Ever wonder why people act the way they do? I have. Looking at both individuals and groups, there seemed to be precious little in common that explained their actions. Person A might react to a situation in a wildly different way than person B. Same stimulus. Different responses. Same choices to make. But different outcomes.
Reading through philosophical, political, and religious texts did not provide me with the answers I sought. Turning finally to psychological theories, I found one that has had a profound effect on my way of thinking. It was developed by Abraham Maslow.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) is best known for his theory of human motivation and personal development. His original work, known as the Hierarchy of Needs, hypothesized that there are five distinct stages through which humans develop, and is represented most often as a five level pyramid, but here represented, due to the usage of an eight year old MAC with only TEXT/EDIT capabilities, without the pyramid shape!:
-----TOP OF THE PYRAMID-----
SELF ACTUALIZATION (creativity, personal growth)
ESTEEM (status, achievement, respect)
BELONGING (family, friends, work group)
SAFETY (security, stability, freedom from fear)
PHYSIOLOGICAL (air, food, water, sex, shelter)
-----BASE OF THE PYRAMID-----
Maslow believed that these needs have become ingrained in humans over many thousands of years of evolution and remain constant across racial, gender, and ethnic differences. Survival possibilities were enhanced by those who followed this pattern of development and therefore their reproduction was likewise more successful than was those who did not.
People move both up and down the pyramid as a person's life undergoes both positive and negative changes. As a child, one's physiological and safety/security needs are hopefully met by one's primary caregivers. This permits movement into, and exploration of, the social (belonging) stratum. A cohesive family structure provides one part of belonging to a group. In school, the child develops additional group identities, such as being a member of their particular grade level, spelling bee team, soccer team, or crossing guard group. Once the child feels secure at the social level, he begins to strive for ego fulfillment - being recognized for individual achievements and achieving status within the group. Running faster than his peers, or being the best at multiplication tables may raise his status. Once this level of need is fulfilled, he can reach for the very top of the pyramid: self-actualization. This can include artistic self-expression, challenging oneself at the highest level of one's chosen field of interest, or the exploration of abstract fields of philosophies, arts, or sciences. Working on a special science project in a field he enjoys may provide the requisite accomplishment for achieving self-actualization.
Maturing from a child to an adult does not alter the way development evolves and devolves. When young adults leave home to live on their own for the first time, there is a realization that while parents had been providing for their physiological needs up to that time, a realignment in considering need fulfillment would now have to take place. Rent, utilities, insurance, et cetera now rush to the forefront, de-emphasizing the exploration of ego and self-actualization needs. The memories of those former need achievements may provide an additional impetus for again reaching the top of the pyramid.
Take the instance of an adult who is comfortably within "self-actualization" and has taken up, for example, oil painting and a musical instrument as means of self-expression. Suddenly he suffers a catastrophic illness that results in his losing his life savings, selling his home, and declaring bankruptcy. His free time, formerly spent self-actualizing, will now be spent with safety/security, or even some physiological needs. Perhaps he will need to take a second job, pawn his saxophone, and put his oils and canvases into storage. He will spend time worrying about fulfilling his basic needs. Gradually, he will move upwards again toward the top. This movement is most always gradual. However, if circumstances permit, and he were to come into an inheritance, then his oil painting could resume in a much more rapid fashion.
The factors that motivate movement up the pyramid include basic physiological and survival needs at the lowest steps followed by social or group interactivity and finally the need for individual fulfillment. The completion of one level motivates the individual to move to attempt similar completion of the next level. Development upwards through the hierarchy 'ends' with the self-actualization stage. However, that should not suggest stagnation. If a person's self-actualization involves being a writer, he may evolve that stage further by exploring music. Horror writer Stephen King and political satirist Dave Barry are examples. Both became very successful writers, and then decided to put together a rock band as well.
At this point, you might be asking yourself, "What about 'starving artists'? Are they an exception to Maslow's theory? It seems that all they care about is their 'art' - not about the more basic needs." Not necessarily.
Maslow's theory requires development into why 'starving artists' can apparently leapfrog past several levels and remain at self-actualization while ignoring more basic drives. This group is defined as those who remain in the self-actualization stage while apparently not fulfilling one or more intermediary stages. Literally, a starving artist will use her limited resources to purchase art supplies while ignoring bills for rent and food. How can such an individual continually self-actualize while bypassing safety/security, social, and ego needs as well as often those physiological needs that the vast majority of us respond to on a daily basis?
There is a great deal of difference in the amount of satisfaction a person requires before considering a specific need fulfilled before advancing to the next need. This may make it appear that a drive level has been bypassed when, in fact, the individual has fulfilled it with minimal apparent effort. Some actions, while seeming to fulfill just one need, may fulfill two or more. As an example, in agrarian societies, people grow their own crops and raise farm animals. This action fulfills both physiological (food) and safety/security (economic) needs. If a particularly successful harvest is brought in, it may even gratify social and ego needs. There are also individual differences in terms of how much discomfort a person can withstand before they decide to pay attention to that need. Perhaps the aforementioned artist can ignore some of her more basic needs while reaching for self-actualization. Another possible explanation is that she had, earlier in her life, an abundance of basic need fulfillment, and can therefore draw upon those memories during her current phase.
Let's look at another, related group - the political activists of the 1960s and 1970s. During the social upheavals of those decades, people who hungered for political and social change often chose courses of action and ways of living that put much less emphasis on individual needs and more on the wellness of the group. Experimentation in communal living was one such example. To the mainstream observer not versed in the philosophy of this movement, it would appear that the ego stage had been bypassed. Cultural blinders would have prevented the recognition that this lifestyle included the facet of a temporary voluntary suppression of the ego stage, as most communes ultimately disbanded for various reasons, and Maslow's hierarchy re-asserted itself.
From a political perspective, it can be seen how Maslow's ideas have, either consciously or unconsciously, influenced public policies around the world. Governments are accepting responsibilities for providing for their citizens' needs in areas that had been provided in the past, if at all, by the individual, family, or religious institutions: food stamps, rent assistance, publicly funded hospitals, halfway houses, public education, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and so on.
The list does not end with attempts to fulfill the physiological and safety/security needs. Public funding of art exhibits, arts and crafts classes in local communities, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, are a few ways governments assist their citizens in the self-actualization realm.
Some criticize this as big government over-reaching its true function. I see it as recognition of people's needs, wants, and desires, and sincere attempts to help individuals develop their potentials to the maximum. As a result, all of society benefits.
Friday, March 27, 2009
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4 comments:
I liked the blog. The only comment I have refers to the beginning of the analysis and the reference to the thought that the individuals who in some way fit into this pyramid structure were also successful "reproducers".
Lately, I have encountered a plethora of people who to my way of thinking should not have been "reproduced".
And, there seems to be an abundance of beings who really should not be "reproducing".
I think the government should be providing more funding for Planned Parenthood.
I love kids and raised a couple of them my self. I took an active roll in training them for the real world (moving up and down the pyramid).
The problem is some folks are breeding like rabbits and could not care less what will happen to the offspring of these activities.
How much revenue does your town spend on gang activity, drug addicts, house break-ins, car theft, etc.???
There seems to be more people trying to steal the pyramid rather than striving to achieve within the pyramid structure.
Thank you for liking this post.
I think that what Maslow meant by "Survival possibilities were enhanced by those who followed this pattern of development and therefore their reproduction was likewise more successful than was those who did not." (that was my interpreting and paraphrasing him, by the way), was that, when we, as a species, evolved, those members that made sure their basic needs (food, shelter, safety) were provided, tended to successfully reproduce more than, say, those members who sat around drawing pictures in the dirt, without ensuring their own more basic needs were provided for first.
I understand your feelings about people you dislike for various reasons. But to suggest that they should not be reproducing, based on your standards, is a scary thought.
You did the right thing when you raised your children, ensuring that their basic needs were met, and instilling in them a set of moral values by which they should live their lives. If only every child had even just one parent like that!
I agree that there are too many criminals. One of society's main goals should be the education of its citizenry that crime is wrong and will be punished. But society must, at the same time, explain in the most powerful terms WHY crime is wrong.
What is a good starting point? "An injury to one is an injury to all."
I did not wish to suggest that certain people should not reproduce based upon my standards.
I would suggest that certain members of our society should not reproduce because these certain "members" of our society have NO STANDARDS. They also have no concept on how to raise a child, nor do they even care or have an interest to learn child rearing.
The ones who are drawing pictures in the dirt.
Parenting is a skill that you develop as your child (or children) develop. No one is an instant parent.
You must have the desire to learn parenting and pass on life skills to the child. Teach them the pyramid!!!!
There are too many kids growing into adults without life skills.
And then society is saddled with the issues of gangs, etc.
The starting point is the family, and parents teaching their children right from wrong. But if the parents can't distinguish between right from wrong, well everyone seems to think the schools should be the safety net.
And that my friend is another can-o-worms!!!!
Little kids deserve better.
You make good points. You said it best when you pointed out, "The starting point is the family, and parents teaching their children right from wrong."
But when that fails, what do we do?
Our society sets up agencies like Departments of Children and Family Services to try to cope with this problem. Some schools even have parenting classes. Some religious groups try to have an impact. But they're often fighting an uphill battle.
As we discussed once, family members used to live close to one another. Often within walking distance. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. If new parents needed advice on raising kids, trusted family advice was often available next door. There was a sense of being connected to something that, while not always perfect, provided a sense of security and shared values.
For you and me, and countless others, that connectedness evaporated practically in a blink of an eye when "neighborhoods changed".. I still, 40+ years later, feel the pain of that happening.
Some would say that families can remain connected through phone calls, letters, and emails. Not the same. And while not an excuse to run wild in the streets, when those tight family bonds evaporated, a morals and values safety net was left with gaps so big, that some children have fallen through them and rely now on poor substitutes like gangs, or MTV, to provide Maslow's security level.
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