Sarah Rubin

Professor Nelson

Psych 497

9 December 2016

The Successes and Setbacks of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

One of the classic theories in developmental psychology is that of Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs. As a theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has definite merit. In many

instances, people will prioritize more “fundamental” needs, such as food and water, over

other needs like acceptance and belonging. However, although this theory allows us to

conceptualize a great number of situations, it does not account for all experiences. For

example, an individual may prioritize self-actualization over financial security, even though

according to Maslow’s hierarchy this should be reversed. During my time volunteering with

Crisis Text Line, I have seen instances that both support and refute the concepts behind

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

During one of my shifts, a woman texted in with concerns about her unstable

housing situation; she was at risk of losing her low-income housing, and was concerned

about how she would be able to find another place to live that she could afford. At one point

during our conversation, I learned that she was also in an abusive relationship. I tried to

address the issue of the relationship at first, but quickly realized that the abuse was a lower

priority to the woman than was her potential housing crisis. According to Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs, this makes perfect sense – the woman could not go about trying to solve

her need for safety from abuse when she was facing the more pressing threat of lacking

shelter.
 Another memorable instance was that of a high school student who texted in saying

they were depressed because they didn't have any friends. The need for friendship is an

element of the “love/belonging” level of Maslow’s hierarchy. The student also expressed a

lack of personal fulfillment, saying that they had failed to achieve their goals in both the

soccer team and the school band. This represents the “self-actualization” level of the

hierarchy. Despite their distress over these perceived shortcomings, the student identified

the main source of their depression as their loneliness and desire for friends. This scenario

supports Maslow’s theory, as the student felt that developing friendships was a higher

priority than realizing their athletic and musical potential, just as self-actualization comes

after love/belonging in Maslow’s hierarchy.

While the aforementioned instances strongly align with the theory of Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs, not all the conversations I have had on Crisis Text Line have slotted in

so neatly. In fact, the experiences of some people that I’ve talked with have directly

contradicted this theory. For example, I once spoke with a middle-aged woman who had

been homeless for several months. She was obviously struggling, having spent many nights

out in the elements and going hungry. However, she didn’t want to talk to me about her

housing situation; rather, she wanted to discuss her progress as a musician. For this

woman, her creative prowess and general self-actualization was a higher priority than

safety and other basic physiological needs, which is the opposite of what Maslow’s

hierarchy would predict. There are several reasons that this woman may have felt this way;

perhaps to her, physical needs were not of primary importance. Due to grandiose ideations

from a mental illness, religious beliefs, or any number of possible reasons, she may have

felt like she could transcend the basic needs of her body in favor of pursuing “higher” goals.
Another possibility is that she was seeking to exert control over what she actually had hope

of controlling – no matter how hard a person works, there is no guarantee that they can

make it back out of chronic homelessness. However, a person can exert more control over

their progress in a set of skills (such as music, as in the case of this particular woman). In

other words, this woman may have felt that getting her “lower needs” met was out of her

control, but that she could still control her efforts toward achieving self-actualization.

In conclusion, while Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a useful tool for conceptualizing

human motivations, it does not always hold true in every situation. Not every person

priorities physical needs over psychological needs, and not every person is able to (or

desires to) progress linearly up the hierarchy. In essence, using such a structured theory

has setbacks in the same way it has utility; while it will certainly explain a good number of

plausible situations, it will also necessarily exclude some people’s lived experiences.
 References

Green, C. D. (2000, August). Classics in the History of Psychology -- A. H. Maslow (1943) A

Theory of Human Motivation. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm