Maslow’s 8-Stage Hierarchy of Needs
8) Transcendence Needs are more spiritual
or altruistic than self-actualization: the
desire to connect to something beyond
one’s individual ego or to help others
achieve self-actualization.
7) Self Actualizing Needs are those that
drive one to maximize personal potential,
capacities, and talents.
6) Aesthetic Needs drive our appreciation
of and search for beauty, harmony, and
order, prompting one to find and express
this beauty in through creativity.
5) Cognitive Needs drive curiosity and
exploration to better understand the world,
to gain knowledge, and to find meaning.
4) Esteem Needs include the need to feel
competent, accomplished, and socially
recognized through status or success,
needs that become more important after
our survival, safety, and sense of
belonging have been satisfied.
3) Belongingness and love needs are
more complex than physiological and
security needs. Friendships, romantic
attachments, and families help fulfill this
need for companionship and acceptance,
as does involvement in social, community,
or religious groups.
2) Safety Needs include the need for shelter
and protection from harm, needs that can
be focused upon once our physiological
needs are met.
1) Physiological Needs are those vital to
survival: food, water, sleep, sex, etc.
Maslow believed that all other needs
become secondary until our basic
physiological needs are met.
As you read The Glass Castle and explore the Walls family’s experiences in dialectic notes, ask yourself…
•
Which of Maslow’s needs (Physiological, Safety, Belongingness, Esteem, & Self-Actualization) are Rex
and Rosemary Walls satisfying for their children?
•
Which needs are they not satisfying for their children? Are the children able to satisfy these needs on
their own? If so, is it with parental guidance or figuring it out on their own?
•
Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) believed that people must satisfy basic needs (Physiological
and Safety) before the more complex psychological needs (Belongingness/Love and Esteem) and selffulfillment needs (Self-actualization) can be met. Which of these needs do you think are most important?