Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow a psychologist born in 1908 wanted to know what constituted positive mental health and happiness not the negative like mental illness and misery. Therefor Abraham Maslow was drawn to focus on the new movement in psychology known as the humanistic psychology. He believed that individuals possess a set of motivations to achieve certain needs and reach potentials. As needs fulfilled an individual then advances to the next more important need. One that need has been met then one could move on the even more important need and so on. A person must start with the lower level basic needs before advancing to try and tackle the higher level needs. Once one has satisfied their basic lower level needs then one could then proceed to the highest level called self-actualization. Self-actualization is reaching ones fullest potential by doing the best that could be done. Everyone is capable of reaching their self-actualization by advancing from the lower levels to the highest level of hierarchy. These hierarchy of needs are depicted in five motivational levels within a pyramid.
Starting at the lower level of the pyramid this is where you would find the basic needs of survival such as food, shelter, sleep and water then safety and security. Continuing to move upward towards the middle of the pyramid this where you would discover psychological and social needs for example intimate relationships, family, and friendships. The fourth level is where you would find more complex needs such as esteem needs for instance achievements and recognition. Then finally reaching the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the more important needs reaching your self-actualization. This is mostly criticized because it’s difficult to test scientifically. An individual must desire to grow as a person thus being able to reach their self-actualization.
Maslow didn’t use a wide range of people he rather used a biographical analysis with people he knew or even biographies and autobiographies of famous highly intelligent white men that he thought achieved self-actualization. Maslow’s theory that an individual must satisfy one level before moving on to the next more important level wasn’t