Maslow's hierarchy and social and emotional wellbeing

Abstract

Mental health, or more broadly, social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is dependent on many factors, both internal and external. The external factors such as socio economic disadvantage are fairly well documented and generally their link to SEWB are fairly easy to understand, although the degree of impact they have may be debated. The internal factors such as motivation are much more difficult to explain. One framework that is still used to explain motivation since it was first published in the 1940s is that of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Put simply this framework suggests that people are motivated by different needs that can be classified in a hierarchy with the lower level needs having to be fulfilled before the higher level needs can be. Better understanding the link between cultural disconnection and SEWB may offer clear solutions to how it can be addressed.

Full text

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Gorman, D 2010, 'Maslow's hierarchy and social and emotional wellbeing', Aboriginal and
Islander Health Worker Journal, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 27-9.
Title: Maslow's hierarchy and social and emotional wellbeing
Professor Don Gorman, RN(EndMH), DipNEd, BEd, MEd, EdD, FACMHN,
FRCNA.
Director
Centre for Rural and Remote Area Health
University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba, Qld, 4350
don.gorman@usq.edu.au
Ph (07) 4631 5456
Fx (07) 4632 5452
Abstract
Mental health, or more broadly, social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is
dependent on many factors, both internal and external. The external factors such as socio
economic disadvantage are fairly well documented and generally their link to SEWB are
fairly easy to understand, although the degree of impact they have may be debated. The
internal factors such as motivation are much more difficult to explain. One framework that
is still used to explain motivation since it was first published in the 1940s is that of
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Put simply this framework suggests that people are motivated
by different needs that can be classified in a hierarchy with the lower level needs having to
be fulfilled before the higher level needs can be. Better understanding the link between
cultural disconnection and SEWB may offer clear solutions to how it can be addressed.

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This paper will argue that those higher level needs are closely linked to culture and
that consequently any disconnection from culture can impede, if not make impossible, their
attainment. If this link can be demonstrated it becomes possible to explain how the SEWB
of people who have been disconnected from their culture such as Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Australians is at greater risk of impairment.
Keywords: Culture, Mental Health, Motivation, Needs, Social and Emotional
Wellbeing

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Maslow’s hierarchy and social and emotional wellbeing
While Maslow first reported his hierarchy of needs in the 1940s he continued to
develop it and some authors have produced what they believe to be versions that more
accurately reflect his later ideas. Table 1 shows one of these as described be Koltko-Rivera
(2006).
Maslow described the individual as an integrated and organic whole motivated by
needs that are hierarchical - unfulfilled lower needs dominate thinking and behaviour until
they are satisfied. Once satisfied, the next level dominates or is expressed in everyday life.
Only when the deficiency needs (1-4) (see Table 1) are satisfied, are individuals free to
pursue the higher needs (5-6). “Indeed, the fulfilment of the basic needs is considered a
prerequisite to such pursuit” (Zalenski and Raspa 2006).
Zalenka and Raspa’s (2006) description of the person at each level give some
indication of the increasing importance of culture to the explanation of how these needs can
be met. For example Safety needs are in part determined by law and order. What constitutes
an acceptable way of ensuring safety is defined by society and the values that underlie
those definitions are determined by cultural values and beliefs. The next level of
Belongingness and Love are achieved though affiliation with a group, a process that is very
much impacted by cultural values and beliefs about what is acceptable to the group.
Individuals function within established norms of performance rules of inclusion and
exclusion. The next level of Esteem needs are achieved though recognition or achievement,
both of which can only be attained through meeting, or exceeding, the expectations of

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society; expectations based on the values and beliefs determined by culture. When we look
at the higher level needs of Self actualization and Self-transcendence the importance of
culture becomes even greater. These entail the individual maximizing their unique potential
in life. It is culture that determines what an individuals’ potential is or rather what is
considered to be a potential worthy of attainment. At this level the cultural demands which
must be met to demonstrate achievement are at their most rigorous. “Living at this level can
lead to peak experiences and even transcendence - the experience of deep connection with
others, nature, or God, and the perception of beauty, truth, goodness, and the sacred in the
world” (Zalenski and Raspa 2006). Culture plays a central part in determining what all of
these things are.
The term “social and emotional wellbeing” has been used in Australia since the
1980s. The term has encouraged people to take a more holistic view of mental health by
incorporating broader socio-historical and personal choices (Garvey 2008). It incorporates
mental health, defined by Garvey (2008) as “a state of emotional and social wellbeing in
which individuals can cope with the normal stresses of life and achieve their potential. In
such a state, individuals may also contribute to community life, and engage in positive and
beneficial relationships with others”.
It can be seen that there is a relationship between these definitions and Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs and it can be argued that the level of SEWB of an individual
corresponds to the level of needs achieved on Maslow’s hierarchy. To achieve a higher
level of SEWB, one must be able to fulfil lower level one’s needs. This means more than
just the survival needs but includes the higher level needs. Whilst it is not necessary to

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remain in a constant state of self-actualisation it is necessary to be able to achieve it at
times; to know that it is possible to reach one’s potential. If this is not possible then the
maximum level of SEWB that can be achieved will be correspondingly lower. Table 2
indicates the characteristics associated with each level of SEWB that relate to having met
the needs of the corresponding level in Maslow’s hierarchy.
What is culture for the individual?
Culture defines the beliefs, behaviours, sanctions, values and goals that mark the
way of life of a group of people. It includes for example language, values, rituals or
expectations for behaviour, social controls, what we eat and how we communicate. It
provides the context within which we view the world and make decisions about how we
will live. Significantly it enables us to develop our self identity, defining who we are and
what our role is (Gorman and Best 2005). In Freudian terms it enables us to form our
culturally enriched ego-ideals, ideals that we internalise and which are essential for
psychological health, for SEWB.
Culture determines roles, criteria against which we measure how well we fulfil
these roles, how we define ourselves as the sort of person who embodies the ideals of the
role and we then internalise these (Lear 2006). Lear explained this when he stated “[One]
needed to constitute oneself as a person for whom living up to the relevant ideals
constituted who one was...It required a steadfast commitment stretching over much of one's
life to organise one's life in relation to these ideals” (Lear 2006).

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If culture enables us to determine our roles and enables us to internalise ideals then
it also enables us to make judgements about what behaviour are appropriate and what are
not. When we contemplate behaviours that we have internalised as inappropriate we
experience the emotion of shame. This enables us to self regulate our behaviour. Whilst
initially shame may have been inculcated as a result of the reactions to our behaviour by
other people, especially by parents, once these values are internalised they don't require the
presence of another to make us experience shame (Lear 2006).
What is the impact of cultural disconnection on social &
emotional wellbeing?
If culture provides the context within which we define ourselves, and defines the
needs that motivate us, needs which progress through a hierarchy to self actualization and
self-transcendence, then it stands to reason that someone who has been disconnected from
their culture will be impeded from achieving those needs. As the relevance of culture to
needs becomes greater the higher up the hierarchy we go then people who have been
disconnected from their culture are likely to be constrained to the lower levels of
motivation. At its extreme this would mean they would find it difficult to go beyond the
first level of survival needs because little else would have any meaning without the context
that culture provides.
Jonathan Lear in his book “Radical Hope: Ethics in the face of cultural devastation”
explains how acts that previously had higher meaning in the light of cultural values and
beliefs could become relegated to meeting lower level survival needs. He describes how for

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the Crow people, when they were forced to give up their hunting and warrior existence to
live on a reservation, not only lost those activities which were central to what defined them
as people but other acts such as the preparation of a meal were relegated from preparing a
husband to be a great warrior to simply providing sustenance (Lear 2006). According to
Lear “All acts are located in the larger scheme of purposefulness” (2006). If the larger
scheme is destroyed the actor loses this larger purpose. “For an act is not constituted merely
by the physical movements of the actor: it gains its identity via its location in a conceptual
world, and it is the world which has broken down”(Lear 2006).
Lear uses the example of a chess piece to demonstrate how the devastation of a
culture can remove the conceptual context in which we define our very identity. If a chess
piece were person with an understanding of identity, rules and goals created by the world of
chess, then if the owners of the chess set stopped playing chess, that piece wouldn’t simply
have lost its way of life but it would no longer have the concepts with which to understand
itself or the world (Lear 2006).
Referring again to the Crow peoples, Lear argues that when their way of life was
destroyed so was the end or goal - the Telos - of that life. Not only were they unable to
pursue happiness in the traditional ways, their very concept of what happiness was could no
longer be lived. They had lost the concepts with which their happiness had been understood
(Lear 2006).
There is also an obvious impact on peoples’ behaviour. In the absence of a culture
to help define the ideals and the appropriate versus inappropriate behaviours it becomes

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difficult for an individual to know how to behave or when to experience shame. This could
result in socially unacceptable behaviour or an inappropriate sense of shame.
Implications for the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Australians
It is well established that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
experience considerable disadvantage compared to non Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians in areas such as educational attainment, labour force participation,
unemployment, homeownership, income, incarceration, housing and homelessness and
health status (Pink and Allbon 2008). Despite ongoing government projects attempting to
address all of these areas of disadvantaged, there has only been a slight improvement in
some areas.
It could be argued that a factor contributing to this lack of success is the cultural
dislocation that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have experienced as a
result of colonisation. Hunter (1993) discussed at length the impact of rapid social and
ecological change on Aboriginal cultures brought about by colonisation. In particular he
relates this to the possible effects on the construction of identity.
The impact of this dislocation on people's ability to meet their higher level needs
may well create a barrier for them participating in programs aimed at addressing their
disadvantage. If there cultural dislocation means that they are unable to define and
recognise their higher level needs, then programs aimed, for example, at increasing their
participation in education, will not be perceived as relevant to their needs. People are

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motivated to participate in activities that they perceive as helping them to meet their needs.
If education is not perceived as meeting a need, then there will be little motivation to strive
for a higher level of education.
Exploring the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians from this
framework may facilitate the development of a different and possibly more effective
approach to closing the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and
Non Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
Conclusion
This paper has proposed a link between culture and SEWB, arguing that when
people are dislocated from their culture their ability to satisfy their needs is consequently
impaired. If this link will open in a is accepted then it is possible to suggest that this could
be a critical factor explaining the problems found by Indigenous groups who have had their
cultural connections partly or completely severed. If these groups are unable to identify, let
alone meet, the higher level needs as proposed by Maslow, then their ability to achieve
social and emotional wellbeing are equally impaired. This could explain the failure of many
programs aimed at improving SEWB, especially those that concentrate on specific areas
such the individual’s health as opposed to those that work with communities to increase
their capacity as a community and in particular that strengthen their cohesiveness and
resilience.

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References
Garvey, D. (2008). "A review of the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous
Australian peoples – considerations, challenges and opportunities." Retrieved
02/06/09, from http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/sewb_review.
Gorman, D. and O. Best (2005). Multicultural issues in health. Living with illness:
Psychosocial challenges for nursing. C. Rogers-Clark, K. Martin-McDonald and
A. McCarthy. Sydney, Elsevier: 70-82.
Hunter, E. (1993). Aboriginal health and history: Power and prejudice in remote
Australia. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2006). "Rediscovering the later version of Maslow's hierarchy of
needs: Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and
unification." Review of General Psychology 10(4): 302-317.
Lear, J. (2006). Radical Hope: Ethics in the face of cultural devastation. Cambridge,
Harvard University Press.
Pink, B. and P. Allbon (2008). The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and
Torres Straint Islander Peoples 2008. Canberra, Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Zalenski, R. J. and R. Raspa (2006). "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A Framework for
Achieving Human Potential in Hospice." Journal of Palliative Medicine 9(5):
1120-1127.

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Tables
Table 1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Motivational level
Description of person at this level
6
Self-transcendence
Seeks to further a cause beyond the self and to
experience a communion beyond the boundaries
of the self through peak experience
5
Self-actualization
Seeks fulfilment of personal potential.
4
Esteem needs
Seeks esteem through recognition or achievement.
3
Belongingness and love needs
Seeks affiliation with a group.
2
Safety needs
Seeks security through order and law.
1
Physiological (survival) needs
Seeks to obtain the basic necessities of life.

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Table 2 Comparison of Motivational Level, Description of the Person, and Characteristics
of the SEWB level
Motivational level
Description of person at this
level
Characteristics of person
at this level of SEWB
6. Self-
transcendence
Seeks to further a cause
beyond the self and to
experience a communion
beyond the boundaries of the
self through peak experience
Is concerned about others
and strives to contribute to
the good of the community
either locally or more
globally
5. Self-
actualization
Seeks fulfilment of personal
potential.
Has a sense of their ability
to achieve further goals and
a sense of what they want to
strive for.
4. Esteem needs
Seeks esteem through
recognition or achievement.
Has a realistic positive
opinion of themselves and
their ability to gain respect
and recognition from others
3. Belongingness
and love needs
Seeks affiliation with a group.
Is confident in their
relationships or in their
ability to form caring
relationships. Is able to
identify with a group or

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groups.
2. Safety needs
Seeks security through order
and law.
Feels safe and confident that
they will not be harmed
1. Physiological
(survival) needs
Seeks to obtain the basic
necessities of life.
Has all of the survival needs
met. Feels confident that
they will continue to be met.