by Angelina Moore

Created on: June 29, 2008

Abraham Maslow developed the theory that all people are motivated by the same things this theory is still used in today's society. It determines how a person behaves and shows the journey a person goes through to reach self-actualization. The hierarchy of needs can be illustrated in a pyramid separated into five sections. Each stage represents a milestone a person goes through in order to reach the top which is self actualization.

The first stage in the hierarchy of needs is the physiological section. This is what people need to survive in this world; food, water, shelter, clothing and warmth.

The next stage is safety. A person needs to feel safe a secure from harm and not just for physically but mentally too. This can mean having a secure employment which guarantees a annual income substantial enough to survive on for the physiological section.

The third stage is love and belonging. People enjoy the company of others this can be from family and friends. It generally means for a person to feel accepted and loved by others.

The fourth stage is the esteem section; a person must find their self-esteem before than can move on to the fifth and final section. When a person reaches their self-esteem this means that they will become confident in themselves and generally feel good about themselves. It means that they will feel respected by others.

The fifth and final stage is self-actualization; this means that a person has achieved their goals in life.

The hierarchy of needs is used in businesses today. For example the woman's magazine industry uses the famous pyramid in order to increase their sales revenue. A magazine such as Vogue will put a beautiful woman on the front cover with headlines that promise to make other women gorgeous like the woman on the cover. A woman who has low self-esteem will buy the magazine in the hope of the magazines promises coming true. However the magazine is full of women that have unattainable beauty because they have been airbrushed this can lead a woman to go down a stage In the hierarchy of needs because she feels down that she can't acquire the look in the magazine. This causes the woman to keep buying the magazine in a bid to boost her self-esteem and so the cycle continues, meanwhile the magazine industry is increasing its sales.

To summarize the five stages in the hierarchy of needs are: -
1)Physiological
2)Safety and Security
3)Love and Belonging
4)Self-esteem
5)SELF ACTUALIZATION when a person has conquered the pyramid!

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