Instinctoid Nature of Needs

• 1. Are innately determined
• 2. Nonsatisfaction leads to some form of pathology.
• 3. Are persistent, and their satisfaction leads to psychological health.
• 4. Are species-specific (i.e., Only humans can be motivated by esteem and self-actualization)
• 5. Can be molded, inhibited, or altered by environmental influences.
• Both higher- and lower-level needs are instinctoid.
• Maslow also called them instinctoid as they are genetically programmed into us as essential for evolutionary survival.
• Higher-level needs appear later during the course of individual development, whereas lower-level needs must be cared for in infants and children before higher-level needs become operative.
• Higher-level needs produce more happiness and more peak experiences, although satisfaction of lower-level needs may produce a degree of pleasure (hedonistic).