Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Yolanda Dollison
Ohio Christian University
October 29, 2014

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Harold Maslow was born on April 1, 1908, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the first of seven children. Maslow’s parents were of Jewish decent, destitute, and uneducated. As a small child, Maslow was the only Jewish child in the neighborhood where he lived. This made Maslow lonesome and unhappy throughout the majority of his childhood. Maslow was child that want to fit in and be accepted by the other children. It was once stated by Maslow, “I was a little boy who struggled and experienced racism, rejection, and ethnic prejudice. At a very early age, Maslow had needs that he desperately needed to fulfill. Later in life Maslow became a great American psychologist and was best known for the creation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory was first introduced by Maslow in a paper he wrote entitled, “A Theory of Human Motivation”, in 1943. It was Maslow’s belief that psychology of the past had failed to focus on normal, fully functioning human beings. Therefore, it was Maslow’s desire was to create a theory that included both the positive and negative aspects of human dispositions (Hergenhahn, B.R. & Olson, M.H., 1999).
The needs described by Maslow included (1) Biological and Physiological needs- air, food, water, shelter, warmth, sex and sleep; (2) Safety needs- security, protection, order, law, stability, and freedom from fear; (3) Love and belongingness needs – friendship, love, intimacy, and affection from work groups, family, friends, and romantic relationships; (4) Esteem needs – achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect and respect from others; (5) Self-Actualization needs – realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, personal growth and peak