Higher and lower needs. What is the social role of the lower human needs?

The need is a state of the body's need, manifested in the individual's dependence on the objective conditions of existence and development.

Classification of needs

In psychological science, it is customary to single out the needs of the lower and higher order. At the same time, the nature of a person's need is such that the emergence of the second category, as a rule, is impossible without satisfying the former.

For example, B.F. Lomov considered two main groups of needs:

• Basic,
• Derivatives.

The first group is aimed at material conditions and vital means, as well as cognition, communication, activities and recreation. Derived needs are divided into information, moral, aesthetic, etc.

In turn, V.G. Aseev, differentiating needs of higher order, distinguished the following types:

• Labor,
• Creative,
• Communicative (including the need for affiliation),
• Aesthetic,
• Moral,
• Cognitive.

The theory of motivation A. Maslow

The most famous in psychology is the hierarchy of needs of the American psychologist A. Maslow (the so-called Maslow pyramid, 1954). The author identifies five main stages: higher and lower needs:

• Physiological (food, sleep, etc.),
• Need for security,
• The need for love and belonging,
• The need for recognition and respect,
• The need for self-expression.

Also in some sources, this hierarchy is presented in a more detailed form: between the 4th and 5th levels, there are also cognitive and aesthetic needs.

Primary, inferior needs of man, are manifested since birth. Higher ones are formed gradually, as far as the satisfaction of the primary, in the process of development of the personality of the individual. Maslow believed that the structure and order of the formation of needs does not depend on the cultural conditions of development.

The role of lower needs in society

If cultural differences, according to Maslow, do not influence the order of formation of human needs, then the specifics of the formation of the needs themselves can not be said. It's not just about higher needs, but about the lower ones too. What is the social role of lower needs?

Unmet need stimulates the activity of the individual, forcing him to seek opportunities for its satisfaction. So, if a person is hungry, he will take action to get food (physiological need). For example, go to the store for groceries or go to a cafe, restaurant, etc. How will this affect social development? Choosing these or other products, the individual thereby increases the demand for them in the public market. If we multiply this activity by the number of all individuals in society who are potential consumers of food, then we get a full level of demand.

Thus, answering the question of what social role the lower needs are performing, we note first of all the socio-economic function. It can be realized within the framework of another basic human need, namely, in safety. For example, if you pay for treatment or when you make insurance.

On the other hand, guided by the need for security, a person can make a choice in favor of one or another candidate in political elections. For example, if a candidate promises certain benefits for certain categories of citizens or plans to allocate additional funds for combating crime, etc. In this case, considering the question of what social role the lower needs fulfill, we can talk about the socio-political function and Etc.

"Cultural" transformation of needs

In turn, the British anthropologist B. Malinowski formulates the idea that a developed society creates "cultural" answers to the biological needs of the individual. What is the social role of lower needs, according to this theory? Being the main motivators of human activity, they simultaneously become sources of social development.

Malinovsky singles out the so-called. Instrumental cultural institutions (imperatives), which are certain ("cultural") activities: education, law, development, love, etc. All of them somehow become a source of realization of biological needs in society. A significant role in this case is assigned to social institutions - such as family, education, social control, economics, belief systems, etc.

The American anthropologist develops the idea that each individual need can pass through a certain cultural transformation in society. The source of this process are traditions.

Thus, according to Malinovsky's theory, culture acts as a material and spiritual system that ensures the individual's existence and contributes to the satisfaction of his biological needs. On the other hand, culture itself is a consequence of the impact of these needs on the development process of the individual. Accordingly, speaking of the relationship between biological needs and culture, we note the bilateral nature of this process.