Introduction
Abraham Maslow is credited with research on the hierarchy of needs that contains five components: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. For human beings to attain their potential as outlined within Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, they must become interdisciplinary (Navy, 2020). Disciplines such as humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, biology, art, and creativity are crucial to human survival and the fulfillment. This is essay is an analysis of the needs outlined by Maslow through various disciplines. The need for human beings to become interdisciplinary and embrace different quotas of learning is indispensable in the path to self-actualization.
The Interdisciplinary Nature of Needs
Basic Needs
Basic/physiologic needs are the most crucial of all human needs and are essential for survival and the enjoyment of the other needs in the pyramid. Physiologic needs include food, water, breathing, shelter, clothing, and sleep. They are needed to ensure that man is alive, healthy, and physiologically active to perform their other roles. Biology is a crucial discipline that deals with living organisms such as plants and animals (Bowen, 2021). It outlines the crucial nature of the basic needs listed above and provides that food is the fuel that keeps the human body running. It summarizes the role of sleep in ensuring that the human brain is rested and can carry out its normal functions including controlling the actions of the rest of the body.
Humanities contain information about the necessity of basic human needs through the declaration of human rights and various international organizations that provide food, shelter, and clothing as basic needs (Bakar & Osman, 2021). I agree with the positioning of needs such as food and shelter as crucial needs because with their absence humans cannot aspire to meet other needs. I believe the understanding of these needs as vital requirements for survival is a major catalyst in the making of structures that ensure people are not lacking.
Safety Needs
Safety needs comprise the second level of Maslow’s hierarchy of requirements. These necessities include health, employment, property, family, and social stability. These needs are vital for ensuring that human beings achieve self-sustenance and live meaningful lives with connections to other people. Health is required for ensuring that humans can carry out various activities in comfort while employment ensures they can secure a living. Property ownership ensures that people can live in comfort while making sizeable investments. Family offers one a sense of belonging, ensuring they do not experience loneliness.
Social sciences and humanities are vital disciplines in the understanding of safety needs. social sciences offer a breakdown into the role of the government in ensuring that children have families through the adoption department hence belonging (Bowen, 2021). The government also regulates the department of marriages, ensuring that people find partners and is the foundation of the family unit. The employment agencies provided by the government also ensure that people have jobs. Humanities related to religious institutions ensure social stability is assured. Natural sciences cover essentials such as land which encompasses a vital part of property ownership. I adore the recent developments where humans have given greater appreciation to social connections. This is the right direction and can be bettered through increased education in disciplines such as social sciences and humanities.
Love and Belonging Needs
Love and belonging needs are the third level of the hierarchy and include friendship, family, intimacy, and a sense of connection. These needs are not a major priority compared to the previous two. They ensure that human beings remain connected and feel loved within the small social settings that people form for themselves. Love and belonging are needs that are greatly appreciated in art and creativity, biology, social sciences, and humanities.
Research reveals that the connections humans forge in friendship and intimacy are greatly the work of hormones studied under biology. Additionally, the common practices that people within these circles forge are explored under social sciences that investigate the intricacies of human relations (Oladayo, 2021). The appreciation for art and creativity is the labor of love as the involved parties must appreciate each other through crucial gestures. Humanities cover crucial departments such as the government, legal, and religious institutions that validate the connections forged between people. I find love to be a crucial aspect of life that is often overlooked with people trying to deny their feelings (Oladayo, 2021). The joy of belonging is unrivaled and is a major motivating factor for many people to proceed with their daily lives. It confers meaning to life and should be promoted through the various disciplines.
Esteem Needs
Esteem needs come much later in life after an individual has achieved most of the mandatory needs in life and has room to desire more. They include confidence, respect of others, achievement, the need to be a unique individual. At this level, a human can comfortably survive and value how they are viewed by other people. Efforts are made by these people to ensure they engrave their names in the history books and they are remembered as people who made an impact in the world. These needs are sufficiently explored in disciplines such as biology, social sciences, and humanities (Kariuki, 2021). The careers covered under these fields are some of the most revered and contain personalities who were vital in revolutionizing the course of the world.
The need to be unique and develop self-esteem is covered under theories advanced by scholars in the social sciences and humanities. They explain the emergence of the need and explain how this feat can be achieved by those who have reached this level (Kariuki, 2021). I find esteem to be a crucial part of life and a major motivating factor in doing certain things. The thought that one can perform exemplarily in a certain field drives them into actions that better them within this field. This is essential in ensuring they make efforts that better the world as a whole. An intense study of these fields aids in the understanding of esteem needs and the desire for validation.
Self-Actualization Needs
Self-actualization needs are the final piece of the puzzle of human desires. These requirements are centered on the human need to feel good about themselves in contrast to the esteem needs that seek validation from other people. Self-actualization needs include morality, creativity, acceptance, experience purpose, meaning, and inner potential (Tripathi, 2018). The people who have attained this level are essentially comfortable with meeting their immediate needs, the positions they hold in society, and the closer relationships they have with people. These needs are covered under art and creativity, and social sciences.
Art and creativity encourage innovation into novel ways of appreciating connections and drive people to make new things that give life meaning (Tripathi, 2018). Humans appreciate art in the form of artifacts that are overlooked by people struggling with basic needs or safety requirements. Social-sciences detail that people focused on achieving self-actualization is at the peak of human life and needs. These sciences provide possible explanations for this pursuit as the exhaustion of major struggle and warn of the possibility of sinking into oblivion seeking these needs. I think self-actualization is a stage that every human should achieve during their lifetime as it represents liberty for personal pursuit, essentially allowing people to live for themselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a roadmap people should follow when satisfying their needs to ensure priorities are not overlooked. It is intricately related to many disciplines that have been studied by humans for centuries. The understanding of these disciplines is a compulsory part of human life as it provides an appreciation for their desires at a certain time. The disciplines also ensure that discoveries can be made and human life advanced. Natural sciences are generally associated with wealth creation and property ownership, a crucial safety need. Social sciences are concerned with needs that require the intervention of government and various organizations for fulfilment. Biology is vital for the basic needs that are the most important. Humanities are vital in promoting togetherness amongst humans and ensuring people coexist in harmony, fulfilling love and belonging needs. Human beings were not meant to be enslaved to one field but instead interdisciplinary. This entails an understanding of multiple disciplines that elaborate human life for the derivation of meaning out of life and the appreciation of existence. An acute observation of surroundings encourages exploration into means of ensuring people live better and love more.
References
Bakar, A. A., & Osman, M. M. (2021). Satisfaction with life and human needs fulfillment. Planning Malaysia, 19. Web.
Bowen, B. (2021). The Matrix of Human Needs: Reframing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Health, 13(05),538-563.
Kariuki, M. (2021). Relationship between self-esteem and students’ academic performance based on gender in secondary schools in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya. International Journal of Education and Research, 9(3). Web.
Navy, S. L. (2020). Theory of human motivation—Abraham Maslow. In B. Akpan & T. Kennedy (Eds.), Science education in theory and practice (pp. 17–28). Springer. Web.
Oladayo, D. D. C. (2021). Social studies and the Nigerian child: Review of Abraham Maslow ideas in dealing with problems. IJO-International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 4(07), 18-25. Web.
Tripathi, N. (2018). A valuation of Abraham Maslow’s theory of self-actualization for the enhancement of quality of life. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 9(3), 499-504. Web.