Your Position on Maslow's Hierarchy?

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Where Would You Place Yourself on Maslow's Hierarchy?

5 - Self-Actualisation	10%	[ 4 ]
4.5	15%	[ 6 ]
4 - Esteem	0%	[ 0 ]
3.5	15%	[ 6 ]
3 - Love/Belonging	5%	[ 2 ]
2.5	26%	[ 10 ]
2 - Safety	5%	[ 2 ]
1.5	8%	[ 3 ]
1 - Physiological	8%	[ 3 ]
0.5	5%	[ 2 ]
0.0	3%	[ 1 ]

Total votes : 39

nessa238
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24 Dec 2012, 5:05 pm

BlueAbyss wrote:

Callista wrote:

I disagree with the hierarchy. I tend to turn it upside down--things like morality and achievement, being who I am, doing the important things I'm meant to do, are more important to me than basic needs like food, sleep, and security.

Unless I have a purpose in life, I can't live. Nothing else matters. I'd rather be doing something important than be safe, warm, fed, and housed.

You ever read "Man's Search for Meaning"? That's pretty much the way I see it. The guy who wrote it was a psychologist who lived through the Nazi concentration camps. There's a lot of talk about finding purpose and meaning in life.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote about that as well, and pointed out that the children in the concentration camps would draw butterflies on the walls.

nessa238 wrote:

If you didn't happen to have somewhere safe to live and enough to eat, believe me - that would be your main focus, so it is in the right order of priorities.

So imagine yourself homeless with no money and nothing to eat - now tell me what are you going to focus on - your morals or finding somewhere to sleep/stay and eat?

I disagree that these levels have to be achieved in a particular order. I can be in a position of not knowing how this month's bills are going to be paid or whether I'll be homeless next month (have been there many times) and still tend to pay more attention to another level in Maslow's hierarchy. I think his theory, as present here, is flawed or at least too simplistic. Of course, if one is actively starving or cold, for the moment, one is going to focus on overcoming that for the present. But that's an aberrant situation, or should be, temporary. It's not a "normal" condition of humanity, and it doesn't mean someone who is hungry is at level one as a person. One can also have low self-esteem and still be spiritually oriented, and so forth.

I haven't read Maslow, so I'm not sure what a more elaborate explanation of his hierarchy might involve, but the way it's presented here, I can't answer either.

Well I tend to follow the path myself but then I think I read it as it's meant to be read ie as a basic guide to the order in which people generally seek to get their needs met

You're putting too complex an interpretation on it - it's only a guide, not each individual person's life-map

I'm glad I think along the same lines as Maslow anyway; he seems a pretty intelligent person to
me :wink:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow

I tend to try and learn off people who are generally acknowledged as being cleverer than me.

Who_Am_I
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24 Dec 2012, 11:30 pm

My position on Maslow's Hierarchy is that it's something that some guy made up and I don't know why so many people worship it.
I've always been in self-actualisation mode, and the only things I can see impacting that are the food and safety needs, and even they wouldn't touch the moral part of it.

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MrXxx
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25 Dec 2012, 8:08 am

nessa238 wrote:

MrXxx wrote:

My "position" is that this is a two dimensional linear way of viewing life and the human experience. Neither life, nor human beings are two dimensional or linear, therefore the hierarchy serves no useful purpose. :shrug:

Well I find it a very logical and accurate depiction of human needs and the order in which they
tend to get fulfilled in - my life definitely adheres to it

Perhaps I'm just a 2-dimensional person and this is why I fail to relate to most people as they have this third dimension I'm missing?

To give an example

When I am depressed the most I can manage to do is stay alive by eating and keep warm and sheltered by staying in bed

I often wont want to or be able to leave the hosue due to feeling too anxious
When I start to get better I will be able to leave the hosue hence I feel more safe and secure ie ive moved up a level

Then I will begin to look more outwardly as my own needs have been met so I can look at re-connecting with friends and family or attending events out in the community, so I have more of a sense of belonging

I might look for a partner

I might then feel able to look for a job to give me self esteem

then I might feel positive enough to start doing the self-actualisation stuff
and also help others along the same path

Hence there is a very logical upward path that I have taken myself many times
so it definitely works as a route map for me

Serves no useful purpose for me. Guess I should have added that. It doesn't work for me at all.

I'm glad it does for you, but you asked what we think of it. That's what I think.

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Rascal77s
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25 Dec 2012, 8:20 am

I've noticed people usually fall on 2 places on the hierarchy.

1. Where their words put them.

2. Where their actions put them.

It's one thing to say, quite another to do.

Callista
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25 Dec 2012, 8:31 am

Quote:

I've noticed people usually fall on 2 places on the hierarchy.

1. Where their words put them.

2. Where their actions put them.

It's one thing to say, quite another to do.

That... is a very good point.

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deltafunction
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25 Dec 2012, 10:03 am

There seems to be some confusion about physiological needs and security needs.

Physiological: Basic things needed for survival such as food, water, air and shelter. Without these things, the body can't function properly. Since they're thought to be the most important, they are to be met first.

Security includes: Physical safety - otherwise they may experience or re-experience PTSD
financial safety - having job security, protecting savings and so on

I don't know how people would be able to achieve self-actualization if they didn't have food or water, or if they were in a war-torn area where their personal safety was jeopardized, or if their financial security became unstable.

Source: Wikipedia is a bit more descriptive about it

Callista
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25 Dec 2012, 10:45 am

deltafunction wrote:

I don't know how people would be able to achieve self-actualization if they didn't have food or water, or if they were in a war-torn area where their personal safety was jeopardized, or if their financial security became unstable.

Well, according to some psychologists (Viktor Frankl, whose book I mentioned, for example; most people doing research on existential anxiety/using some variant of logotherapy), self-actualization is necessary because it allows you to "keep going" in situations where food, water, and safety are not available. In other words, rather than these needs being arranged in a pyramid, they are interconnected spheres which all depend on each other.

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deltafunction
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25 Dec 2012, 7:10 pm

Callista wrote:

deltafunction wrote:

I can see that happening. I guess Maslow's hierarchy was more of a guide and not set in stone, merely an advancement in thinking that needed refining. Though it is intuitive to believe that self-actualization would mean that all your needs, including basic survival ones are met. According to Maslow, to qualify for the highest level you must have mastered all the lower levels first. Maybe his definition of self-actualization was different than Viktor Frankl's. Maslow's self-actualization meant to be all you could ever be or reach your highest potential. Viktor Frankl's book and theory sounds like an interesting read and sounds like it adds to the theory.

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25 Dec 2012, 7:46 pm

Callista wrote:

deltafunction wrote:

Thank you! That's what I was trying to get at, could not find the words or even the thoughts to put into words. Yes, when one's survival is at stake, self-actualization can actually mean the difference between surviving or not surviving.

Also, when someone is dying, attitude can be so important in making a peaceful transition. I admired my mom for many things that she did and taught while living but I was also greatly impressed by how she faced death, and if she had been in just survival level there is no way she could have left that impression with me.

But again, I don't claim to understand anything much about Maslow's ideas.

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25 Dec 2012, 11:33 pm

Self-actualization seems like it'd be very rare.
I though I was there for awhile, but the more I read about it, the less I felt I belonged there.
Although not much is really at stake, I feel it's good to be skeptical.

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nessa238
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26 Dec 2012, 6:44 am

I feel quite self-actualised - it's why few people relate to me, as they prefer to keep making the same mistakes than listen to good advice. It takes humility to accept when you are going wrong and look to others for advice. Most people think they are experts on themselves but they aren't.

You can only help people who have sufficient self-awareness towards self-actualisation. Most seem very closed-minded and lack playful humour I find.

The self-actualised person apparently doesn't have loads of friends and doesn't jump on bandwagons and seek group approval for their opinions as most do

This makes me highly self-actualised as I have the confidence to stand up for my own opinions even when no one else agrees

I've always wanted to help others improve themselves. Intelligence and self-knowledge and a desire to self-improve plays a major role in the extent to which a person is willing to be guided though I've found.

I think my Aspergers probably means that I lack the ability to tell people most people where they are going wrong in a tactful manner, hence it's usually only other aspies who tend to listen and even then it's very hit and miss.

Also, the way people are continually looking to pick holes in Maslow's hierarchy is making me smile. I'd love to see their 'improved' version of his theory.

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26 Dec 2012, 9:08 am

My improved version? Quite simple: Take those levels and put them side by side, all depending on each other. Of course I can't take credit for it, because this is also what a lot of other psychologists seem to be thinking, though without the geometry aspect of it. :lol:

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nessa238
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26 Dec 2012, 9:16 am

Callista wrote:

Try getting it published and appearing in Wikipedia for it

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a thing of simplicity, beauty and truth

When you have created something as good, let me know

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