Editing Need (section)

== Psychological definition ==
To most psychologists, need is a psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a [[goal]], giving purpose and direction to behavior.
[[File:Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.png|thumb|Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs]]
The most widely known academic model of needs was proposed by psychologist [[Abraham Maslow]] in [[Maslow's hierarchy of needs|his hierarchy of needs]] in 1943. His theory proposed that people have a hierarchy of psychological needs, which range from basic physiological or lower order needs such as food, water and safety (e.g. shelter) through to the higher order needs such as self-actualization. People tend to spend most of their resources (time, energy and finances) attempting to satisfy these basic before the higher order needs of belonging, esteem and self-actualization become meaningful.<ref>Neal, C. M.; Quester, P. G.; Hawkins, D. I. (2008). Pettigrew, Grimmer & Davis ''Consumer Behaviour: Implications for Marketing Strategy''. Sydney: McGraw-Hill Irwin.</ref> Maslow's approach is a generalised model for understanding human motivations in a wide variety of contexts but must be adapted for specific contexts. While intuitively appealing, Maslow's model has been difficult to operationalize experimentally.{{cn|date=July 2024}} It was developed further by [[Clayton Alderfer]].

The academic study of needs, which was at its zenith in the 1950s, receives less attention among psychologists today. One exception involves [[Richard Sennett]]'s work on the importance of [[respect]].

One difficulty with a psychological theory of needs is that conceptions of "need" may vary radically among different cultures or among different parts of the same society. For a psychological theory of human need, one found compatible with the Doyal/Gough Theory, see [[self-determination theory]].