e levels kind of like stages. As newborns, our focal point is on the physiological. Quickly, we begin to recognize that we need to be safe. After that we crave attention and affection. Later, we look for self-esteem. Under worrying conditions, or when survival is threatened we can regress to a lower need level. These things can happen on a society-wide basis as well. When society unexpectedly struggles, people begin to look for a strong leader to make things right. Maslow suggested that we should ask people for their philosophy of the future, what would their ideal life be like and get significant information as to what needs they need to cover.Self-actualization, the last level is different then the rest. Maslow used many terms to refer to this level. He has called it growth motivation being needs and self-actualization. These needs involve the continuous desire to fulfill potentials, to be the best that you can be. When lower needs are unmet, you cant fully devote yourself to fulfilling your potential. Only a small percentage of the worlds population is predominantly, self-actualizing. By self-actualization Maslow means people he called self-actualizers. He picked out a group of people, some historical figures, and some people he knew, whom he feltclearly met the criteria of self-actualization. Some people that were in this group were people like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, William James, and others. He then looked at their work, from these sources; he developed a list of traits that seemed typical of these people, opposite to everyone else.These people were reality-centered, which means they could tell the difference from what was fake and dishonest from what was real and genuine. They were problem-centered, meaning they treated lifes difficulties as problems demanding solutions. They had a different perception of means and ends. They felt that the ends dont necessarily justi...
