Reflective Essay Sample: Maslow’s Hierarchy and Self-Actualization

📌Category: Philosophy
📌Words: 1027
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 20 June 2022

It is common knowledge that, as humans, we all have needs and dreams. These things give meaning to our lives and bring a desire to continue to progress throughout life. This knowledge of human needs and longing for fulfillment derives from the psychological theory of humanism (Berger, Pg. 464). Humanism is defined as “A theory that stresses the potential of all humans, who have the same basic needs, regardless of culture, gender, or background” (Berger, Pg. 464). With this development, Maslow provided insight into how humans perceive themselves and how this develops over time. One of his most important contributions to humanistic psychology is his idea of a hierarchy of needs, consisting of five types of needs organized in a pyramid (Berger, Pg. 464). With this in mind, this paper will discuss Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization, and where I fall in my journey for a life’s purpose and self-actualization.

Before discussing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is critical to define what a need actually is. A need can be defined as “A lack of something that is essential to a person's existence or well-being” (Taormina & Gao, 2013). Now that a need has been clearly defined, the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs warrant further discussion. 

The first level of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy involves physiological needs (Taormina & Gao, 2013). This category of needs involves things like food, water, oxygen, sleep, and other things that are biologically needed to live (Atkins & Harmon, 2021). When reflecting on this level of needs, I strongly believe that my physiological needs are currently met. This is because I have enough food, clean drinking water, and conditions that I can survive in. Maslow’s levels of needs build off each other, meaning that once one level is met it becomes easier to focus on satisfying the next level of needs (Taormina & Gao, 2013). This means that because I am satisfied physiologically, I can focus on reaching the next levels of needs on the pyramid. 

The second level of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy involves safety and security needs (Taormina & Gao, 2013). This level involves feeling secure through medians such as a shelter, someone to rely on, a fair legal system, and a stable government (Taormina & Gao, 2013). When thinking of this, I feel satisfied on this level of the pyramid because I live in a secure home, in a well-developed country, with parents that I can rely on. Following the logic of Maslow’s theory, this means that I can focus on reaching the next level of needs on the pyramid. (Taormina & Gao, 2013). After reflecting on this, the next level of needs should be discussed. 

The third level of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy involves belongingness and love needs (Taormina & Gao, 2013). It is easy to see how every human needs to build connections with others and fulfill these needs. Reflecting on my life, I am partially satisfied on this level. This level of need is satisfied by close relationships with family members, friends, and romantic partners (Taormina & Gao, 2013). I feel that this need is partially met in my life because I have a wonderful and loving family, and several great friends; however, I do not have a romantic partner. Considering how this level involves overcoming feelings of loneliness and isolation through connecting with others, it is easy to see why I seek to fill this need by finding a partner (Taormina & Gao, 2013). Given this, I consider myself to currently be on the third level of the hierarchy.

Building on the social nature of the third level in the hierarchy, the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs focuses on esteem (Atkins & Harmon, 2021). This is essentially the level where a person feels satisfied with who they are, what they have accomplished, and how they are viewed by others in life (Atkins & Harmon, 2021). This is a level that I have not reached yet because I do not feel satisfied with my current accomplishments in life or who I am as a person. This type of need is defined as, “The lack of respect a person has for himself or herself or the lack of respect a person receives from other people” (Taormina & Gao, 2013). Reflecting on this, I have not reached this level because I am still seeking to progress in numerous areas of my life, and I do not currently feel satisfied with my status. 

The fifth, and final level in Maslow’s hierarchy is self-actualization (Berger, Pg. 464). Maslow’s theory suggests that this level is one with subjective meaning, in which a person feels fully satisfied with their life and who they are (Kenrick, 2017). For me, self-actualization is a state of mind in which I feel that my life has true purpose and meaning. I believe that to reach this level, I will need to become more content with who I am and what I value the most in life. I personally feel that I will find more self-actualization through personal and spiritual development. As alluded to earlier, I also still have to progress fully through levels three and four before reaching the fifth level of self-actualization. However, this is not uncommon for a person to feel. Despite Maslow considering self-actualization as something all humans seek, he estimated that a mere 1% of people fully reach this stage on the pyramid (Atkins & Harmon, 2021). This shows that it is okay for me to be lower on the pyramid because this is something to be actively practiced as one progresses through life. I genuinely believe that although I am only on level three of the pyramid, I will continue to develop and reach my definition of self-actualization. 

Overall, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs involves five levels that people progress through as they develop. These levels are interconnected, and one mist be fully reached before progressing to the next. The final stage on this pyramid is self-actualization, which few people truly reach. In my personal life, I am on level three of the pyramid, meaning I have growth to do before reaching my definition of self-actualization. 

References

Atkins, W., & Harmon, A. (2021). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved 2 December 2021, from https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.davidsondavie.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Reference&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=15&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CCX8067400518&docType=Topic+overview&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=9780028677569&prodId=HWRC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCX8067400518&searchId=R4&userGroupName=nclivedccc&inPS=true

Berger, K. S. (n.d.). Invitation to the Life Span. Retrieved 29 November 2021, from Invitation to the Life Span (virdocs.com)

Kenrick, D. (2017). Self-Actualization, Human Nature, and Global Social Problems: I. Foundations. Retrieved 30 November 2021, from Self-Actualization, Human Nature, and Global Social Problems: I. Foundations - Document - Gale Academic OneFile (davidsondavie.edu)

Taormina, R., & Gao, J. (2013). Maslow and the motivation hierarchy: measuring satisfaction of the needs. Retrieved 1 December 2021, from https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.davidsondavie.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=362&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&docId=GALE%7CA337814761&docType=Report&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZCUL&prodId=PPPC&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA337814761&searchId=R1&userGroupName=nclivedccc&inPS=true.

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