Biological (natural) needs

These are the universal primary needs of the life of the organism: the needs of nutrition and excretion, the need to expand the living space, procreation (reproduction of the family), the need for physical development, health, and communication with nature.

Obeying the call of his nature, a person is prompted to take actions aimed at the immediate satisfaction of biological needs. The biological needs of a person, remaining biological in their essence, then become truly human when they are mediated by the conditions of social life, determined by the achieved level of culture. To be in fusion with the natural and plant and animal world, with one's biological needs is a transient, temporary desire, not the essence of an expression of individual freedom, and if it is long-lasting, then it is burdened with the consciousness of one's lack of freedom. For the world of nature is not the world of man, it can become such only on the condition that man organizes this world in his own way, transforming it according to the laws of human activity.

Summarizing what has been said, we can conclude: a person is satisfied only by such communication with nature, in which traces of his self-affirmation in nature remain, that is, not virgin, but changed nature satisfies.

material needs

We call material needs in the means and conditions for satisfying biological, social and spiritual needs.

Among the variety of these needs, Marx singled out three needs: food, housing and clothing. The norm of material needs is determined by the level of development of material production existing in the country, the presence of natural resources in it, the position of a person in society, and the type of activity. The norm of material needs should provide each individual with normal conditions for his work and other activities, the comfort of life and transport, rest and recovery of health, conditions for physical and intellectual development. Taken together, material needs and ways to satisfy them determine the standard of human life.

It should be emphasized that material needs are not unlimited. They are quantified for each country, each region and each family and are expressed in such terms as “food basket”, “living wage”, etc.

Social needs

Unlike biological and material needs, social needs do not make themselves felt so persistently, they exist as a matter of course, do not prompt a person to immediately satisfy them. It would be, however, an unforgivable mistake to conclude that social needs play a secondary role in the life of man and society.

On the contrary, social needs play a decisive role in the hierarchy of needs. At the dawn of the emergence of man, in order to curb zoological individualism, people united, created a taboo on the possession of harems, jointly participated in the hunt for a wild beast, clearly understood the differences between “us” and “them”, and jointly fought against the elements of nature. Thanks to the prevalence of needs "for the other" over the needs "for oneself", a person became a person, created his own history. Being a person in society, being for society and through society is the central sphere of manifestation of the essential forces of a person, the first necessary condition for the realization of all other needs: biological, material, spiritual.

Social needs exist in an infinite variety of forms. Without trying to present all the manifestations of social needs, we will classify these groups of needs according to three criteria:

1. Needs for others

2. Needs for yourself

3. Needs with others

Needs for others are needs that express the generic essence of a person. This is the need for communication, protection of the weak. The most concentrated need "for others" is expressed in altruism - in the need to sacrifice oneself for the sake of another. The need “for others” is realized by overcoming the eternal egoistic principle “for oneself”. An example of the need "for others" is the hero of the story by Yu. Nagibin "Ivan". “It gave him much more pleasure to try for someone than for himself. Probably, this is love for people ... But gratitude did not gush out of us. Ivan was shamelessly exploited, deceived, robbed.”

Need "for yourself". The need for self-affirmation in society, self-realization, self-identification, the need to have one’s place in society, in a team, the need for power, etc. The needs “for oneself” are called social because they are inextricably linked with the needs “for others”, and only through them can be implemented. In most cases, these needs act as an allegorical expression of needs "for others". P. M. Ershov writes about this unity and interpenetration of opposites - needs “for oneself” and needs “for others”: “The existence and even “cooperation” in one person of opposite tendencies “for oneself” and “for others” is possible, while we are not talking about separate and not about deep needs, but about the means of satisfying one or another - about the needs of service and derivatives.

Needs "together with others". A group of needs expressing the motive forces of many people or society as a whole: the need for security, freedom, curbing the aggressor, the need for peace, a change in the political regime.

The peculiarities of the needs "together with others" are that they unite people to solve urgent problems of social progress. Thus, the invasion of the Nazi troops into the territory of the USSR in 1941 became a powerful stimulus for organizing a rebuff, and this need was of a universal nature. Today, the aggression of the United States and NATO countries on Yugoslavia has shaped the general need of the peoples of the world to condemn the unprovoked bombardments of Yugoslav cities, and has contributed to uniting the Yugoslav people in their determination to wage an uncompromising struggle against the aggressor.

The most respected person is a person who has a wealth of social needs and directs all the efforts of his soul to satisfy these needs.

In a broad sense, needs are defined as a source of activity and a form of communication between a living organism and the outside world.

The social needs of a person are the desires and aspirations inherent as a representative of the human race.

Humanity is a social system, outside of which the development of the individual is impossible. A person is always part of a community of people. Realizing social aspirations and desires, it develops and manifests itself as.

Belonging to a human society determines the emergence of human social needs. They are experienced as desires, drives, aspirations, brightly colored emotionally. They form the motives of activity and determine the direction of behavior, replace each other as some desires are realized and others are actualized.

Biological desires and the nature of people are expressed in the need to maintain vitality and the optimal level of functioning of the body. This is achieved by satisfying the need for something. People, like animals, have a special form of satisfying all kinds of biological needs - unconscious instincts.

The question of the nature of needs remains debatable in the scientific community. Some scientists reject the social nature of desires and drives, others ignore the biological basis.

Types of social needs

Social aspirations, desires, inclinations are conditioned by people's belonging to society and are satisfied only in it.

1. "For oneself": self-identification, self-affirmation, power, recognition.
2. "For others": altruism, gratuitous help, protection, friendship, love.
3. "Together with others": peace on Earth, justice, rights and freedoms, independence.

• Self-identification consists in the desire to be similar, similar to a particular person, image or ideal. The child identifies with the parent of the same gender and is aware of being a boy/girl. The need for self-identification is periodically updated in the process of life, when a person becomes a schoolboy, student, specialist, parent, and so on.
• Self-affirmation is necessary, and it is expressed in the realization of potential, well-deserved respect among people and the assertion by a person of himself as a professional in his favorite business. Also, many people strive for power and vocation among people for their own personal purposes, for themselves.
• Altruism is gratuitous help, even to the detriment of one's own interests, prosocial behavior. A person cares about the other individual as about himself.
• Unfortunately, selfless friendship is a rarity these days. A true friend is valuable. Friendship should be disinterested, not for the sake of profit, but because of the mutual disposition towards each other.
• Love is the strongest desire of each of us. As a special feeling and type of interpersonal relationship, it is identified with happiness. It is difficult to overestimate her. This is the reason for the creation of families and the appearance of new people on Earth. The vast majority of psychological and physical problems from unsatisfied, unrequited, unhappy love. Each of us wants to love and be loved and have a family. Love is the most powerful stimulus for personal growth, it inspires and inspires. The love of children for parents and parents for children, love between a man and a woman, for one's business, work, city, country, for all people and the whole world, for life, for oneself is the foundation for the development of a harmonious, holistic personality. When a person loves and is loved, he becomes the creator of his life. Love fills it with meaning.

Each of us on Earth has universal human social desires. All people, regardless of nationality and religion, want peace, not war; respect for their rights and freedoms, not enslavement.

Justice, morality, independence, humanity are universal values. Everyone wants them for themselves, their loved ones, humanity as a whole.

While realizing your personal aspirations and desires, you must also remember about the people around you. By harming nature and society, people harm themselves.

Classification of social needs

In psychology, several dozens of different classifications of needs have been developed. The most general classification defines two types of desires:

1. Primary or congenital:

• biological or material needs (food, water, sleep, and others);
• existential (security and confidence in the future).

2. Secondary or acquired:

• social needs (for belonging, communication, interaction, love, and others);
• prestigious (respect, self-respect);
• spiritual (self-realization, self-expression, creative activity).

The most famous classification of social needs was developed by A. Maslow and is known as the "Pyramid of Needs".

This is a hierarchy of human aspirations from the lowest to the highest:

1. physiological (food, sleep, carnal and others);
2. need for security (housing, property, stability);
3. social (love, friendship, family, belonging);
4. respect and recognition of the individual (both by other people and by oneself);
5. self-actualization (self-realization, harmony, happiness).

As can be seen, these two classifications equally define social needs as desires for love and belonging.

The Importance of Social Needs

Natural physiological and material desires are always paramount, since the possibility of survival depends on them.

The social needs of a person are assigned a secondary role, they follow the physiological ones, but are more significant for the human personality.

Examples of such significance can be observed when a person is in need, giving preference to the satisfaction of a secondary need: a student, instead of sleeping, is preparing for an exam; the mother forgets to eat when caring for the baby; a man endures physical pain, wanting to impress a woman.

A person strives for activity in society, socially useful work, establishing positive interpersonal relationships, wants to be recognized and successful in the social environment. It is necessary to satisfy these desires for successful coexistence with other people in society.

Such social needs as friendship, love, and family are of unconditional significance.

On the example of the relationship between the social need of people in love with the physiological necessity of carnal relations and with the instinct of procreation, one can understand how interdependent and connected these attractions are.

The instinct of procreation is complemented by care, tenderness, respect, mutual understanding, common interests, love arises.

Personality is not formed outside of society, without communication and interaction with people, without meeting social needs.

Examples of children raised by animals (there have been several such incidents in the history of mankind) are a vivid confirmation of the importance of love, communication, and society. Such children, having got into the human community, could not become its full-fledged members. When a person experiences only primary attractions, he becomes like an animal and actually becomes one.

The states and needs of people that arise when they need something underlie their motives. That is, it is the needs that are the source of activity of each individual. Man is a desiring being, therefore, in reality, it is unlikely that his needs will be fully satisfied. The nature of human needs is such that as soon as one need is satisfied, the next one comes first.

Maslow's pyramid of needs

Abraham Maslow's concept of needs is perhaps the most famous of all. The psychologist not only classified the needs of people, but also made an interesting assumption. Maslow noticed that each person has an individual hierarchy of needs. That is, there are basic human needs - they are also called basic, and additional.

According to the concept of a psychologist, absolutely all people on earth experience needs at all levels. Moreover, there is the following law: basic human needs are dominant. However, high-level needs can also remind of themselves and become motivators of behavior, but this happens only when the basic ones are satisfied.

The basic needs of people are those aimed at survival. At the base of Maslow's pyramid are the basic needs. Human biological needs are the most important. Next comes the need for security. Satisfying human needs for security ensures survival, as well as a sense of the constancy of living conditions.

A person feels the needs of a higher level only when he has done everything to ensure his physical well-being. The social needs of a person lie in the fact that he feels the need to unite with other people, in love and recognition. Once this need has been met, the following come to the fore. The spiritual needs of a person are self-respect, protection from loneliness, and feeling worthy of respect.

Further, at the very top of the pyramid of needs is the need to reveal one's potential, to fulfill oneself. Maslow explained such a human need for activity as a desire to become what he originally is.

Maslow assumed that this need is innate and, most importantly, common to each individual. However, at the same time, it is obvious that people are strikingly different from each other in terms of their motivation. For various reasons, not everyone manages to reach the pinnacle of necessity. Throughout life, people's needs can vary between physical and social, so they are not always aware of the needs, for example, in self-realization, because they are extremely busy satisfying lower desires.

The needs of man and society are divided into natural and unnatural. In addition, they are constantly expanding. The development of human needs occurs due to the development of society.

Thus, we can conclude that the higher the needs a person satisfies, the brighter his individuality is manifested.

Are hierarchy violations possible?

Examples of violation of the hierarchy in the satisfaction of needs are known to everyone. Probably, if the spiritual needs of a person were experienced only by those who are full and healthy, then the very concept of such needs would have long since sunk into oblivion. Therefore, the organization of needs is replete with exceptions.

Needs Satisfaction

An extremely important fact is that the satisfaction of need can never occur on the principle of "all or nothing." After all, if this were the case, then the physiological needs would be saturated once and for life, and then the transition to the social needs of a person would follow without the possibility of a return. There is no need to prove otherwise.

Biological human needs

The bottom level of Maslow's pyramid is those needs that ensure human survival. Of course, they are the most urgent and have the most powerful motivating force. In order for an individual to feel the needs of higher levels, biological needs must be satisfied at least minimally.

Needs for security and protection

This level of vital or vital needs is the need for security and protection. We can safely say that if physiological needs are closely related to the survival of the organism, then the need for security ensures its long life.

Needs for love and belonging

This is the next level of Maslow's pyramid. The need for love is closely related to the desire of the individual to avoid loneliness and be accepted into human society. When the needs at the previous two levels are satisfied, motives of this kind take a dominant position.

Almost everything in our behavior is determined by the need for love. It is important for any person to be included in a relationship, whether it be a family, a work team or something else. The baby needs love, and nothing less than the satisfaction of physical needs and the need for security.

The need for love is especially evident in the adolescent period of human development. At this time, it is the motives that grow out of this need that become leading.

Psychologists often say that typical behavioral traits appear during adolescence. For example, the main activity of a teenager is communication with peers. Also characteristic is the search for an authoritative adult - a teacher and mentor. All teenagers subconsciously strive to be different from everyone else - to stand out from the general crowd. From here comes the desire to follow fashion trends or belong to any subculture.

Need for love and acceptance in adulthood

As a person ages, love needs begin to focus on more selective and deeper relationships. Now needs push people to create families. In addition, it is not the quantity of friendships that becomes more important, but their quality and depth. It is easy to see that adults have far fewer friends than adolescents, but these friendships are necessary for the mental well-being of the individual.

Despite the large number of diverse means of communication, people in modern society are very fragmented. To date, a person does not feel part of the community, perhaps - part of a family that has three generations, but many do not even have this. In addition, children who have experienced a lack of intimacy experience fear of it later in life. On the one hand, they neurotically avoid close relationships, as they are afraid of losing themselves as a person, and on the other hand, they really need them.

Maslow identified two main types of relationships. They are not necessarily marital, but may well be friendly, between children and parents, and so on. What are the two types of love identified by Maslow?

Scarce love

This kind of love is aimed at the desire to make up for the lack of something vital. Scarce love has a definite source - it is unmet needs. The person may lack self-respect, protection, or acceptance. This kind of love is a feeling born of selfishness. It is motivated by the desire of the individual to fill his inner world. A person is not able to give anything, he only takes.

Alas, in most cases, the basis of long-term relationships, including marital ones, is precisely scarce love. The parties to such a union can live together all their lives, but much in their relationship is determined by the inner hunger of one of the participants in the couple.

Scarce love is a source of dependence, fear of losing, jealousy and constant attempts to pull the blanket over yourself, suppressing and subjugating a partner in order to tie him closer to himself.

existential love

This feeling is based on the recognition of the unconditional value of a loved one, but not for any qualities or special merits, but simply for what he is. Of course, existential love is also designed to satisfy human needs for acceptance, but its striking difference is that it does not have an element of possessiveness. The desire to take away from your neighbor what you need yourself is also not observed.

The person who is able to experience existential love does not seek to remake a partner or somehow change him, but encourages all the best qualities in him and supports the desire to grow and develop spiritually.

Maslow himself described this kind of love as a healthy relationship between people based on mutual trust, respect and admiration.

Self Esteem Needs

Despite the fact that this level of needs is designated as the need for self-esteem, Maslow divided it into two types: self-esteem and respect from other people. Although they are closely related to each other, it is often extremely difficult to separate them.

A person's need for self-respect is that he must know that he is capable of much. For example, that he will successfully cope with the tasks and requirements assigned to him, and that he feels like a full-fledged person.

If this type of need is not satisfied, then there is a feeling of weakness, dependence and inferiority. Moreover, the stronger such experiences, the less effective human activity becomes.

It should be noted that self-respect is healthy only when it is based on respect from other people, and not status in society, flattery, and so on. Only in this case, the satisfaction of such a need will contribute to psychological stability.

It is interesting that the need for self-esteem manifests itself in different ways in different periods of life. Psychologists have noticed that young people who are just starting to start a family and look for their professional niche need respect from the outside more than others.

Needs of self-actualization

The highest level in the pyramid of needs is the need for self-actualization. Abraham Maslow defined this need as the desire of a person to become what he can become. For example, musicians write music, poets compose poetry, artists draw. Why? Because they want to be themselves in this world. They need to follow their nature.

For whom is self-actualization important?

It should be noted that not only those who have some kind of talent need self-actualization. Everyone, without exception, has his own personal or creative potential. Each person has his own calling. The need for self-actualization is to find your life's work. The forms and possible ways of self-actualization are very diverse, and it is at this spiritual level of needs that the motives and behavior of people are most unique and individual.

Psychologists say that the desire to maximize self-realization is inherent in every person. However, the people Maslow called self-actualizing are very few. No more than 1% of the population. Why do those incentives that should encourage a person to activity not always work?

Maslow in his works indicated the following three reasons for such unfavorable behavior.

Firstly, a person's ignorance of his capabilities, as well as a misunderstanding of the benefits of self-improvement. In addition, there are ordinary self-doubts or fear of failure.

Secondly, the pressure of prejudice - cultural or social. That is, a person's abilities can go against the stereotypes that society imposes. For example, stereotypes of femininity and masculinity can prevent a young man from becoming a talented makeup artist or dancer, and a girl from achieving success, for example, in military affairs.

Third, the need for self-actualization can run counter to the need for security. For example, if self-realization requires a person to take risky or dangerous actions or actions that do not guarantee success.

“Recently I found out that a friend of mine tried to commit suicide. He was rescued and is now in the hospital. My friends and I think, well, what else did the kid need? Parents are rich, he is also a prominent athlete.

He didn't talk much to anyone, he was very reserved. And now it's completely silent. My grandfather says that it's just that his needs were not met, and his parents overlooked, and that this can happen to anyone. Is there a list of these needs somewhere? Anton, 14 years old.

Of course, there is truth in the fact that sometimes the unmet needs lead to the most unpredictable consequences. The case from the letter is more like depression and a mental breakdown due to mental trauma. In general, you need to be a very strong person to try to understand what your problem is and solve it.

Each person has their own needs. Someone needs to communicate with elders, in their advice, and someone is easier without guardianship. Think what do you need? What does it take to improve your life?

You must know that needs are natural and unnatural, and there is also a struggle between the body and the soul. So read carefully and draw your own conclusions.

Everyone understands the natural needs of the body. Eat, sleep, drink. Without these actions, a person will not live long. But there are still human needs. Among them, you can specify

Need for communication. Be sure to communicate with other people, be friends with the boys, be in the company of several or at least one friend.

Also, a man has a need to be recognized as a man, to respect his dignity, to be accepted as not just a creature, but as a representative of the stronger sex.

Do you want your opinion to be taken into account? This is the need for recognition.

The need for friendship with girls. This will make it easier for you to accept yourself as a man.

The need for leadership. Every man can be a leader, so you need to strive for this, educate your will and character.

The need for sexual intimacy. This is important as proof of the integrity of your nature for yourself. But more on that in a separate chapter.

The need for hope and faith in a good future. Without this, it is difficult to create plans.

The need for love, because without it every person is lonely and incomplete.

Among unnatural needs, it is worth highlighting the constant desire to be dependent on someone (for example, from parents), the need for constant loneliness (this is already a serious problem!), And the need for an object to follow.

The body also fights with the soul. He has his own needs, and not always everything that a person does is sinless. Among the commandments of Holy Scripture there is “do not indulge”, i.e. do not please your womb (body). By the way, men are much more tempted: they want easy money, and attention from girls, and relieve stress. But these are all traps for the soul. Therefore, be strong and do not become like a creature that only lives to eat and sleep. It is worth achieving something more!

More on the topic Your minimum (natural unnatural needs):

1. Dating is natural. And to refuse dating is unnatural
2. 1. The need to express in a word every phenomenon of life and the related need to express oneself.
3. If during meditation the mind wanders and other thoughts appear in it, there is nothing abnormal or unnatural in this.
4. Proactive questions have at least two consequences: they can cause a manipulative effect or lead to a formal answer.

I am glad to welcome you, dear readers! In order to maintain vital activity, a person is forced to satisfy his needs, which just push him to action and activity. And today we will consider what they are, the natural needs of a person, and how they can be realized.

general information

Remember, we discussed with you? So, there is a certain hierarchy, based on which a person seeks to initially satisfy his biological needs, and only then switches to higher and spiritual ones. Well, for example, what kind of meeting can we talk about if you really want to go to the toilet? It is this desire that will determine your behavior, if only because it ensures your existence. In general, instincts are the basis, such as the food instinct, the instinct of self-preservation and procreation.

But sometimes we are confused and unable to determine what exactly our body needs. This happens due to the substitution of basic desires, their long-term dissatisfaction, attempts to suppress, as a result of which tension arises, and then a person tries to compensate for this state, starting to realize excessively completely different desires.

I will give an example of people with food addiction, it so happened that they get used to seizing any psychological discomfort, getting pleasure from saturation and getting rid of severe anxiety a little.

The only problem is that other dreams, such as starting a family, will advance in their careers, they will not try to achieve, facing difficulties and tension, they will start to get rid of the usual way - to consume food in unlimited quantities until the level of anxiety subsides. Therefore, it is quite natural hunger or satiety, they are not able to feel and distinguish.

Kinds

organic needs

They connect us with other representatives of wildlife, because they are common, the same. They are also called vital, from the Latin word vitalis, which translates as life-giving. These include healthy sleep, timely consumption of healthy food, water, air, the ability to continue one's family. If they are not satisfied, the person will simply die.

Physiological and psychological needs

After all, communication is important for each of us, without which we will begin to degrade, which also leads to death over time. I talked about the importance of society and the ability to maintain contact with others in an article, here.

Interaction with the environment

Exchange must be present in any area, if we do not consume food, we will not have energy and the body will die. If we consume resources, but do not allocate them outside, then again the body will be poisoned and die. Even in relationships, the process of exchange is important, otherwise they will collapse.

Spiritual

If a person does not experience internal balance, is not able to live a feeling of love, or does not understand what he is doing and why, then he will not enjoy life, he may even stop taking care of himself and start ignoring biological needs, believing, for example, that he is not worthy to continue his life. genus or quality food.

And without faith in the heart it is generally very difficult to live, because it is already initially a losing position, but where does the energy come from, how to be motivated? With any slightest failure, beliefs about the impossibility of successful implementation will only be confirmed.

Self-realization

It is very important for each person to “find himself”, to learn about his capabilities and resources. Otherwise, he will not understand which side he can "fit" into society, present himself in it. After all, in the absence of a sense of usefulness, depression can develop.

Money

No matter how trite it may be, but in the modern world it is impossible to get enough and feel safe without having money. Is it possible to leave to live in eco-settlements, taiga and so on, trying to survive only thanks to the ability to get food. Money may not be the main value, but without it, we can only breathe free.

By the way, an interesting "series" about girl Alena. There you will find many practical tips on how to improve your financial literacy.

Conditions

In order to ensure the satisfaction of desire, it is necessary to take care of the conditions in which the implementation will take place. They are:

• External - that is, roughly speaking, this is a place and time. Sometimes the outcome of our activity depends on them. It's unlikely to chat with someone or buy the necessary food in the middle of the night, especially if you live far from the city.
• Internal - these are the resources on which we rely, positive or negative programs of the subconscious, which sometimes determine our activities and aspirations. As well as the level of intelligence, depending on which our personality either seeks to move forward, or it is absolutely not interested in anything but to saturate its body.

1. Never stop your development

Know that the most basic thing in managing your needs is the ability to resist temptations, withstand tension in order to maintain security. And this is impossible if you do not realize yourself why and for what purpose you are doing something.

2. Learn to motivate yourself

3. Material conditions are vital for every person

At least in order to buy medicines, clothes, food, furniture and water. And for this it is necessary to work tirelessly, being not only in search of active sources of income, but also relying on liabilities. For inspiration, read the article on passive income. By the way, it is very difficult to manipulate a person who does not feel an acute thirst for some desires, if he has everything, it is difficult to manage him, and this is an excellent motivation for active actions in order to realize his aspirations.

4. Listen to yourself and take care not only of the body, but also of the soul

After all, the quality of health directly depends on our mood. Remember, I told you what exists? So, sometimes they determine our aspirations and desires. You may want privacy, and this is normal, especially for a melancholic, you should not “break” yourself to fit in with society.

5. Fight addictions

They should not determine your behavior, and should not be confused with natural needs. There must be a measure in everything. I have already given examples when the line is violated and a person ceases to feel full, overeating and suffering from obesity. And if you notice that your condition deviates from the norm, be sure to contact a specialist. For example, in case of drowsiness, it is imperative to sound the alarm, because it is sometimes a sign of very serious diseases. More about sleepiness,.

6. Don't Ignore Your Social Aspirations

If you're having trouble communicating, be sure to try to fix the situation. In order to have close relationships, a family, you move up the career ladder - it is very important to develop communication skills.

Conclusion

And that’s all for today, dear readers! Be attentive to yourself, take care of the quality of your life in order to maintain its necessary level for a feeling of comfort and satisfaction. And do not forget to subscribe to the blog to always be aware of new and useful information about self-development, which I post especially for you.