What is the purpose of life? The hierarchy of needs is psychology’s answer

The psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of human needs which his research found each person must address, and address in approximate order, in order for life it to be satisfactory.

Maslow is one of the most influential psychologists of all time. He is recognised as the founder of two of the four main schools of psychology: humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology.

What is surprising is that his work had a spiritual flavour to it which is has generally been ignored in mainstream psychology until recent years. Maslow was years ahead of his time. The presence of universal human needs has been confirmed by psychologists in more recent times.

The original five level model

Maslow began to develop the original and simplest form of the model in the 1940s.

He created the model both from existing research into life motivation and from interviews with people in which he probed them with questions and administered psychological tests which he developed that were completed with paper and pencil at a desk.

The emergence of needs in the life were as follows. The needs are what is “felt is missing” from life:

Physiological needs: Meeting basic nutritional requirements and other physiological needs such as regulating body temperature on a daily basis. These were generally foremost in the concerns of infants. They also returned in harsh life situations in adults, in situations of food scarcity, homelessness, etc. Physiological needs must be satisfied to a basic level in order for any higher need to emerge.

Safety needs: Once basic physiological needs are being met on a daily basis, emphasis shifts to safety. Safety involves more long term planning. They involve achieving a minimum level of personal security, financial security, etc. These needs will dominate experience until they are met, to a greater extent than anything higher up the hierarchy.

Emotional needs: Once safety is guaranteed, emotional needs will arise. Individuals can satisfy safety without satisfying emotional needs, by attaching themselves to a protective group, which provides physical needs without meeting emotional needs. A common example identified by psychologists is women in prostitution rings. The need for love, friendship, and acceptance are human needs that must be met. The individual must fulfil these needs before they can devote serious time and energy to anything higher. Searching for the fulfilment of emotional needs is common in childhood and adolescence. They can return when an individual becomes vulnerable in later life, for example with the failure of a long term relationship.

Esteem needs: Once safety needs are met, esteem needs arise. This is more of a luxury need, as it is not necessary for physical survival or for a basic degree of emotional stability. It has been identified as a primary need of modern Western individuals who live in a society of relative luxury. People want to be recognised for something by others. This will usually take the form of a pursuit of a profession or hobby, or the accumulation of possessions which represent wealth. It is a need for prestige, fame, recognition, and status.

Self-actualisation: This was the final stage of the original model. If the average level of human development in the modern West took them to the esteem level, then this was a level that motivated above average or extraordinary individuals, who had achieved satisfactory esteem needs early in life. Self-actualisation was very much bound up with achievement, as self-actualising individuals often were high achievers. But self-actualisers achieved something more: they stood out for their engagement with life, and embodied a sense of exhilaration noticeable to others around them. They were special people. They were noticeable for the sense of ease with which they pursued their goals. They appeared to be in a constant state of optimal functioning or “top form.” Self-actualisation was associated with spirituality: such individuals reported a “high” which could be likened to the experiences of religious mystics. Maslow called this a “peak experience.” Maslow found these individuals hard to study as they were relatively rare, but observed that a higher number of individuals achieved something like this state on a more temporary basis.

The model in later years

In later years Maslow changed his theory. He added in extra stages. He also distinguished between self-actualisation, which was more secular – more related to mastery of the secular aspect of the individual – and self-transcendence, which was a more purely spiritual condition.

Self-transcendence involved stepping away from identity with the original self altogether and identifying with something greater – the universe or possibly even “God” itself. Hence, the self is transcended. This made possible martyrdom.

The later theory looked like this:

Physiological needs: Finding today’s food, water, shelter, etc.

Safety needs: Satisfying physiological needs on a more permanent basis. Seeking safety in a group.

Belonging needs: Experiencing love, friendship and acceptance.

Esteem needs: Attention, recognition, status, independence.

Cognitive needs: Achieving a satisfactory understanding of the world.

Aesthetic needs: A need for beauty and balance to be expressed in the life

Self-actualisation: Effortless absorption in life and in work. Peak experiences of bliss and ecstasy. Awareness of a sense of mission in life.

Self-transcendence: A permanent realisation of peak experiences. The sacrifice of oneself to a greater purpose or force through work, or through death as seen in religious and political martyrs.

Maslow’s work remains highly influential. It is likely to strike an immediate chord with those who recognise aspects of self-actualisation and self-transcendence in themselves.

Maslow’ found that around a third of students in the universities he taught at had an intuitive grasp of these concepts and felt comfortable with them, while two thirds appeared to be completely puzzled by them. But only a small number showed signs of embodying these traits regularly.

For Malsow the purpose of life was to grow towards self-actualisation and self-transcendence.

Useful references

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological review,50(4), 370

Maslow, A., & Herzeberg, A. (1954). Hierarchy of needs. Motivation and Personality. Harper, New York.

Maslow, A. H. (1967). Toward a psychology of being. New York: Vintage.

Maslow, A. H. (1972). The farther reaches of human nature. Maurice Bassett.

Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Needs and subjective well-being around the world. Journal of personality and social psychology, 101(2), 354