The Diversity and Sameness of People

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of those staples of Psychology 101 which college freshmen dutifully memorize for their final exams and then file away. Most believe that they will probably never need this information again, unless perhaps, they happen to earn a spot on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

But with all today's buzz about diversity, racism, sexism, classism, etc. Maslow's hierarchy can serve as a valuable reminder that human beings share a rather common set of characteristics and motivational goals despite the outward appearance of diversity.

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist and professor at Brandeis University from 1951 through 1969. In 1940 he first published a theory which came to be known as the hierarchy of needs. In it Maslow proposed that all human beings possess a relatively consistent set of needs that must be met according to an ordered hierarchy. According to Maslow, there are certain lower order needs which must be met before individuals will be motivated to strive to satisfy higher order needs.

At the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy, which is generally depicted as a pyramid, are the physical needs. Essentials such as oxygen, water, food, sleep and clothing form the basic lower order needs.

Next come safety and security which are achieved through acquiring adequate shelter and then perhaps stability, structure and some predictability in our daily lives.

Social needs such as love, affection and relationships comprise the next level of the pyramid, followed by the esteem needs such as self-respect and respect for others.

At the top is the need for self-actualization, the highest order need in which individuals strive to reach their highest purpose in life.

There is a great deal of debate and controversy over diversity related issues in the United States. Is diversity good or bad? Should it be encouraged and supported or should immigrants and ethnic minorities strive to assimilate and conform to the mores of "mainstream" society? Are there inherent differences in intelligence, values, and tendencies toward criminal behavior that may be directly attributable to differences in race, gender, geographic location or sexual orientation?

Or may it be that humankind is really all the same and the perceived differences are simply the result of our all being on different levels in our quest for personal advancement?

Take the physical needs, for example. We all need air to breathe; that is the first level of survival. If we can't draw oxygen into our lungs we die; period. It doesn't matter if we are male or female, black, white, Asian or Hispanic, tall or short, fat or thin, rich or poor; breathing is essential. If I'm having an asthma attack and I can't get to my inhaler do I care about how many friends I have on Facebook or whether I'm getting a promotion at work? No. I need air, immediately. In that short space of time, absolutely nothing else matters. And there is no variation; this simple fact is true for every man, woman and child on the face of planet earth, end of story.

But, once I locate that inhaler and the need for oxygen is met, well then I might start thinking, "Wow! That was close! I'm feeling a bit thirsty after that ordeal." When I satisfy that need with a nice glass of iced water, then I might want to have a snack, put on my favorite pajamas and take a nap. As my first order need is met then I can move a little further up the ladder, fulfilling higher level needs along the way.

Everyone, no matter what their background must have those first order needs met in order to survive; that is what makes us all human and basically the same at the most fundamental levels. But the challenges come because we do not all move through the process of satisfying these ordered needs at the same rate.

So, you may have minorities in the inner city or whites in rural Appalachia who are living in poverty and are unable to meet those basic needs of food, clothing and a safe, secure environment.

The middle class school teacher assigned to teach a child from such an environment may have difficulty understanding what she perceives as the child's inappropriate behavior such as fighting, stealing, or their lack of focus on academics. But, if a kid is coming to school hungry after sleeping in a home with inadequate heat and people have been shooting each other in fights over illegal drugs outside his bedroom window all night long, it is pretty unlikely that he is going to be able to focus on things like relationship and esteem needs.

A child in such a situation is on a lower need level than the teacher and he really can't skip ahead. The lower level needs are the most immediate and he won't be able to concentrate on playing nicely or on setting long term goals or working on his organizational skills until the kitchen cupboards in his home stop being empty and the gang bangers stop shooting outside his window at night.

And the sad fact is that for many African-Americans and Latinos in the inner-city and whites in poverty stricken, rural areas, those basic needs are never going to be met. So these folks are going to get stuck or "fixated" as Abraham Maslow theorized on those lower level needs. As a result, the cycle of poverty and violence continues and lack of motivation becomes self-perpetuating.

Middle and upper class people of all races, who have already met their needs for food and clothing, a safe environment and loving and affectionate relationships with family and friends will probably not be able to understand why "those people" just can't seem to "get themselves together." The upper classes seem to assume that these unfortunate individuals (and sometimes all the members of the racial, ethnic or geographic groups to which they belong) are simply lazy, intellectually inferior or worse. But the truth is that it is simply a matter of not being able to advance beyond the initial rungs on the hierarchy of needs ladder.

Politicians will continue to debate issues like social welfare programs and nationalized health care, probably for decades to come. I only wish that the conservatives who rail against "too much government" and warn that President Obama's proposed economic programs are edging the United States toward becoming a socialist state would consider this: It is very difficult to concentrate on "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" when you haven't got any boots.

References:

VanWagner, Kendra. "Self-Actualization and the Hierarchy of Needs." http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm