GC Psychological Health and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Discussion

Please watch this video.  Posts your thoughts on:

1. The video you watched 

2. How this video tied into the chapter.

3. How did this make you think/re-think about the Big 5 Personality Test you took in Assessment 2?

Link

Question 3 is talking about these results:

RESULTS SUMMARY

Your results from the IPIP Big Five Factor Markers are in the table below. The table contains a raw score and also a percentile, what percent of other people who have taken this test that you score higher than.

TRAIT DESCRIPTIONSFactor IFactor II (Links to an external site.)Factor III (Links to an external site.)Factor IV (Links to an external site.)Factor V (Links to an external site.)

Factor I was labelled as Extroversion by the developers of the IPIP-BFFM. Factor I is sometimes given other names, such as Surgency or Positive Emotionality.

Individuals who score high on Factor I one are outgoing and social. Individuals who score low tend to be shut ins.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology (Links to an external site.)proposed by Abraham Maslow (Links to an external site.) in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review (Links to an external site.). (Links to an external site.) Maslow used the terms “physiological”, “safety”, “belonging” and “love”, “esteem”, “self-actualization”, and “self-transcendence” to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through. The goal of Maslow’s Theory is to attain the sixth level of stage: self-transcendent needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Links to an external site.)is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization (Links to an external site.) and self-transcendence at the top.

The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called “deficiency needs” or “d-needs”: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these “deficiency needs” are not met – with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Maslow’s theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs.

The human brain is a complex system and has parallel processes running at the same time, thus many different motivations from various levels of Maslow’s hierarchy can occur at the same time. Maslow spoke clearly about these levels and their satisfaction in terms such as “relative”, “general”, and “primarily”. Instead of stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at any given time, Maslow stated that a certain need “dominates” the human organism. Thus Maslow acknowledged the likelihood that the different levels of motivation could occur at any time in the human mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of motivation and the order in which they should be met.

SECTION 2.1 PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS

Physiological needs are the physical requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot function properly and will ultimately fail. Physiological needs are thought to be the most important; they should be met first.

Air, water, and food are metabolic (Links to an external site.) requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. (Links to an external site.) While maintaining an adequate birth rate shapes the intensity of the human sexual instinct, sexual competition (Links to an external site.)may also shape said instinct.

SECTION 2.2 SAFETY NEEDS

Once a person’s physiological needs are relatively satisfied, his/her safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety – due to war, natural disaster, family violence (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.)childhood abuse, (Links to an external site.) etc. – people may (re-)experience (Links to an external site.)post-traumatic stress disorder<span class=”screenreader-only” style=”box-sizing: border-box;”><span>&nbsp;</span>(Links to an external site.)</span>’>post-traumatic stress disorder (Links to an external site.) or (Links to an external site.)transgenerational trauma (Links to an external site.). In the absence of economic safety – due to economic crisis and lack of work opportunities – these safety needs manifest themselves in ways such as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings ac (Links to an external site.)counts, insurance policies, disability accommodations, etc. This level is more likely to be found in children as they generally have a greater need to feel safe.

SAFETY AND SECURITY NEEDS INCLUDE:

• Personal security
• Financial security
• Health and well-being
• Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

SECTION 2.3 SOCIAL BELONGING

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs is interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness (Links to an external site.). This need is especially strong in childhood and it can override the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this level of Maslow’s hierarchy – due to hospitalism (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.) neglect (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.) shunning (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.) ostracism (Links to an external site.), etc. – can adversely affect the individual’s ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:

• Friendships
• Intimacy
• Family

According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among their social groups, regardless whether these groups are large or small (Links to an external site.). For example, some large social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, and gangs. Some examples of small social connections include family members, intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants. Humans need to love and be loved – both sexually and non-sexually – by others. Many people become susceptible to loneliness (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.) social anxiety, (Links to an external site.) and clinical depression (Links to an external site.) in the absence of this love or belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure.

SECTION 2.4 ESTEEM

All humans have a need to feel respected; this includes the need to have self-esteem (Links to an external site.)and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People often engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition. These activities give the person a sense of contribution or value. Low self-esteem or an inferiority complex (Links to an external site.) may result from imbalances during this level in the hierarchy. People with low self-esteem often need respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame or glory. However, fame or glory will not help the person to build their self-esteem until they accept who they are internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression (Links to an external site.) can hinder the person from obtaining a higher level of self-esteem or self-respect. Most people have a need for stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs: a “lower” version and a “higher” version. The “lower” version of esteem is the need for respect from others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The “higher” version manifests itself as the need for self-respect. For example, the person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence (Links to an external site.), independence, and freedom. This “higher” version takes precedence over the “lower” version because it relies on an inner competence established through experience. Deprivation of these needs may lead to an inferiority complex, weakness, and helplessness.

Maslow states that while he originally thought the needs of humans had strict guidelines, the “hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated”. This means that esteem and the subsequent levels are not strictly separated; instead, the levels are closely related.

SECTION 2.5 SELF-ACTUALIZATION

“What a man can be, he must be.”[ This quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need refers to what a person’s full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions. As previously mentioned, Maslow believed that to understand this level of need, the person must not only achieve the previous needs, but master them.

SECTION 2.6 SELF-TRANSCENDENCE

In his later years, Abraham Maslow explored a further dimension of needs, while criticizing his own vision on self-actualization. The self only finds its actualization in giving itself to some higher goal outside oneself, in altruism and spirituality, which is essentially the desire to reach infinite. “Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos (Links to an external site.)” (Farther Reaches of Human Nature, New York 1971, p. 269).

SECTION 2.7 MENTAL HEALTH

According to the World Health Organization (Links to an external site.) (WHO), mental health includes “subjective wellbeing, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and self-actualization of one’s intellectual and emotional potential, among others.” The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the realization of their abilities, coping with normal stresses of life, productive work and contribution to their community. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how “mental health” is defined. A widely accepted definition of health by mental health specialists is psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud’ (Links to an external site.)s definition: the capacity “to work and to love”.

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ARE PREVALENT AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Mental health issues are a leading impediment to academic success among college students. Untreated mental illness in the college student population — including depression, anxiety and eating disorders — is associated with lower GPA and higher probability of dropping out of school. Treatment is effective and available yet because of an unnecessary shame surrounding these issues, mental health is not discussed and too many students are suffering in silence

• An estimated 26 percent of Americans ages 18 and older – or about 1 in 4 adults – live with a diagnosable mental health disorder.
• Half of all serious adult psychiatric illnesses – including major depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse – start by 14 years of age. Three-fourths of them are present by 25 years of age.
• Compared to older adults, the 18-24 year old age group shows the lowest rate of help-seeking.

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IMPACT STUDENTS‘ ABILITY TO SUCCEED:

• Almost one third of all college students report having felt so depressed that they had trouble functioning.
• Mental health issues in the college student population, such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, are associated with lower GPA and higher probability of dropping out of college.
• More than 80 percent of college students felt overwhelmed by all they had to do in the past year and 45 percent have felt things were hopeless.

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES CAN BE DEADLY:

• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among college students, claiming the lives of 1,100 students each year.
• 67% of college students tell a friend they are feeling suicidal before telling anyone else.
• More than half of college students have had suicidal thoughts and 1 in 10 students seriously consider attempting suicide. Half of students who have suicidal thoughts never seek counseling or treatment.
• 80-90% of college students who die by suicide were not receiving help from their college counseling centers
• Emotional well-being is a term that has been used increasingly in recent decades. The implications of decreased emotional well-being are related to mental health concerns such as stress (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.)de (Links to an external site.)pression, and anxiety. These in turn can contribute to physical ill-health such as digestive disor (Links to an external site.)ders (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.)sleep disturbances (Links to an external site.), and general (Links to an external site.)lack of energy (Links to an external site.). (Links to an external site.)[1] (Links to an external site.) The profile of a person prone to emotion (Links to an external site.)al distress is usually someone with low self-esteem, pessimistic, very self-critical, etc. and people who need to constantly assert themselves through their behavior. They also tend to be afraid, overly worried about the future, and focused on the past.On the positive side, enhanced emotional well-being is seen to contribute to upward spirals in increasing coping ability (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.) self-esteem (Links to an external site.), performance (Links to an external site.) and productivity (Links to an external site.)at work, and even longevity. Thoughts determine feelings, and thoughts are nothing more than firings of neurons. And those feelings that thoughts generate make the body release extremely addicting substances like adrenaline and cortisol. Like with any other addiction, the need to continually feed off these addicting substances tends to make the body think and feel in a certain way. When someone decides to disengage from these emotional addictions, he/she must learn to think differently.Emotions and feelings are part of every step a person takes. A person must learn how to manage himself/herself in order to reach the maximum potential in all aspects of life. Good emotional health leads to better physical health, prevents diseases, and makes it possible to enjoy life and be happier. In this way you can become a “medicine person” through mirror neurons, those that lead to empathy and fire to imitate the emotions of others. Mirror neurons are what make you feel good when you’re with someone who is positive, cheerful and motivational. At the other extreme are the so-called “toxic people”, who make others around them feel bad.

SECTION 2.9 SPIRITUAL HEALTHThe spiritual dimension is understood to imply a phenomenon that is not material in nature, but belongs to the realm of ideas, beliefs, values and ethics that have arisen in the minds and conscience of human beings, particularly ennobling ideas. Ennobling ideas have given rise to health ideals, which have led to a practical strategy for Health for All that aims at attaining a goal that has both a material and non-material component. If the material component of the strategy can be provided to people, the non-material or spiritual one is something that has to arise within people and communities in keeping with their social and cultural patterns. The spiritual dimension plays a great role in motivating people’s achievement in all aspects of life. [7]

SECTION 2.10 SOCIAL HEALTHThe capacity for an individual to develop and flourish is deeply influenced by immediate social surroundings – including their opportunity to engage positively with family members, friends or colleagues, and earn a living for themselves and their families – and also by the socioeconomic circumstances in which said individual find himself/herself. Restricted or lost opportunities to gain an education and income are especially pertinent socio-economic factors.Psychoneuroimmunology is defined as the examination of the interactions among psychological, behavioral, and social factors with immunological and neuroendocrine outcomes. It is now well established that psychological factors, especially chronic stress, can lead to impairments in immune system function in both the young and older adults. In several studies of older adults, those who are providing care for a relative with dementia report high levels of stress and exhibit significant impairments in immune system functioning when compared with non-caregivers. Stress-induced changes in the immune system may affect a number of outcomes, including slowing the wound healing process and increasing susceptibility to infections.

INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOODThere is a strong body of evidence to show the importance of attachment by neonates to their mothers or other primary caregivers for subsequent social and emotional development. Separation from the primary caregiver – due for example to parental absence or rejection – leads to anxiety, stress and insecurity. Post-natal depression among new mothers can likewise contribute to sub-optimal attachment and development. Parents who have difficulties in bonding, have limited skills or exhibit negative attitudes place their children at increased risk of exposure to stress and behavioral problems. Other important risks to physical and cognitive development in infancy and early childhood include maltreatment and neglect (by parents and other caregivers), malnutrition and infectious or parasitic diseases.

INDIVIDUAL ATTRIBUTES AND BEHAVIORSThese relate to a person’s innate and learned ability to deal with thoughts and feelings and to manage him/herself in daily life (’emotional intelligence’). It is also the capacity to deal with the social world around by partaking in social activities, taking responsibilities or respecting the views of others (‘social intelligence’). An individual’s mental health state can also be influenced by genetic and biological factors; that is, determinants that persons are born or endowed with, including chromosomal abnormalities (e.g. Down’s syndrome) and intellectual disability caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol or oxygen deprivation at birth.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCESThe capacity for people to develop and flourish is deeply influenced by their immediate social surroundings – including their opportunity to engage positively with family members, friends or colleagues, and earn a living for themselves and their families – and also by the socioeconomic circumstances in which they find themselves. Restricted or lost opportunities to gain an education and income are especially pertinent socio-economic factors.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORSThe wider sociocultural and geopolitical environment in which people live can also affect an individual’s, household’s or community’s mental health status, including levels of access to basic commodities and services (water, essential health services, the rule of law), exposure to predominating cultural beliefs, attitudes or practices, as well as by social and economic policies formed at the national level; for example, the on-going global financial crisis is expected to have significant mental health consequences, including increased rates of suicide and harmful alcohol use. Discrimination, social or gender inequality and conflict are examples of adverse structural determinants of mental well-being.

PERSONALITYPersonality measures turn out to be good predictors of your health, your sexual promiscuity, your likelihood of divorce, how happy you typically are—even your taste in paintings. Personality is a much better predictor of these things than social class or age. The origin of these differences is in part innate. That is to say, when people are adopted at birth and brought up by new families, their personalities are more similar to their blood relatives than to the ones they grew up with. The differences begin to emerge early in life and are surprisingly stable across the decades. This is not to say that people cannot change, but major change is the exception rather than the rule. Personality differences tend to manifest themselves through the quick, gut-feeling, intuitive, and emotional systems of the human mind. The slower, rational, deliberate systems show less variation in output from person to person. Deliberate rational strategies can be used to over-ride intuitive patterns of response, and this is how people wishing to change their personalities or feelings have to go about it.So what are the major ways personalities can differ? The dominant approach is to think of the space of possible personalities as being defined by a number of dimensions. Each person can be given a location in the space by their scores on all the different dimensions. Virtually all theories agree on two of the main dimensions, though they differ on how many additional ones they recognize.Five factors

• Openness to experience: (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious). Appreciation for art, emotion, (Links to an external site.) adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, (Links to an external site.) and variety of experience. Openness reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has. It is also described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or independent and depicts a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine. High openness can be perceived as unpredictability or lack of focus. Moreover, individuals with high openness are said to pursue self-actualization specifically by seeking out in (Links to an external site.) tense, euphoric experiences. Conversely, those with low openness seek to gain fulfillm (Links to an external site.)ent through perseverance and are characterized as pragmatic and data-driven—sometimes even perceived to be dogmatic and closed-minded. Some disagreement remains about how to interpret and contextualize the openness factor.
• Conscientiousness: (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless). A tendency to be organized and dependable, show self-discipline, (Links to an external site.) act dutifully, (Links to an external site.) aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior. High conscientiousness is often perceived as stubbornness and obsession. Low conscientiousness is associated with flexibility and spontaneity, but can also appear as sloppiness and lack of reliability.
• Extraversion: (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved). Energy, positive emotions, sur (Links to an external site.)gency, assertiveness, sociability and the tendency to seek (Links to an external site.)stimulation (Links to an external site.) in the company o (Links to an external site.)f others, and talkativeness. High extraversion is often perceived as attention-seeking, and domineering. Low extraversion causes a reserved, reflective personality, which can be perceived as aloof or self-absorbed.
• Agreeableness: (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached). A tendency to be compassionate (Links to an external site.)and cooperative (Links to an external site.) rather than suspicious (Links to an external site.)and antagonistic (Links to an external site.)towards others. It is also a measure of one’s trusting and helpful nature, and whether a person is generally well-tempered or not. High agreeableness is often seen as naive or submissive. Low agreeableness personalities are often competitive or challenging people, which can be seen as argumentativeness or untrustworthiness.
• Neuroticism: (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident). The tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger (Links to an external site.), (Links to an external site.) anxiety, (Links to an external site.) depression, and (Links to an external site.) Neuroticism also refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control and is sometimes referred to by its low pole, “emotional stability (Links to an external site.)“. A high need for stability manifests itself as a stable and calm personality, but can be seen as uninspiring and unconcerned. A low need for stability causes a reactive and excitable personality, often very dynamic individuals, but they can be perceived as unstable or insecure.