What are the fundamental forces that drive human behavior? A group of
evolutionary thinkers offer an answer by revising one of psychology's
most familiar images.
Abraham Maslow's
<http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs.asp>Pyramid
of Needs is one of the iconic images of psychology. The simple
diagram, first introduced in the 1940s, spells out the underlying
motivations that drive our day-to-day behavior and points the way to
a more meaningful life. It is elegant, approachable and uplifting.
But is it also out of date?
That's the argument of a team of evolutionary psychologists led by
<http://kenrick.socialpsychology.org/>Douglas Kenrick of Arizona
State University. In the latest issue of the journal Perspectives on
Psychological Science, they propose a revised pyramid, one informed
by recent research defining our deep biological
<http://pps.sagepub.com/content/5/3/292.abstract>drives.
Their new formulation is intellectually stimulating, but emotionally
deflating. "Self-actualization," the noble-sounding top layer of
Maslow's hierarchy, in their model has not only been dethroned, it
has been relegated to footnote status. It has been replaced at the
top with a more mundane motivation Maslow didn't even mention: "Parenting."
<http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/maslows-pyramid-gets-a-makeover-17782/>Link
