Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, developed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) and introduced in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” proposed we’re motivated by progressively more complex needs. It starts with basic physiological needs and progresses to higher-level needs, like self-actualization. Contrary to common belief, Maslow didn’t intend the hierarchy to be taken literally, as a pyramid, nor to scale it in one direction. His emphasis was less on a rigid hierarchy and more on the motivations of self-actualized people being health, growth, wholeness, integration, humanitarian purpose, and the “real problems of life.” Late in life, Maslow focused on the paradoxical connections between self-actualization and self-transcendence and on the distinction between defense and growth motivation. The hierarchy:

• Physiological are the most basic needs for survival, including food, water, shelter, and sleep. 
• Safety are security and stability, including personal safety, financial security, and health. 
• Love and belonging are what most of us desire: social connection, love, affection, belonging. 
• Esteem involves self-respect, confidence, achievement, and recognition from others. 
• Self-actualization is striving to reach our full potential and become the best version of ourselves. 
• Self-transcendence: Maslow coined self-transcendence and added it to his revised 1969 hierarchy as a “higher state in which self-actualized people see beyond their own concerns and perspectives.”