Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Prepping
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Prepping
When asking what order you should begin prepping, you should always consider psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I’ve hung around the dark corners of the interwebs for a long time. I can even wheeze on about remembering the days of the BBS, and how much things have changed since then.
(BBS is a Bulletin Board System- if you want to know more, you can google that and it should tell you).
One of the consistent themes I have seen in emergency preparedness and survival forums is people asking some variant of “Where do I even start?” followed by the ever-popular “What do I want to do first out of all the things?”
The answer involves a hierarchy developed by the guy who coined “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” – Abraham Maslow. If you have dealt with College Psychology, you may already know the answer to the theory of human motivation, but I hope the article will still do you some good.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Pyschologist Abraham Maslow
Maslow’s theory figured that humans have a bunch of needs- no duh- that exist in ever-increasing ranks, with things like air and breathing at the foundation, all the way up to the importance of creative activities. He ranked these human needs based on how they are all important for humans to be healthy, (for a given value of healthy) with the most pressing and immediate things on the bottom.
The way I see it, this is a perfect representation of what a prepper should focus on, and where they should start.
The ranking goes something like this- there are a couple of variations that have popped up over the years, but for my use, this version will do:
Physiological Needs – Most Urgent Level
At the bottom of the human needs pyramid, we have the most urgent needs – Physiological needs. These include the most basic of all basic human needs.
- Air
- Food
- Water
- Warmth
- Rest
This is what a lot of emergency preparedness products focus on, with forums, blogs, etc following the same formula. This is why so many bloggers seem to focus on the nifty gizmo fire starter, or the water filter that will take out radiation and viruses, or even the emergency blanket that will keep you from freezing in a massive snowstorm.
Without these basic physiological needs met, you cannot really go onto the next level in the need hierarchy- no food to eat means that in a couple of days, you will have a much harder time taking care of yourself.
Essential medications can also fall under this list, (Asthmatics having an inhaler, or a diabetic having insulin).
Self-Security and Safety Needs
The next level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is self-security and safety needs.
- Security
- Safety
This is the level that a lot of the extreme preppers stick at. The extreme preppers always seem to be worried about hordes of people coming to kill them so their human motivation is safety and security. There are reasons that you can’t ever be “fully secure”, but that is for a different article.
There is also a line to be drawn between mental/emotional security, and physical, and while both are important, and there are ways to prep for both, most people focus on physical safety without thinking about their mental or emotional state.
Psychological Needs
Abraham Maslow labeled psychological needs as the third level of basic human needs. These are commonly known as the belonging and love needs
- Intimate relationships
- Friends
- Social needs
- Sense of belongingness
This is actually an area I want to spend a fair amount of time on in the blog, since historically, having a community to fall back on in time of disaster has been one of the most effective ways of handling it.
In the past, the sheer number of groups that have survived major disasters, be they natural like an earthquake, man made like economic crashes, or some mix like a plague is almost insane. These social groups survived for one reason – because they came together in groups. The sheer capability of people working together and having ties overwhelms anything you as a person can do on your own.
On a personal note, if you have a significant other or spouse, your ability to prepare for an emergency is immensely higher with them on your side that you cannot imagine how different it is. That is one of the subjects I would like to cover, and would love to hear from my readership on this especially.
Esteem Needs
The fourth level up in Maslow’s theory of human motivation is esteem needs.
- Prestige
- Feeling of accomplishment
- Self-esteem
- Self-fulfillment
- Personal growth
Most preppers don’t actually ignore these esteem needs; they just don’t address them productively.
If you have ever seen someone talk about their food stores, or how they can take nothing but a pocket knife and live in the wilderness for three months straight, or how they have some special cabin in the woods, they are seeking to fulfill this level for themselves.
If you can address this level usefully, it can build you and others. By knowing what you need to do to accomplish this, you can make a massive difference in your ability to motivate yourself (or other human beings)in all sorts of things. Esteem needs are less urgent, but not unimportant compared to levels below, and by addressing these needs when there is not an emergency, you can be more effective when an emergency happens.
Self-Actualization
The fifth and final level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-actualization
- Achieving your full potential, including creative activities
- Knowing your motivation and personality
Something that is rarely addressed is the fact that in a long term disaster, humans will rise to the top and still do things like creating beautiful works of art and poetry, even in the middle of starvation in a prison camp.
There is something deep in the human soul that apparently is not satisfied without self-actualization and creativity so if you want to be ready for long term disasters, you will need to address this.
Hopefully, this helps to know what order of urgency your preps should be in. Next post, I want to address how much to prep.
