University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In
1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that all
humans seek to fulfill a hierarchy of needs, which he
represented with a pyramid. The pyramid's base, which he
believed must come first, signified basic needs (for food, sleep
and sex, for example). Safety and security came next, in
Maslow's view, then love and belonging, then esteem and,
finally, at the pyramid's peak, a quality he called “self-
actualization.” Maslow wrote that people who have these needs
fulfilled should be happier than those who don't. In a new
study, researchers at the University of Illinois put Maslow's
ideas to the test with data from 123 countries representing
every major region of the world. “Anyone who has ever completed
a psychology class has heard of Abraham Maslow and his theory of
needs,” said University of Illinois professor emeritus of
psychology Ed Diener, who led the study. “But the nagging
question has always been: Where is the proof? Students learn th