How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs applies to children %%sep%% %%sitename%%

The initial years of a&nbsp;child's&nbsp;life are very&nbsp;important&nbsp;for his or her overall health and&nbsp;development. Parents need to ensure kid’s social, emotional and educational needs are met during this phase to lay a strong foundation for the rest of their lives. But the question is what parents should do exactly to ensure healthy development among children?&nbsp;There are many theories about healthy development and how to care for young children. One of the&nbsp;models for child happens to be&nbsp;Maslow’s&nbsp;’s&nbsp;hierarchy of needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;



American humanist and psychologist Abraham Maslow&nbsp;introduced his concept of a&nbsp;hierarchy of needs&nbsp;for the first time&nbsp;in&nbsp;a 1943 paper named&nbsp;"A Theory of Human Motivation" and his subsequent book&nbsp;Motivation and Personality.&nbsp;According to this&nbsp;theory,&nbsp;human beings are born with an innate desire for self-actualization, that is,&nbsp;an inborn will to be what&nbsp;they&nbsp;want to be.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;in order to achieve this ultimate goal, quite&nbsp;a few basic needs must be fulfilled. These needs include&nbsp;food, safety, love, and self-esteem.&nbsp;



Maslow’s hierarchy of needs&nbsp;is a pyramid-like structure consisting of five key&nbsp;necessities: Physiological needs,&nbsp;Safety,&nbsp;Social needs, Esteem, Self-actualization.&nbsp;Ensuring these necessities will help your child develop and evolve.&nbsp;As a parent, you need to understand these stages of human needs. Here is a low-down on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.&nbsp;



Physiological&nbsp;needs&nbsp; All the essential things a person needs to survive comes under this category. The food we eat, The water we drink,&nbsp;the clothes we wear,&nbsp;&nbsp;the house we live in are classified as&nbsp;physiological&nbsp;needs. These needs are the most basic for any human to survive. A person's motivation at this level&nbsp;is derived&nbsp;from&nbsp;his or&nbsp;her&nbsp;instinct to survive.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Safety&nbsp;needs&nbsp; Safety or security needs emphasize a person’s necessity&nbsp;to feel safe and secure in their life and surroundings. This&nbsp;is where the&nbsp;need for law&nbsp;and&nbsp;order&nbsp;stems from.&nbsp;Safety and security have different dimensions&nbsp;to them which include&nbsp;protection&nbsp;from violent conditions,&nbsp;health threats, economic instability, so on and so forth.&nbsp;Additionally, an&nbsp;individual needs economic safety to stay competitive and thrive in modern societies. This raises the need for job security, stability income level, and savings.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Social&nbsp;needs&nbsp; This stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs&nbsp;includes&nbsp;love, acceptance, and belonging.&nbsp;These socio-emotional needs, which are&nbsp;essential&nbsp;for&nbsp;the development&nbsp;and evolution&nbsp;of kids,&nbsp;are fulfilled by relationships like friendship,&nbsp;romantic attachments, family bonding, etc.&nbsp;Love and acceptance&nbsp;are necessary to mitigate negative emotions like loneliness,&nbsp;depression and anxiety, which, unfortunately, is a reality among children nowadays. So, parents need to make sure that the emotional needs of&nbsp;their kids are met through strong social connections and inter-personal relationships.&nbsp;



Esteem Needs&nbsp; An individual doesn’t only crave&nbsp;for&nbsp;love. Respect and appreciation from others&nbsp;are&nbsp;equally important&nbsp;for human beings.&nbsp;However, there is another aspect of Esteem&nbsp;Needs: Self respect. If these&nbsp;needs of any individual, including kids,&nbsp;aren’t met,&nbsp;they&nbsp;tend to develop low confidence and inferiority complex.&nbsp;Help your child accomplish his goals and encourage him to participate in group activities to have his Esteem needs met.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Self-actualization Needs&nbsp; This is the final stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.&nbsp;At this stage, a person is said to realize his or her full potential and achieve all the basic needs. The need for self-actualization can manifest in different ways, such as continued education, pursuing life dreams and seeking happiness.&nbsp;Self-actualization needs differ from a person to person. One person may strive to become the best parent while another person might aim to become a millionaire&nbsp;or a&nbsp;humanitarian. It is basically the pursuit of personal growth.&nbsp;Help your child find her calling.&nbsp;

This theory explains human motivation based on the pursuit of different levels of needs. 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Here is what parents need to know

This theory explains human motivation based on the pursuit of different levels of needs.

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