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Deficiency Needs Vs. Growth Needs

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Deficiency Needs Vs. Growth Needs

In the Hierarchy Of Needs, there are two distinct types of needs.

The first four levels of the pyramid are deficiency needs, and the top level is growth needs.

Deficiency Needs

Deficiency needs are concerned with basic survival.

Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and motivate people when they are unmet.

  • The motivation to fulfill such needs becomes stronger the longer they are denied.
  • For example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.

Deficiency needs are bounded, and can reach "satiation".

  • When a deficit need has been “more or less” satisfied, it will go away.
  • Eat enough food and you are no longer hungry.

[!note]- Deficiency Needs

Physiological Needs

  • Oxygen (breath)

  • Food (starvation)

  • Water (hydration)

  • Shelter/Clothing (heat, exposure)

  • Sex

  • Sleep

Safety and Security

  • Health

  • Employment

  • Property

  • Family

  • Sociability

Love and Belonging

  • Friendship

  • Family

  • Intimacy

  • Connection

Self Esteem
  • Confidence
  • Achievement
  • Respect from others (status)
  • Individuation

Growth Needs

Growth needs are unbounded. When satisfied, the desire does not go away, and may even become stronger.

  • You will never have too much purpose, meaning, or creativity in your life.

[!note]- Growth Needs

Self Actualization
  • Morality (codifying norms)
  • Creativity
  • Spontaneity
  • Acceptance
  • Purpose
  • Meaning
  • Feeling of Inner Potential

Growth Comes Last

Growth needs are only present at the top of the pyramid, and as such as usually the last to be met (only after everything else is relatively handled).

This makes sense then that they're unbounded - they're the "endgame content". Humans are beasts of burden, we always need something to do. You'll Always Have The Same Number Of Problems.

In order to meet the first four needs, so they can turn their gaze higher, Stoicism and Asceticism tend to focus on reducing the "appetite" for these needs. This is, functionally, another way to meet them. If you need half as much food to feel full, you'll reach satiation more frequently and can spend more time focusing on Growth. It's easier to fill a smaller cup.

See Also

  • Excess Energy Leads To Revolutionary Ideas