Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was created into a pyramid like format with the bottom tier being the most needed for basic survival including all physiological needs such as breathing, eating, drinking, reproducing, and overall maintaining a healthy lifestyle balance. It is after all these needs are met that an individual can try to achieve the next tier up in the pyramid, which is a persons’ basic safety needs such as security, stability, law and order, and resources. Once safety needs are met the next tier in the pyramid is the social needs of needing to belong to friends, family, and intimate relationships. After one’s social needs are met a person‘s self esteem needs must be met, which mostly pertains to the respect held for oneself and the respect given to others through achievements and competence. The hardest need to satisfy is one’s self-actualization. In this tier a person must utilize all abilities they wish to fulfill in their lifetime. Individuals spend their lives trying to climb the pyramid hierarchy to achieve the optimal self-actualization tier. The main idea of this theory is that any individual will not even attempt to fulfill higher tiers such as social acceptance before their basic needs of survival are met. Since the self-actualization tier is hardly ever reached or maintained it is the personal goal of an individual to go through the tiers to achieve success and happiness in life. I also think it is important for people to understand even if a certain tier is reached at one point, does not mean that need will be maintained, perhaps social needs could be met in one moment but soon after physiological needs of basic survival becomes pertinent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxdNzOVRAmA

This YouTube video is a 3 minute preview of a full length documentary entitled "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Which if anyone is interested in looking into it they give information on how to obtain the documentary through website contact information. Various prestige members within the psychological field give input on their understanding and views of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I find this to be the best way to really concept it and understand the various tiers to optimal fulfillment, because it provides intellectually stimulating yet completely understandable versions of Maslow’s theory. Sometimes I need various aspects and viewpoints of the same idea and perhaps some fellow classmates could use that too.