#hierachyofneeds

[veruschkababuschka]

Illustration by Wendy MacNaughton.

[nonbinary-nature-lover-jeri]

“If you only have a hammer 🔨, you tend to see every problem as a nail🗡.” - Abraham Maslow . One of my favorite psychology theorists. To se Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs see the second graphic. . #Quote #AbrahamMaslow #HierachyOfNeeds #ChangeYourPerspective https://www.instagram.com/p/BmykfVnnUbY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18hp41fit30tc

[emotionalives]

February 1, 2014- Haleakala Sunrise

Today is the day that I have been looking forward to since we arrived in Maui. I didn’t know about what my brother- in law had planned for us until I arrived so I hadn’t had the chance to prepare any warm clothing or any footwear other than flipflops.  

Today, we all got up at 4 AM and drove an hour or so to the Haleakala Summit, which has an elevation of 10,023 ft. This is tallest peak of Haleakala, the volcano that covers most of the island of Maui. Cars and cars filled the parking lots. Even more people, wrapped tightly in blankets, and wearing thick clothing, stood at the edge, anticipating the sunrise. Most people, including my sister, her husband, and I, were there waiting 30 minutes prior to the time that the sun was expected to rise. My mom and my grandma thought it was too cold for them. They had a need to stay warm and maintain the body’s homeostasis, so this created a drive for them to just stay in the car the whole time.

It was below freezing and we stood there shivering in our thin jackets and bared feet. My toes started getting redder and redder, and I thought that they were going to fall off.  My hair was wet in a few minutes time because of the clouds and my brother- in law’s long eyelashes started to look like tiny icicles. I don’t remember being this excited in a long time as I was this morning.  

This experience today reminded me of the theory of a hierarchy of needs that I have heard about before. At the bottom of the hierarchy are our biological needs and it moves to safety, attachment, esteem and lastly, self- actualization. This theory explained how basic needs such as hunger and thirst must first be satisfied in order for us to go on, satisfying our other needs. If that was true, then it didn’t make sense why any of the people there today, including myself, would happily and excitedly brave the cold just to see the sunrise. This means that Maslow’s humanistic theory does not explain why sometimes, humans act in ways that obviously override our most basic needs, such as safety. On the other hand, it does explain why my mom and my grandma chose to stay in the car instead of stand outside in the cold weather. The drive theory also explains why they chose to stay in the car until they were no longer cold.

Drive theory: theory that a biological need creates a drive- which is seen as an urge or motivated state of tension directed at meeting that need. 

Homeostasis: the body's tendency to maintain a biologically balanced condition (eg. temperature)

Drive reduction: process in which we are motivated to act to reduce the drive level 

Hierarchy of needs: (Maslow's theory)- the notion that needs occur in priority order, with the biological needs as the most basic.