John E. Jones

upward to include such needs as avoidance of physical discomfort, pleasant working
environment, or more money for providing creature comforts.
The second level of the hierarchy consists of Safety needs. When the individual has
at least partially fulfilled the Basic needs, he or she will experience the tensions relating
to needs of security, orderliness, protective rules, and general risk avoidance. These
needs are often satisfied by an adequate salary, insurance policies, a good burglar alarm
system for his or her business, a doorman for the apartment building, etc.
When Safety needs have been met, the individual will become less preoccupied
with self and will endeavor to form interpersonal relationships. The relative success of
this need for Belongingness will result in feeling accepted and appreciated by others.
Thus the third level needs concern family ties, friendship, and group membership.
When an individual feels secure in relationships with others, he or she will probably
seek to gain special status within the group. This need tension will be associated with
ambition and a desire to excel. These Ego-Status needs will motivate the individual to
seek out opportunities to display competence in an effort to gain social and professional
rewards.
Because Ego-Status fulfillment is greatly dependent on the ability of others to
respond appropriately to the individual’s efforts to perform in a superior way, they are
the most difficult to fulfill satisfactorily. However, if the individual has gained
satisfaction on level four, he or she may be able to move up to level five—Self-
Actualization. At this level, the individual is concerned with personal growth and may
fulfill this need with challenges to become more creative, demands for greater
achievement, and, in general, efforts to measure up to his or her own criteria of personal
1 “Hierarchy of Needs” from MOTIVATION AND PERSONALITY, 3rd Ed., by Abraham H. Maslow, Revised by Robert Frager,
James Fadiman, Cynthia McReynolds, and Ruth Cox. Copyright, 1954, © 1987 by Harper & Row, Publisher, Inc. Copyright © 1970 by
Abraham H. Maslow. Reprinted by Permission of HarperCollins Publisher Inc.
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 3, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer