Understanding the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Financial Needs Story

If you took an introductory psychology or marketing course, you probably learned about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which explains how human motivation impacts our lives.

Maslow’s theory applies to many disciplines, including education, businesses, and marketing where motivation training can lift individuals to their highest potential.

I was a psychology major at college, and recall the professor telling us that we would never reach our potential, and few we knew, would.

That piqued my interest and remained so to this day. Marketers use the hierarchy of needs to understand a customer’s psyche to evaluate their motivations when they shop for things they need or want.

We will discuss each level, applying them to our financial needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is typically represented by a pyramid though he did not create it. The pyramid looks like this:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: The Pyramid

Maslow studied human motivation using the hierarchy of needs of five categories. starting at the first level of physiological conditions in order of priority by satisfying the lowest level before moving up to the next level until we may get the pinnacle of achievement of self-actualization.

Rising To Self-Actualization

This hierarchy ranges from more concrete physical needs such as food and water, rising to emotional needs, and to more abstract concepts such as personal growth and self-fulfillment.

What Is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Financial Needs?

Like most living things, humans are motivated first and foremost by our survival. It would be hard to excel at anything else without satisfying our living needs. At the bottom of the pyramid is the lowest level that applies to our physiological needs to survive life.

1. Physiological Needs

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