PYRAMID OF HUMAN NEEDS

Abraham Maslow 1908-1970 Abraham Maslow was a psychologist. This title is derived from the Latin word “psyche”, meaning mind. A psychologist asks questions and makes observations to determine how a person thinks and how they behave. The job of a psychologist is to LISTEN carefully to patients that are experiencing difficulties with some part of their life, and help that patient adapt their behaviors to cope with life within society. A psychologist is not a medical doctor. He can recommend medication, but cannot actually prescribe it. He is not concerned with the reason “why” a person behaves the way they do…he just helps them deal with life. If the treatment/therapy of the psychologist is not enough to help the patient, they are then referred to a psychiatrist.

Maslow developed a "heirarchy" of human needs... Abraham Maslow identified 5 basic human needs…needs that every human being must have met in order to survive. A “heirarchy” simply means that some needs are more important than others. In order to teach others which needs were more important than others, Maslow illustrated his theory with a pyramid. He used a pyramid instead of a graph or a circle, because when you construct a pyramid the bottom layers are more important than the top.

5 Basic Human Needs... Be all that you can be! Use your potential. A sense of feeling like you are “worthwhile”… not worthless! LOVE Human beings can actually die from lack of love and affection. If you don’t feel safe, you become anxious and cannot function. You need food, water, clothing, and shelter or you will die!

Human Needs Affect Decision-making... Can you think of examples? Let’s suppose you are very hungry, but you have no money. What decision would you make if you walked into a grocery store?...or sat beside someone in the school lunchroom with a full tray of food?...or saw the workers from a fast food restaurant put food in a dumpster? Your needs MUST be met, at least to some extent, or you will die. Therefore, you will make decisions in your life that will enable you to satisfy those needs. That is because you are a human being, and we are born with the instinct to survive. Let’s practice decision-making, using Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, in this situation… “We’re going to California!”

In your notes... Make sure you have the following information in your notes, so you will be prepared for a test: Abraham Maslow was a psychologist. Abraham Maslow identified 5 basic human needs and illustrated them in a pyramid. The pyramid shows the “heirarchy” of needs…the order of their importance. The 5 basic human needs are: physical, safety, social or love, esteem, and self-actualization. Human beings are born with an instinct to survive. Human needs influence decision-making. Make sure you are able to place the needs on the pyramid correctly. Make sure you understand how to make a decision, based on Maslow’s pyramid.