Maslow's_Hierarchy_of_Needs

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explores the elements of need that a person has and explains, in detail how it effects us with or without those such needs. The steps in Maslow’s hierarch are: Physical needs for survival, Safety and Protections, Belonging needs, Self esteem, and self actualization. From the most basic conversation to the most in depth, it is occurring based upon his theory that we are communicating on base that we need something. The first and most basic step on the hierarchy is the physical needs for survival. As an infant child, we are dependent upon our parents to receive everything from food to shelter. Without these necessities, we are bound to parish. We cry as a form of communication in order to tell our parents that we are in “need” of something. As we grow older, we are learning to speak. It is important that we have food, water and even medical attention in order to meet our basic physical needs. The next step on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is Safety and protection needs. Having a shelter helps a person to feel safe. Even though there are people living in areas that have been run with gangs, they usually find their home to be their safe haven. Creating a bond with the people closest is also a way to feel safe. While trust is an aspect of life that has to be earned, having trust allows a person’s need for safety to be easily obtained with a particular person. Trust in other people also leads to new relationships that lead to new families. Feeling alone is a feeling that no person wants to feel. The next step is belonging needs. People enjoy being around other people. They yearn for conversation with others. Besides, it is a little strange for a person to talk to themselves. Really they want to be talking to another person. Belonging needs also have an effect on a person’s health. I mentioned before that a person who talks to himself is strange, but I also think that this individual is probably very isolated. This person is likely to have some mental health issues among other medical issues that stem from not having normal relationships with people. I, myself, have grown up in a family with four children. We didn’t always have money for the “things” that were the coolest and we didn’t get to go out to dinner and take fancy vacations, but we were very close. While we had all of the physical needs required to survive, we had more belonging needs than anything else. We still bickered as young kids do, and we still argued with mom and dad, but we have always remained close in adulthood. We are constantly encouraging one another and offering any support we can. Recently, my little sister moved several states away due to government orders. I have found myself feeling like a part of me is gone, but I have made it a point to keep in contact by phone and facebook. I also remind myself that once her husband’s orders are up, they will be back home. Self esteem is the next step in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is important for people to value themselves as well as others. The influences that we are raised with will ultimately determine the self esteem that a person has and their ability to acknowledge others and their esteem. People who grow up with little direction and attention usually don’t have very good self esteem and don’t have very good self worth. They usually don’t take care of themselves and have more medical issues then if they had good self esteem. People have a huge influence on anyone’s self esteem. As a child I grew up with the ideas that if someone doesn’t like me then that was their problem. While I still wanted people to like me and make good judgments about me, I wasn’t worried about impressing everyone. I didn’t care that I like country music and played clarinet in the band, and I didn’t care if anyone thought I was a nerd. My sister on the other hand, was very worried about the image she possessed. As a pre-teen she wanted very badly to be the “popular” kid. No matter what she did, people always saw her for who she was and her family. Even though she didn’t have the best self esteem, she soon realized what those people were and soon enough she became the same country music loving band nerd that I was. The last part of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is Self-Actualization. As we grow into people make decisions to define themselves. Good parent encourage their children to have dreams and expose them to new things. Whether they choose to learn music and become musician, learn a sport to perfect or go to college to become a businessman, this is their way to self actualize. We are continually evolving and growing as individuals and becoming our own person. (Wood, 2010) Bibliography Wood, J. T. (2010). Interpersonal Communication. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.