Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Analysis

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Analysis

Contended by Abraham Maslow in the 1940s, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory states that all human beings have the same kinds of needs, and these needs are categorized based on a hierarchy from the fundamental needs for survival to the needs that fulfill an individual’s purpose in life. At the first level of the pyramid, hierarchy is the physiological needs. According to Maslow, these are the most fundamental needs humans depend on for survival and every person must achieve these needs first before aspiring to other needs (Olson, Favero, & Hergenhahn, 2019). These needs include water, food, clothing, shelter, sleep, and any other bodily requirements.

At the second level of the pyramid is the safety needs. After attaining physiological needs, a person is motivated to attain safety needs, as Maslow attested. According to Olson, Favero, & Hergenhahn (2019), safety needs entail removing risks from a person’s life to help them maintain physiological needs in the future. These needs include emotional and physical security, financial and health security, and housing that goes beyond the fundamental shelters. The third level is social belonging. This model states that after achieving physiological and safety needs, a person expresses the need to belong socially. Human beings are social by nature, and everyone has that strong need to belong. According to Maslow, the moment a person can meet their physiological and security need, they start thinking about having families, being in a community, having friendships, and having a sense of belonging and acceptance in these social groups (Errita, Pardede, & Pratama, 2022).

Additionally, self-esteem is a need found at level four of Maslow’s pyramid. Maslow attests that once individuals find a sense of belonging in a social setting, they begin to focus on their self-esteem and themselves. These needs entail the satisfaction of one’s ego and feeling valued. Maslow stated that these needs could be categorized into two levels. At the higher level, an individual seeks freedom, integrity, recognition, respect, and status from themselves, and at the lower level, they seek to attain freedom, integrity, recognition, respect, and status from other people. The last level of Maslow’s pyramid is self-actualization. Generally, many people hardly reach this level. According to Maslow, once an individual can feed and satisfy their ego and accomplish high self-esteem, their ultimate need is about self-actualizing themselves or fulfilling their potential to the best of their abilities. In other words, it entails people achieving their life purpose to the extent of even surrendering to a power above them.

Self-Actualization Concept

Self-actualization is a state of fulfillment of the self that a person achieves upon realizing their full potential in life. According to Errita, Pardede, & Pratama (2022), self-actualization refers to a state where one becomes a complete human who can meet the needs that other people never meet or simply see passing by. According to Maslow’s model, this need cannot be met without first achieving the previous four needs. However, some scholars have challenged Maslow’s theory by stating that self-actualization cannot be an ultimate state but a continuous state as opposed to a static condition (Errita, Pardede, & Pratama, 2022). This is because human beings have various untapped potentials that are yet to be realized, including skills and talents that need to be developed but have still not yet surfaced. Self-actualization happens when people realize this potential or develop their talents and skills. Even though Maslow arranged these needs in a hierarchical pyramid to show progress from one need to another or that one can only proceed to another need after achieving another, his later work neutralized this rigidity. Maslow and other theorists found out later that humans do not have to satisfy a need completely before they can pursue another on a higher rank (Chan, 2022). They discovered that need satisfaction could also be sought simultaneously.

Billy Graham

As narrated by Balmer (2022), William Franklin Graham, also known as Billy Graham, was born in 1918 to a Christian family. While he was a child, he did not care about religion, God, hell, or the devil. He was a mere child until his mother invited him to church one day. He received Christ when a powerful preacher pointed out that he was a sinner. Graham was unsure if he wanted to be a preacher. He later received a powerful urge to teach, which he believed was from the Spirit of God. At college, he held bible studies. He met Ruth Bell Graham during his college years, who had attended college in China. Sharing similar Christian values, Billy asked Ruth on a date because he believed she was the one he would marry. His evangelistic missions strongly picked up in the 1940s as he sought other talented colleagues to help him, such as George Beverly Shea, a gospel singer, and Ruth, who supported him from behind the scenes. He was also helped by his high school friends, who helped arrange evangelistic crusades and meetings. Not only was his ministry growing throughout the world, but also his family. As he was prominently preaching in many places around the world, he started spending less time with family and embraced opportunities to spread the gospel, including involving the media. In 1994, he stated that his purpose was to win as many people as possible for Christ and let them know that God loves them.

Billy Graham’s Self-Actualization Analysis

Graham portrayed characteristics of self-actualization by accepting himself for who he was. He did not resist the urge to teach the word of God when it came to him. McLeod (2018) argues that self-actualized people accept themselves and also others. In a TV show, Billy told the hosts that one could break God’s commands by intent and thought, which is why the Bible says everyone is a sinner, including him. McLeod (2018) attests that self-actualized people also focus on solving the world’s problems. Understanding that sin causes people to perish and lack peace, Billy was determined to spread the gospel to as many people as he could through his missions, crusades, and rallies, even though he received some resistance from the government in the 1950s prohibiting him from preaching in public places (Balmer, 2022). Despite that, he was given other platforms to preach. His ministry grew stronger and bigger because of his strong ethical and moral standards. This is also a characteristic of a self-actualized person. Billy believed that he knew his purpose: to preach the gospel and win souls for Christ.

References

Balmer, R. (2022). Billy Graham: American Evangelist. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billy-Graham/Legacy

Chan, T. M. (2022). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Education Theory Made Practical, Volume 4.

Errita, E., Pardede, M., & Pratama, D. R. (2022). Self-actualization is Depicted in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes and Milena Busquets’s This Too Shall Pass. Loquen: English Studies Journal, 15(1), 53-60.

McLeod, S. (2018). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply psychology, 1(1-18).

Olson, M. H., Favero, D., & Hergenhahn, B. H. (2019). An Introduction to Theories of Personality (9th Edition). Pearson Education (US). (Login and Borrow the book for free) Chapter 15: “Abraham Maslow.”

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This week you will complete a 2-3-page expository paper investigating a famous person from the list provided, and examining their journey toward becoming fully functioning and self-actualized. You will use a minimum of two peer-reviewed sources from the library in addition to the textbook and provide a biography.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Analysis

Give a brief overview of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Define self-actualization using your own words and supporting it with a reliable supporting it with at least one reliable source, either from the library or from the textbook.
Select one of the following individuals (below), read the related biographical article and provide a brief introduction to the background of your selected individual, appropriately using quotes and paraphrasing when needed to support the facts.
Examine the selected individual and apply at least 3 characteristics of a self-actualized person to their life, giving examples and supporting the applied characteristics with a reliable source.
14th Dalai Lama

Pettinger, T. (2018, February 1). Dalai Lama biography. Biography Online.

https://www.biographyonline.net/nobelprize/dalai-lama-14th.html

Billy Graham

Balmer, R. (2020). Billy Graham. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billy-Graham

Clara Barton

Pettinger, T. (2019, November 3). Clara Barton. Biography Online.

https://www.biographyonline.net/humanitarian/clara-barton-biography-quotes.html

Nelson Mandela

Pettinger, T. (2018, February 13). Biography Nelson Mandela. Biography Online.

https://www.biographyonline.net/politicians/nelson-mandela.html

Confucius

Pettinger, T. (2020, February 9). Confucius biography. Biography Online.

https://www.biographyonline.net/poets/confucius.html

Bob Geldof

Pettinger, T. (2011, February 10). Bob Geldof biography. Biography Online.

https://www.biographyonline.net/music/bob-geldorf.html

Helen Keller

Pettinger, T. (2017, March 3). Helen Keller biography. Biography Online.

https://www.biographyonline.net/women/helen-keller.html

Sojourner Truth

Michals, D. (2015). Sojourner Truth. National Women’s History Museum.

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth