How Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs being abused?

“Why don’t more people self-actualize if their basic needs are met? How can we humanistically understand the problem of evil?”

In the last years of his life, Abraham Maslow wondered, “Why don’t more people self-actualize if their basic needs are met? How can we humanistically understand the problem of evil?” [1].

One of the first generations of Jewish immigrants in the US, from the working-class, he got troubled childhood facing bullying by anti-Semitic gangs at that time. More than that, Maslow doesn’t get along with his mother, even having negative feelings towards the woman who gave birth to him, who he described as annoying both in appearance and worldview, because of “her stinginess, her total selfishness, her lack of love for anyone else in the world — even her own husband and children — her narcissism, her Negro prejudice, her exploitation of everyone, her assumption that anyone was wrong who disagreed with her, her lack of friends, her sloppiness and dirtiness, her lack of family feeling for her own parents and siblings…”.

His hatred of the person who gave birth to him, from one of the most famous human psychologists of the 20th century, probably has much to do with Maslow’s painful memories of his mother. According to the record, she once held two kittens against the concrete floor to crush their heads in front of the boy Maslow, when Maslow hid them in the basement and gave them milk on a family plate [2].

Coming from such an uneasy past, Maslow is fond of learning and has a relatively smooth path of academic advancement from the time he started school until he published the famous scientific works on psychology. The most significant is the Hierarchy of Needs, one of the most famous psychological theories of the 20th century.

At the same time, it is also one of the most abused outdated theories in the 21st century.

A. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Before diving into why we should be careful with Maslow’s theory, we need to know what it is. This section summarizes it based on the article of Simply Psychology [3].

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory to understand human motivation based on a five stages pyramid. Please note that this is a model only for the purpose of understanding human motivation, it should not be extended to other areas; It should also be noted that the feature of this model is dividing into levels, from low to high. These 5 stages include:

• Biological and physiological needs: eat, drink, sleep, rest, keep warm, sex …
• Safety needs: order, stability, ability to predict and control life.
• Love and belongingness needs: friendship, intimacy, trust, acceptance, receiving and giving love, being part of social groups …
• Esteem needs: self-esteem (dignity, achievement, ability to master, independence) and respect from others (reputation, status, prestige).

And:

• Self-actualization needs: perfecting oneself, having top-notch experiences, being able to do what you want, becoming the best version of yourself.

The most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to achieve higher-level needs. Of the 5 tiers of need, the first 4 tiers are the deficiency needs, and the 5th tier is the demand for growth. Insufficient needs are often deprivation, so it will be a motivating force to make up for it. The longer the shortage time, the stronger the motivation, the longer a person cannot eat, the more hungry they will be.

When the deficit needs are satisfied, it disappears and people will turn to higher needs, the highest is the need for growth, i.e. the fifth tier, the need for actualization. Individuals may continuously fluctuate between steps and will not necessarily reach 5th during their lifetime.

Maslow has been developing his model continuously over the decades, in the years 1943, 1962, and 1987. Initially, he assumed that the fifth tier would only be met when the needs of the lower levels were fully met, but he later added that “ it is not necessary to satisfy 100% of the demand at the lower level for demand at the higher level to emerge “. In a 1987 book (17 years after his death), Maslow goes on to add that the order of this hierarchy is “not nearly as rigid” as he had previously implied, but though can be flexibly changed for each individual, it is still decentralized in that individual.

The number of stages has also been changed, adding a few more, to a total of 8, as follows:

• Biological and physiological needs.
• Safety needs.
• Love and belongingness needs.
• Esteem needs.
• (Added) 5. Cognitive needs — knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability.
• (Added) 6. Aesthetic needs — appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
• Self-actualization needs.
• (Added) 8. Transcendence needs — A person is motivated by values which transcend beyond the personal self (e.g., mystical experiences and certain experiences with nature, aesthetic experiences, sexual experiences, service to others, the pursuit of science, religious faith, etc.).

* [From level 5 onwards is the need for growth, below is deficit needs].

Maslow also has descriptions of people who have passed stage 5, attaining the ability to realize themselves, who: know how to see reality and tolerate uncertainty, accept self oneself and others, problem-centered (not self-centered), humorous as an instinct, establishing special and deep personal relationships with certain people, top-notch experience, strict ethical standards, concern for the welfare of humanity, high creativity …

He also listed a few behaviors that could help someone reach the 5th stage or higher: experiences life as a child with full focus and excitement, tries new things, listens to emotions of yourself instead of the majority, avoids pretending and always be honest, be willing to think your views don’t match with the majority, be responsible and hardworking, finds out ways you use to defend and willingly gives them up…

Maslow also made it clear that each person will achieve his or her own actualization and that achieving it does not necessarily lead to a perfect or accomplished person; it is estimated that only about 2% of the population has this capacity (about 160 million people based on current population).

Personally, if asking would I like this theory or not, the answer will be yes. I find myself somewhere in the range of need for growth, which is generally something to be proud of. This theory is also quite simple, easy to understand, and filled with positivity. Yes, this theory is too simple, too easy to understand, and filled with too much positivity.

B. From an academic point of view

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the outstanding achievements of humanistic psychology. This sub-discipline arose around the mid-20th century, as a movement in response to the emergence of Freudian psychoanalysis. Contrary to Freud’s viewpoint, which focuses on the dark, negative points deep inside man, human psychology holds that humans, as individuals, are unique beings and generally innate good direction [4].

Humanistic psychology based on several key assumptions [5]:

• Man has free will, a philosophical point of view with existential elements.
• People are basically good and have an inborn need to want themselves and the world to become better.
• Everyone is most motivated by self-realization.
• The individual’s subjective, conscious experiences are the most important.
• Scientific methodology is not necessary.
• Humans are unique, so a comparison with other animals is unnecessary and worthless (that is, psychological experiments in birds, mice, monkeys … will indicate little to no resolution corresponding to human behavior).

The hierarchy of needs is no exception and is based on all of these assumptions, so from a scientific point of view, Maslow’s hierarchy in particular and humanistic psychology, in general, have many problems. I will go into some easy-to-understand points in the next section, but perhaps we should first approach the foundation and analyze it from the scientific point of view.

First, the assumption that each holds the freedom to determine fate, a.k.a. free will, weakens them more or less as determinism prevails in large-scale debate, specifically in the field of precision science. Furthermore, on one hand, humanistic psychologists claim that human beings have free will, and on the other hand, argue that each person’s behavior is determined by how others treat them (?!). So, while Maslow and humanistic psychology argue that people have free will, the reality shows that their lacking is not necessarily self-sufficient in themselves.

Second, the approach of this school also emphasizes individuality instead of universality, most of the interpretations are more verbal than concrete rules. For example, in the case of neuroscience, human behavior will be interpreted based on the biological basis of brain structure, thereby creating universal rules. While Maslow’s pyramid needs are noted as “need to be used flexibly with each individual and specific case”.

Third, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not based on any empirical evidence, does not follow a well-established scientific methodology, and generally lacks the support of scientific evidence. Maslow himself knows and admits this. It may even be considered an unscientific theory due to the unreliable methodology and little empirical evidence.

Fourth, Maslow’s arguments are quite general and not specific, in almost every respect, especially in the use of words. For example, “self-actualization” is a vague concept.

To build this theory, Maslow relied solely on the notes and biographies of 18 prominent people he claimed to have passed stage 5, including individuals such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Beethoven … In itself, the method of biographical analysis is already not scientific, analysis based on Maslow’s own judgment is even less scientific. Of the people he chose to study, all were highly educated white men but were expected by Maslow to find the principle that was right for everyone in the world. By 1970, he had begun to study more women, but still only a very small percentage of the sample. In addition, there isn’t any biological evidence or other experimental investigation to support it.

Therefore, Maslow’s theory or humanistic psychology in general, although expected to help understand human dynamics around the world, what they study and promote is narrow in the characteristics of a minority group. The main ideas of this theory are heavily influenced by Western society, especially individualism, that everyone needs to motivate themselves, help themselves, and ultimately move towards development yourself. This is not true of Asian culture, which is heavily social and communal and although personal interests still exist, it can be clearly seen that they place heavy emphasis on the need for acceptance and community interests rather than individuals.

In the end, the most valuable thing in the hierarchy is the ranking, which is the rise and fall, switching between stages and going upwards, actually has the most problems and doesn’t seem to have much value. For example, many prominent individuals in history (such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh) had a difficult life and lack almost all basic needs, but still fulfill the need to realize the individual that lies at the highest level. Or in many societies, although people have not yet met the needs for safety and food at the bottom level, they still need the need for respect and love. Sometimes these needs are even higher than basic needs. Or another need that ranks at a higher level is the pursuit of faith, curiosity, or the pursuit of truth, which is always present in the poor, or soldiers in combat, who have an uncertain and unsafe fate.

Given all these limitations, especially in the lack of scientific evidence and reliable methodologies from the outset, Maslow’s hierarchy of need is more idealistic than a credible scientific model. . However, the hierarchy in particular or the humanistic psychology in general are still applied in a very small scope of psychology, therapy, and psychological counseling. It is generally intended to serve as the resolution of personal problems rather than to address universal questions since one individual’s feelings and expectations cannot represent other individuals.

C. The widely overused of public

Maslow’s theory is particularly popular among the masses, more than any other psychological theory. Perhaps this comes from simplicity, ease of understanding, a level system like gaming, and consistent with popular opinion. I think anyone who looks at it quickly applies it to themselves.

However, as noted above, the hierarchy is only a research model of human motivation, useful only in terms of individual therapy, and has a severe lack of ability to answer grand questions. But the masses have used this pyramid of need to answer almost all complex problems: human resources management, love, war, vices, or even the existence of classes.

Remember that Maslow himself, the father of this theory, was pondering at the very end of his life to the cause of the problems which I had quoted at the beginning of this article. But most of all, later in his career, Maslow was also influenced by the hippie movement and argued that hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD or mushroom could help some people in certain situations experience the ultimate ascendence as he describes on the 8th stage. He was also influenced by the New Era wave and applied yoga terms to his theory. Ultimately, Maslow argued that the culmination of one’s experience is related to psychic and other drug-influenced activities [6].

After many constant updates to his theory, Maslow has also been criticized for making too many exceptions. For example, he created a hierarchy from low to high but said that it is not necessarily a rigid order (?!). In considering and agreeing with the exceptions, Maslow’s theory gradually becomes a form of common sense that can be recognized by anyone. In particular, nearly every need in the deficiency needs group exists in animals, especially mammals, such as physiological needs, or even the need for community interaction and respect. Nothing special about humans. This causes contradictions because according to the view of the humanistic psychology school, people must be different and unique, and at the same time said it is impossible to compare behavior between animals and humans.

The decentralization in the urgency of each need also creates a false sense of reality, as we can easily see that in fact, everyone demands many needs are to be met at the same time and the level of priority is not universal. Society and people are fundamentally a lot more complex than Maslow’s simple model.

In general, Maslow’s theories are not particularly difficult to understand and special, it is difficult to understand why they are so popular that you can see people claiming a lot of things based solely on the opening sentence that “ According to Maslow’s pyramid of needs, people… ”as if that’s the way it really is. From this abuse, the roots of many complex problems rest on the shoulders of individuals, rather than other objective factors. Because from the very beginning, Maslow’s theory has been faithfully based on assumptions and revolves around individual motivations, ignoring the fact that man is a social creature and is attached to cooperation.

For example, some groups believe that the root of social vices is due to the fact that certain individuals need the lowest level of needs, including food, accommodation, and sex, as a motivator for them at all costs to achieve it. This has simplified a complex social phenomenon and completely assumed that crime is a phenomenon born of the selfish desires of some individuals.

In the 20th century, the hierarchy was used for application in governance and education. Fundamentally, this is a positive and humanistic goal, in accordance with the spirit and desire of humanistic psychology. It has been useful to a certain extent, helping educators understand that children will not be able to do well on an empty stomach, similar to that of a worker. The demand pyramid is also the answer to the hierarchical bureaucracy, helping managers know that not all employees have the same needs, nor can salaries solve productivity in higher positions. But it is the need pyramid that presents unrealistic routes to solve this problem by putting everyone in a rigid and compulsive process. In fact, students in a classroom and employees of a company do not necessarily have a need for self-realization or such “textbook” ideals. People have diverse desires and needs, influenced by those around them, rather than pure individual desires.

Maslow and humanistic psychology went too far into a humanistic and positive perspective that completely eliminated the existence of things that were classified as negative. Specifically, Maslow has called his own school of theory as positive psychology and studied only individuals he judged to be mentally healthy, not those with mental problems. This could be a deliberate resistance to the negative of old schools of psychology, especially psychoanalysis, which spurred the birth of humanistic psychology. However, avoiding negative things makes humanistic psychologists, while blowing new air into psychology, at the same time preventing them from seeing the comprehensive picture of the world. The series of serious phenomena such as warfare, genocide, and beyond cannot be answered through this school’s point of view.

However, contrary to the positive wishes of humanistic psychologists like Maslow, the public sometimes abuses this hierarchical pyramid model to classify each other. Specifically, some groups have argued that those who are struggling to meet lower-level needs are beneath individuals who have found a way to realize their own desires. The norm, though, of self-realization with its manifestations (outlined above), is primarily built upon Maslow’s observation of educated white male individuals in Western society of the 20th century.

In the present social context, it is impossible for most people to be able to realize it, we can’t even find any solid reasons for one to do so. Maslow also overestimated an individual’s will to realize oneself, because in order to become a successful pianist, in the end, do it entirely based on our individual wishes? If not, then what does it all mean, because although it is true that there is always a variety of choices in society, does diversity come with the freedom of choice, or is it just a complex arrangement?

“Why don’t more people self-actualize if their basic needs are met? How can we humanistically understand the problem of evil?”

Perhaps because the realization of one’s own wishes from the beginning was not the destination of everyone, and evil cannot be understood only through the humanistic point of view.

In the end, Maslow had not yet resolved many problems with his theory, before dying from a heart attack while jogging in the summer of 1970. However, he is still one of the great symbols of psychology, the pioneer who blew a positive breeze into human psychology research. Psychology, to this day, is still at dawn on its own and is still too young compared to other sciences. The fact that Maslow’s theory, or any other psychological theory in existence, fails to deal with the big questions of humanity is not a too surprising truth.

But perhaps many people should know about this, before taking these incomplete theories mindlessly to solving complex problems, thinking that they are seeing the truth.

__________

References:

[1] Rennie, David (2008). “Two thoughts on Abraham Maslow”. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 48 (4): 445–448. doi:10.1177/0022167808320537

[2] History of Psychology: Ideas and Context, by D. Brett King, William Douglas Woody, Wayne Viney, p.437.

[3] McLeod, S. A. (2020, March 20). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

[4] “humanistic psychology | Definition, Characteristics, Examples, & Facts | Britannica,” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2021, Accessed: Mar. 23, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.britannica.com/science/humanistic-psychology.

[5] McLeod, S. A. (2015, December 14). Humanism. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html

[6] Maslow, Abraham H. (1964). Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences. Ohio State University Press.

*Further Reading:

Updating Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs — https://www.verywellmind.com/updating-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-2795269

Social Networks: What Maslow Misses — https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/positively-media/201111/social-networks-what-maslow-misses-0

Renovating the Pyramid of Needs: Contemporary Extensions Built Upon Ancient Foundations — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3161123/