Examining Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with a Clinical Focus

The Humanistic Perspective

In the middle of the 20th century, behaviorism and psychoanalytic theory helped to popularize the humanistic viewpoint. Humanism is the belief in the potential of all people and their capacity for change. The notion that the majority of human traits, both mental and physical, are predetermined at conception is known as biological determinism, and it is rejected by humanism. Focusing on human development, the humanistic viewpoint highlights each person’s innate desire for creativity and self-actualization. Furthermore, it is essential to the humanistic viewpoint since it holds that growth is seen as an ongoing process that is influenced more by a person’s social and environmental conditions than by their genetic makeup or other natural elements. Numerous renowned humanistic thinkers, like Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, have examined the use of the human viewpoint in a therapeutic setting. This guarantees a more optimistic perspective to enhance the results for patients and nurse practitioners while enabling a deeper comprehension of pain, suffering, and emotions. (Boston-Leary et al., 2024)

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Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist from the United States, investigated and concentrated on the capacity for development in healthy people. He thought that individuals work toward self-actualization and learn to accept both themselves and other people for who they are. He started to see that a lot of individuals were able to enjoy themselves and live almost guilt-free while also losing their inhibitions.

Because Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory that explains a pattern by which human motivations often arise at the next level by enabling the person to be entirely satisfied with the previous level, many people start using it to motivate action at that point. Several separate underlying systems constitute the basis of motivation in Maslow’s hierarchy of wants; certain motivations are generated and given precedence over others. (Kenrick et al., 2010) Maslow’s ideas have also made a significant contribution to our comprehension of the self. Individuals may progress through the five phases of Maslow’s hierarchy of requirements: safety, self-actualization, love and belonging, esteem, and physiological needs. These five phases reflect a person’s development as they work to meet their most pressing requirements. 

 

Physiological Needs

Maslow identifies physiological needs—which include food, water, sleep, shelter, sex, and maintaining bodily equilibrium—as the primary physical need for human life. Physiological requirements, such as breathing, eating, drinking, or sleeping, must be met for many individuals in order to be motivated by higher level needs. As nurses exhibit stability and endurance and adjust to the changing demands of the healthcare system, many of them move away from physiological needs and safety in a healthcare context. (Hayre-Kwan et al., 2021)

 

Safety

After a person’s physiological demands are mostly addressed, the second stage—safety—begins to take over and establish itself as the dominating behavior. Financial gain, resource accumulation, and the pursuit of safe havens may all contribute to this. When that individual is content and secure, they have time to consider their desires. Personal, emotional, financial, and physical security are all necessary for safety because when physical safety is lacking because of environmental factors like war, natural disasters, family violence, childhood abuse, or institutional racism, many people may suffer from or re-experience PTSD or transgenerational trauma.

Economic safety is another instance of how environmental variables impact safety, maybe as a result of a lack of employment prospects and a financial crisis. Economic safety must show up as things like a need for work stability, grievance processes to shield individuals against unjustified power, insurance plans, savings accounts, etc. when it is not there. Because kids typically need to feel protected, children tend to be at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

 

Love & Belonging

Maslow’s hierarchy of requirements places the desire for love and belonging at the third stage. Friendship, closeness, and a sense of belonging are all necessary for love and belonging. When joining a club or organization, many individuals want to be near their friends and family. For a nurse-patient relationship to remain strong, professionals must provide affection and belonging to people who are experiencing pain-like sensations in a medical context. This will give them a positive outlook to lessen their suffering and guarantee that their needs and desires are acknowledged.(Xu et al., 2021) . Children have a particularly high desire for affection and belonging, which might take precedence over the need for safety. Children who attach to violent parents exhibit this as a detrimental problem. Inadequacies at this level of Maslow’s hierarchy, such as hospitalization, neglect, rejection, or exclusion, may negatively impact an individual’s capacity to establish and sustain emotionally meaningful connections. These bad experiences may also have a big effect on how someone develops.

 

Esteem

According to Maslow’s hierarchy, the fourth stage is esteem, which is the universal human need to be respected and accepted by others. At this point, everyone wants to be someone, thus many individuals search for peer regard, self-confidence, and esteem. As an example, someone with money may purchase a high-end watch, while someone with a brain might write, ponder, or even work a lot. This is a result of the drive to compete and achieve at the best level. However, since ego demands like status or respect are met by a vocation or pastime, many individuals will often pursue these pursuits. Since most individuals need respect, many will worry about gaining others’ regard, position, significance, and recognition. It follows that having self-respect and self-esteem is essential. However, the person’s self-esteem may be impacted by their personal improvement efforts if they do not get positive feedback. In this way, the root causes of their pain and suffering are addressed. (Carroll et al., 2025)

 

Self-Actualization

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places self-actualization at the top. Reaching the lowest levels of needs—such as having the ability to eat, sleep, feel secure, fit in with a group, and yet feel unique—is necessary for individuals to reach the greatest level of their existence. At the greatest level, we are able to relax, be creative, and accept things as they are. Even when there is no longer any pressure on particular requirements, it is still possible for any of the needs at lower levels to stay low. Self-actualization is the drive to become the best version of oneself by completing the tasks at hand. Humanistic theory defines self-actualization as a condition of self-fulfillment when individuals are able to reach their full potential in a way that is unique to them. Many people may have a highly distinct perception of or concentrate on this desire. There are several instances, such as:

• Someone who is driven to become the perfect parent
• Someone who wants to express themselves via sports
• Someone who used their skills and abilities to create art as a means of self-expression.

 

Questions of the Hierarchal Status

A fundamental basis for comprehending the relationship between drive and motivation in the context of human behavior is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As one moves up the structure, the levels that need motivation emphasize each necessity. When examining the hierarchical structure, a number of significant problems begin to surface.

The direction of advancement when a person advances both inside and across levels is the first issue. Prior to addressing higher-level requirements, Maslow first highlighted the need of meeting lower-level wants. An understanding of the differences in how different people perceive and value each fundamental need emerged from this original idea. For instance, females’ reproductive requirements could take precedence over those of other people. Meeting every need is not a prerequisite for reaching higher-level demands, according to Maslow. The attention shifts to the next level of demands after a person’s essential lower-level wants have been mostly met. A person may achieve higher-level wants, like self-actualization, before certain lower-level needs are completely satisfied.

Is there a unidirectional movement from the base of the pyramid to the summit? This is a second, related issue. Since a person’s demands in a given stage of life may be influenced by a variety of events, multidirectional mobility throughout the stages is conceivable. After being laid off, an employee who is considering raising a family—the third stage of Maslow’s hierarchy—may need to concentrate on safety, the second level. Even if this worker has created a feeling of security and safety, unemployment would affect how well the second and third levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of wants are met. Because human existence and growth are dynamic rather than static, this fluctuation is significant, and the hierarchy must account for it. Since self-actualization is the ultimate aim, the core of Maslow’s theory is that fundamental needs must be satisfied before one is inspired to pursue higher-level wants. With a positive connection, this encourages the person to evaluate each need that must be met in order to achieve self-actualization. (Taormina & Gao, 2013) People’s bodies and minds will improve and they will live better lives when they begin to incorporate Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into their daily routines.

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Injury Medical Chiropractic & Functional Medicine Clinic

We collaborate with licensed healthcare professionals who apply Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to our patients’ pain and suffering in a clinical setting. In addition to posing crucial queries to our affiliated healthcare professionals, we counsel individuals to incorporate minor adjustments into their everyday schedules and provide them a secure environment.This material is envisioned as an academic service by Dr. Alex Jimenez, D.C. Disclaimer.

 

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References

Boston-Leary, K., Alexander, G. R., & Davis, S. (2024). Leveraging Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Build Nursing’s More Inclusive Future. Nurs Adm Q, 48(1), 55-64. doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000613

Carroll, A., Collins, C., & McKenzie, J. (2025). Physician wellbeing in a national rehabilitation hospital, a qualitative study utilizing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a framework for analysis. BMC Health Serv Res, 25(1), 175. doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-12310-x

Hayre-Kwan, S., Quinn, B., Chu, T., Orr, P., & Snoke, J. (2021). Nursing and Maslow’s Hierarchy: A Health Care Pyramid Approach to Safety and Security During a Global Pandemic. Nurse Lead, 19(6), 590-595. doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2021.08.013

Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Neuberg, S. L., & Schaller, M. (2010). Renovating the Pyramid of Needs: Contemporary Extensions Built Upon Ancient Foundations. Perspect Psychol Sci, 5(3), 292-314. doi.org/10.1177/1745691610369469

Taormina, R. J., & Gao, J. H. (2013). Maslow and the motivation hierarchy: measuring satisfaction of the needs. Am J Psychol, 126(2), 155-177. doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.126.2.0155

Xu, J. X., Wu, L. X., Jiang, W., & Fan, G. H. (2021). Effect of nursing intervention based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in patients with coronary heart disease interventional surgery. World J Clin Cases, 9(33), 10189-10197. doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i33.10189

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