Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in Relationships

What is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is often represented as a pyramid with five levels of needs. The four levels (lower-order needs) are considered physiological needs, while the top level of the pyramid is considered growth needs.  









What is the purpose/uses of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?

It is a motivational theory in psychology that argues people need to satisfy the basic needs (the lower levels of needs at the bottom of the pyramid) before achieving the higher needs (the higher levels of needs at the top of the pyramid). 

Important

• Unmet needs are the leading underlying factors behind most disputes and disappointments

Key takeaway

• Understand personal needs and marital needs 
• Figure out how and where to get your needs met (as it impacts the direction you take in marriage). 

Marital Hierarchy of Needs breaks down as follows:

Marriage Survival Needs: You must be legally married (in the eyes of the State or Church), have a mutual agreement to be married, live in the same house or at least have regular contact with your spouse. You don't have to love or even like your spouse to have a marriage in survival mode, you simply need to maintain your status as married.

Marriage Safety Needs: To feel safe with each other, you take care of and provide comfort to one another, create a home, have financial security, mutual trust, mutual honesty, protect one another physically, mentally and emotionally, and create an abuse-free environment within the marriage.

Marriage Love Needs: Mutual love is an obvious requirement to have a marriage that operates from this level. Kindness, compassion, companionship, intimacy, affection, sex (love-making) are also important factors here.

Marriage Esteem Needs: To reach this level, you need to have self-esteem and esteem of your spouse, mutual respect, honouring of commitments.

Marriage Actualization Needs: Because the lower needs have been met, one or both spouses can support each other to reach respective goals, each can sacrifice their own needs (to a healthy degree) for the bigger picture, they have maturity, they maintain a healthy balance in life, each feels a sense of fulfillment in life and they give back to the community.

Source
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/contemplating-divorce/200910/five-needs-every-marriage-has
https://www.learning-theories.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs.html