Constitutional Rights And Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

Designed in the style of a pyramid, this hierarchy has five basic layers. These include physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization.

Out of these, the first four layers are known as the deficiency needs. The individual does not feel their value when these values are met, but becomes anxious when he is deprived of even one of these. Physiological needs include air, water, food, sex, constant body temperature, drinking, eating, sleeping, shelter, warmth and almost everything that is required to maintain the physiological balance of an individual.

Second layer is the safety and security needs that come after the physiological needs are satisfied. Here, an individual will be more concerned towards finding safe circumstances and places that are required to alleviate one’s fears and anxieties.

Third layer is the love and belonging needs. Once an individual becomes secure, he then begins to worry about relationship and their needs. These include the desire to marry, have a family, become a member of a church, doing social service, and building affectionate relationships in the community, a feeling also described as social anxiety.

Fourth in the pyramid is the esteem needs. Self-esteem of an individual comes into picture when all the other needs at the bottom are satisfied. There are two types of self-esteem, a lower and a higher. Lower self esteem includes a feeling of respecting others, requirement of status, glory, fame, recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity and dominance. Higher self-esteem includes being respected by others and feelings like confidence, competence, achievement and independence.

The last layer in the pyramid is the self-actualization. Self-conceptualization needs arise when all the above needs are fulfilled. Self-actualization can be described as the acts that provide a positive sense of motivation in an individual. These are the needs that must be fulfilled to make a person’s birth fulfilled. These are the values that make an individual a human. Some of these include acceptance of self, spontaneity, problem-centered behavior, autonomy, oneness with humanity, wholeness, sense of unity, perfection, justice to everybody, simplicity, self-sufficiency, goodness, uniqueness, truthfulness and a clear perception of reality.

Maslow’s theory is good description about the qualities that form the constitutional rights of an individual.