Maslow (MAZ-lahv)

So, about two weeks ago, a co-worker was talking to me about self-actualization, and mentioned Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs. I didn't have time, in the moment, to look it up.

Today I peeked at it. And my initial thought is: it's upside-down.

Basic needs are simple to satisfy. And as they are, it becomes more difficult to satiate everything else.

As I started to read the nitty-gritties of the theory, though, a lot of other things bugged me. ...Many of the things aren't needs, but wants. "Security of Employment" isn't a basic need, but one specific to coporate-ruled cultures (though the idea could be re-phrased to something like "social function"). I'm not sure I buy the concept of "status" as its own tier. I also found myself agreeing with the counterpoint, "Wahba and Bridwell (1976) found little evidence for the ranking of needs that Maslow described".

On the other hand, I find I strongly agree with Mazlow on one point: "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy." (Motivation and Personality, 1987)