Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation“. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom.
This article brings out a point-of-view on the four generations and relates with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
My grandparent’s generation were motivated by one common need, the Physiological needs.
Since they lived in joint families, some of their Safety & Love/Belonging needs were taken care (with minor adjustments).
Their generation were disciplined and did fulfill their Esteem needs really well.
There was a certain struggle in securing their family’s future in terms of financial needs.
My parent’s generation witnessed a key change; scarcity of employment forced them to move out of their joint family.
While they had blessings from their elders, they had to start from the beginning. With employment, their Physiological needs were taken care.
Their key motivations were the Safety and Love/Belonging needs and were their key focus as well.
Their key achievements were imparting good education to their children and in many cases provide them with a house and savings. They did not worry about their Esteem needs.
My generation? Now, it starts getting a bit complicated! Enter the era of confusions! This generation has witnessed the previous two generations and several changes in; Society, Finance and Technology. Nuclear families has started becoming a norm. Meeting elders has become an obligation than a need. Physiological needs no longer seem relevant. While their safety needs are already taken care, they still remain a key focus area for this generation. Love/belonging has become an unstated need but there seem a vacuum in this area. Efforts to fill this also seem missing.
Technology seem to be hurting more than ever before. A desire for esteem is purely based on money and power and not on values. Interestingly, a motivation towards self actualization seem to have become a new desire for this generation. Unfortunately, there appears no clarity in achieving this. These has changed the life style and impacted the well being of this generation. Financial safety seems the only key achievement of this generation. Parenting styles are based on fears.
And most importantly, this generation seem to be forgetting the simple joys of life.
The next generation; Interesting again! To this generation, the physiological needs does not exist and they are not even aware of it. Their safety needs are pretty much covered by the previous generations. Love/belonging needs seem a certain weak area. But they are trying hard to fulfill this with the technology. Esteem and Actualization seem their key focus areas but lack a direction. There is a vacuum in guidance in these aspects as the previous generation hasn’t achieved yet.
Quality of life is the buzz word with this generation but unclear with the ways to achieve it. This generation is grown up with technology and lack patience. Giving up early seem to have become their characteristics. Privacy has become a norm. But expect a social life at the same time. This generation is ethical and could be a better if it learns from the mistakes of previous generations. They aren’t much aware of simple joys of life. Thanks to their previous generation for keeping them away from those.
Parso, Kal, Aaj aur Kal (The day before Yesterday, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow).
Author: Raghuraman Kadambi
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/day-before-yesterday-today-tomorrow-raghuraman-kadambi/
Credits (image and brief): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs