Arrange the following according to Maslow's hierarchical structure of needs.…

Concept: Maslow's hierarchy of needs arranges human motives as a ladder: the most basic deficiency needs sit at the base, and growth (being) needs sit above them. A level becomes the dominant motivator only once the levels below it are reasonably satisfied. In the expanded seven-stage formulation the ladder runs physiological → safety → love and belongingness → esteem → cognitive → aesthetic → self-actualisation.

Application: Place the five needs named in the item on that ladder, from the base upwards:

1. E — Physiological. Survival requirements such as food, water, sleep and shelter; the base of the pyramid.

2. B — Safety. Security, stability, order, protection from harm and freedom from fear; the second deficiency level.

3. A — Esteem needs. Achievement, competence, recognition and self-respect; the highest deficiency level (it follows love and belongingness, which the item does not list).

4. D — Aesthetic. Appreciation of beauty, order, symmetry and form; a growth need that sits above the cognitive level and below the summit.

5. C — Self actualisation. Realising one’s full potential and becoming everything one is capable of being; the summit of the expanded hierarchy.

So the ascending order is E, B, A, D, C.

Cross-check:

• Deficiency needs (physiological, safety, esteem) must all precede growth needs (aesthetic, self-actualisation) — any sequence that drops a growth need below a deficiency need breaks that split.

• Self-actualisation is the summit in the expanded hierarchy, so nothing may be placed above it; aesthetic needs always sit below it, never above.

• Safety is the immediate successor of physiological needs, so no growth need may be inserted between them.

Ladder summary