I have two Questions from past exam - Essay Example

The hierarchical order goes in the same sequence in which the needs have been mentioned above. Physiological needs include food, air and water etc which are the fundamental necessities of life and life is not possible without them. Then come the security needs. In order to feel secure, an individual should be financially stable. He/she should be employed, should preferably have a home, and should be provided with health and safety both in the home and at work. If the security needs are met, an individual would look for love.

He/she would prefer to have home near the workplace and would build good rapport with his/her peers at the workplace. After this, the individual would need to raise his/her self esteem. Again, self esteem requires stability. Unemployment makes an individual unstable financially and this has an adverse impact on the individual’s psychology as well. Maslow was of the view that an individual can not feel a higher level need unless all lower level needs have been adequately fulfilled. For example, unless an individual’s physiological needs have been completely met, he/she would not look for security because something more important than security has not been gained.

In the case under consideration, unemployment causes lack of security. As the individual’s security needs are not fulfilled, he/she would have low self esteem and would experience psychological distress. On the contrary, an employed person can have all of his/her four basic needs fulfilled and will feel the need to improve his/her skills and competence in work through self actualization. The philosophy presented by Maslow makes sense. Money is undoubtedly the driving factor in all areas of life.

In addition, there are several more reasons to keep an employed person psychologically healthy as compared to an unemployed person. For example, when a person is employed, he/she gets to spend a considerable portion of the day at work. This gives a considerable relief from