Human Behavior... Explained!

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.