Maslow (1943, 1954) arranged human needs in a hierarchy. At the bottom are basic survival needs, while at the top are self-actualization needs focused on creativity and intellect. He suggested that people must meet their survival needs before addressing higher needs. As you move up the hierarchy, fulfilling these needs becomes harder due to social and environmental obstacles. Higher needs are more about mental and long-term goals, while basic needs are about physical survival and immediate motivation. Once basic needs are met, we seek to fulfill higher levels of needs.

The human body works best when its basic needs are met. Maslow viewed these basic needs as the most crucial, as other needs come after them. Once basic needs are satisfied, the focus shifts to security and safety, which can be provided by family and society, including police, schools, businesses, and healthcare. Safety includes emotional security, financial stability (like jobs and welfare), law and order, freedom from fear, and general well-being. After meeting basic and safety needs, the next level is social needs, which involve belongingness. This includes friendship, intimacy, trust, and love. These needs are particularly strong in childhood and can sometimes be more important than safety, as seen in children who stay close to abusive parents.

Maslow divided esteem needs into two types: (1) self-esteem, which includes dignity, achievement, mastery, and independence, and (2) the desire for respect and recognition from others, like status and prestige. Esteem reflects the human wish to be accepted and valued. People often pursue careers or hobbies to gain recognition and feel valuable. Low self-esteem can develop from issues in this part of the hierarchy. Maslow noted that the need for respect is especially important for children and teens and comes before true self-esteem. This level involves realizing one's full potential. He described it as wanting to accomplish everything one can and become who one is meant to be. Different individuals have unique focuses; one might strive to be a great parent, while another may express this desire through sports, art, or inventions. Maslow acknowledged that real self-actualization is rare, but he believed everyone can experience brief moments of it, called "peak experiences," related to significant life events like childbirth or athletic success. These moments are hard to achieve and maintain over time.

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?

At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still “higher”) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency” (Maslow, 1943, p. 375) .

Note: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not strictly linear; people can experience multiple needs at once or switch between them. Over the years, Maslow refined his theory, acknowledging that the order of needs may vary due to individual circumstances. For some, the need for self-esteem can be more important than love, while others might prioritize creative fulfillment over basic needs. He also emphasized that behaviors are often driven by several needs at the same time, rather than just one.

Maslow proposed that human beings possess two sets of 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

Deficiency needs concern basic survival and include physiological needs (such as the need for food, sex, and sleep) and safety needs (such as the need for security and freedom from danger).

Behaviors associated with these needs are seen as ‘deficiency’ motivated, as they are a means to an end.

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 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 to meet higher-level growth needs.

However, he later clarified that satisfaction of a need 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 toward meeting the next set of needs we have yet to satisfy. These then become our salient needs. However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once engaged.

Growth needs

Growth needs are more psychological and are associated with realizing an individual’s full potential and needing to ‘self-actualize’. These needs are achieved more through intellectual and creative behaviors.

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. Growth needs are achieved more through intellectual and creative behaviors.

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 the 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.