NO WONDER this journey is so difficult---we (the friends and family of alcoholics) trying to reach goals that technically cannot be obtained if we don't feel safe. We working against the grain. Not only are we emotionally worse off than "normal" people, but we still trying to achieve self-actualization in a way that technically won't work if we're still fighting for our basic needs to be met, don't feel safe, don't have healthy relationships, etc.
Wow! this is powerful stuff right here! Disheartening in some ways BUT also gives me hope. If we have gotten this far, we can do A LOT more. So what if we are going about in a way that isn't advisable, I think the point is that WE ARE DOING IT!
SELF-ACTUALIZATION HERE I COME!
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: West Coast
Posts: 774
Cool! I totally see why this is relevant. I had to work with this pyramid as well when I went to school for social work. I think maybe that esteem and love are backwards because it is just human nature. Think of when we are babies. A baby has to seek approval from his/her primary caregiver in order to feel safe and confident in exploring his/her surroundings. Love is a foundation to the rest. Once that foundation is set, we can explore achievements, mastering things such as school or in hobbies or at work, or becoming independent (like the child). If I remember correctly, some of my professors suggested that "love" was also self love. That could be the discrepancy ;-)
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 6,666
Thats mad, I was thinking about this last night too. I studied it before.
I went to my Doc before and said "hey you know the Maslow needs chart? I'm barely on the f'n thing and I don't know what to do about it".
I was hoping to somehow make it to the orange. Well things went the other way and I ended up in the white part...
I'm back in the red now. I was in the blue about a decade ago
(Just seen where sex falls wtf, I remember trying to explain this to my ex lol)
I went to my Doc before and said "hey you know the Maslow needs chart? I'm barely on the f'n thing and I don't know what to do about it".
I was hoping to somehow make it to the orange. Well things went the other way and I ended up in the white part...
I'm back in the red now. I was in the blue about a decade ago
(Just seen where sex falls wtf, I remember trying to explain this to my ex lol)
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Posts: 2,066
I can't remember where but I've read or watched that that this model isn't always an exact science because you can bump around to the different lower levels rather than follow it in a straight line.
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