Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs Research Paper

Happiness is something most people want to have in their lives. Some people consider happiness as something they can never attain. Others constantly strive to become happy. Happiness can be achieved in many ways, it all depends on what a person wants or needs to happen in order to be happy. Finding “happiness” is the one single element that is keeping one in nine Americans from attaining their higher needs.
Oxford Dictionary defines happy as “feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.”(Definition of Happiness in English) That is a very broad statement and could mean multiple things to many people. Some people consider living a lavish life style will make them happy. Others consider the things that make them happy as permanent solutions
The first basic level of needs is biological and physiological needs. Maslow believes that things like “air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex and sleep” (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) are things that fit in this level of needs. Maslow believed that in order to fulfill this basic level than you can then fulfill all the other levels of need. Today some people try to fulfill the fourth level of need instead of trying to fulfill their basic needs. The fourth level of needs according to Maslow is esteem needs. Esteem needs consists of “achievement, mastery, status, self-respect, self-respect from others” (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) and so forth. This is where happiness comes into play, people feel like in order to be “happy” they must have to feel like they achieved something. Conspicuous consumption is a great way to show others their status in life. By constantly buying the latest things they are showing off that they are financially stable and living a lavish life which other people cannot afford to do so. People who believe in this way of life are going against Maslow’s idea because by spending so much money on materialistic things one might not have enough money to pay their rent, or bring food to the table. By focusing on their status
By constantly spending money on materialistic things can result in a lack of money to spend on basic needs for survival. This can cause a person to struggle financially and can never allow themselves to live a better lifestyle. Another way a person who tends to live by a narrow-minded lifestyle can lead to a life of struggle is by doing this without realizing the consequences in the long run. For example, if a person wants to live their dream and become an actress will cause them to be happy with their life they will move to Los Angeles in order to make this dream come true. This could be good for the person because moving to Los Angeles allowed the person to audition for a huge role on a movie. The movie then becomes a huge hit which allows the person to get even more roles for other movies and so forth. This could also lead to a negative path. Since the person took a huge risk by moving to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams there is a huge level of uncertainty that the person will become a well renowned actress and play big roles in movies. The person could never have gotten to any roles in anything and is constantly struggling financially to provide a roof over their head and food to eat. This is why people should redefine their priorities and focus on what Maslow considers the basic levels of need in order to achieve