Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

What is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? They are the five levels of needs ...from the bottom of the hierarchy upwards.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a model for understanding the motivations of human behavior. It maps different motivations onto a pyramid, with each level representing a different human need. These include physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

The most basic level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs covers physiological needs. These are the things that we simply cannot live without ... air, food, drink, warmth, sleep, and shelter. At the end of the hierarchy, all the needs are deficiency needs.  We need them because it is unpleasant for us when they are deficient.

Applying Maslow's hierarchy of needs in our life makes us understand that a person whose lowest-level needs have not been met (the needs at the bottom of the pyramid - the physiological needs) will act on that first before he attempts to attend to the other needs on top of the pyramid. It is our guide to priority setting - which one is deemed the most important, which need should be fulfilled first before attending to the other needs further up in the pyramid.

Simply put ... if you are confronted with the need for food or air, it doesn't make sense that you will attend to your need for love as the most important.  As they say ... you can live without love or companionship ... but you will die without food, water, or air.