Editing Maslow's hierarchy of needs (section)

== Historical development ==
Maslow proposed his hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in the journal ''[[Psychological Review]]''.{{sfn|Maslow|1943}} The theory is a classification system intended to reflect the universal needs of society as its base, then proceeding to more acquired emotions.{{sfn|Deckers|2018}} The hierarchy is split between deficiency needs and growth needs, with two key themes involved within the theory being [[individualism]] and the prioritization of needs.

According to Maslow's original formulation, there are five sets of basic needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization. These needs are related to each other in a hierarchy of prepotency (or strength) beginning with the physiological needs that are the most prepotent of all. If the physiological needs are fulfilled, a new set of safety needs emerges. If both the physiological and safety needs are fairly well gratified, the prepotent (‘higher’) need of love (both its giving and receiving) then emerges. The next need is esteem, and finally [[self-actualization]]. Maslow also coined the term "[[metamotivation]]" to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of basic needs and strive for constant betterment.{{sfn|Goble|1971}}

The hierarchy suggests a rigid separation of needs, but Maslow stressed that a need does not require being satisfied 100% before the next need emerges. Instead, “a more realistic description of the hierarchy would be in terms of decreasing percentages of satisfaction as we go up the hierarchy of prepotency”.{{sfn|Maslow|1943|p=388}}

=== Pyramid ===
Maslow's hierarchy of [[need]]s is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest, most fundamental needs at the bottom, and the need for [[self-actualization]] and transcendence at the top. However, Maslow himself never created a pyramid to represent the hierarchy of needs.{{sfn|Eaton|2012}}{{sfn|Kaufman|2019}}{{sfn|Bridgman|Cummings|Ballard|2019}}

The most fundamental four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these "deficiency needs" are not met – except for the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Deprivation is what causes deficiency, so when one has unmet needs, this motivates them to fulfill what they are being denied.{{sfn|McLeod|2021}}

The human brain is a complex system and has parallel processes running at the same time, thus many different motivations from various levels of Maslow's hierarchy can occur at the same time. Maslow spoke clearly about these levels and their satisfaction in terms such as "relative", "general", and "primarily". Instead of stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at any given time, Maslow stated that a certain need "dominates" the human organism.{{sfn|Maslow|1954}} Thus Maslow acknowledged the likelihood that the different levels of motivation could occur at any time in the human mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of motivation and the order in which they would tend to be met.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2020 |title=Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in Education |url=https://educationlibrary.org/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-in-education/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206215339/https://educationlibrary.org/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-in-education/ |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |access-date=February 6, 2020 |website=Education Library |language=en-US}}</ref> In addition to his anthropological studies, Maslow drew on animal data that "studied and observed monkeys [...] noticing their unusual pattern of behavior that addressed priorities based on individual needs".<ref name=":1" />

=== Alternative illustrations of hierarchy ===
[[File: Dynamic hierarchy of needs - Maslow.svg|thumb|Alternative illustration of hierarchy of needs with overlapping needs|alt=]]
In contrast to the well-known pyramid, a number of alternative schematic illustrations of the hierarchy of needs have been developed. One of the earliest, in 1962, shows a more dynamic hierarchy in terms of 'waves' of different needs overlapping at the same time.{{sfn|Krech|Crutchfield|Ballachey|1962|p=77}} As illustrated, the peak of an earlier main set of needs must be passed before the next 'higher' need can begin to assume a dominant role.

Other schematic illustrations of the hierarchy use overlapping triangles to depict the interaction of the different needs. One such updated hierarchy proposes that self-actualization is removed from its privileged place atop the pyramid because it is largely subsumed within status (esteem) and mating-related motives in the new framework.{{sfn|Kenrick|Griskevicius|Neuberg|Schaller|2010}}