Abraham Maslow really changed how we understand what people need. He created a model called the "hierarchy of needs." This idea is often shown as a pyramid with five levels, each representing different needs we all have:
Physiological Needs: These are the basic things we need to survive, like food, water, and a place to live.
Safety Needs: Once we have the basics, we want to feel safe and stable in our lives.
Love and Belonging: After feeling secure, we start looking for love, friendships, and connections with other people.
Esteem: This level is about getting respect from others and feeling good about ourselves.
Self-Actualization: At the very top, this is all about reaching our full potential and growing as a person.
Maslow explained that we can’t move on to higher needs until we’ve taken care of the lower ones. This idea was different from older views in psychology that said everything was fixed. His focus on self-actualization and personal growth also helped start the idea of humanistic psychology, along with Carl Rogers. This way of thinking puts people at the heart of psychology, showing how important human connections and discovering ourselves are. It was a refreshing change in 20th-century psychology!
Abraham Maslow really changed how we understand what people need. He created a model called the "hierarchy of needs." This idea is often shown as a pyramid with five levels, each representing different needs we all have:
Physiological Needs: These are the basic things we need to survive, like food, water, and a place to live.
Safety Needs: Once we have the basics, we want to feel safe and stable in our lives.
Love and Belonging: After feeling secure, we start looking for love, friendships, and connections with other people.
Esteem: This level is about getting respect from others and feeling good about ourselves.
Self-Actualization: At the very top, this is all about reaching our full potential and growing as a person.
Maslow explained that we can’t move on to higher needs until we’ve taken care of the lower ones. This idea was different from older views in psychology that said everything was fixed. His focus on self-actualization and personal growth also helped start the idea of humanistic psychology, along with Carl Rogers. This way of thinking puts people at the heart of psychology, showing how important human connections and discovering ourselves are. It was a refreshing change in 20th-century psychology!