Physiological needsThe needs of the body: food, water, air and sleep. The paper calls them the strongest of all the needs when they are not met.
Safety needsSecurity, order and protection from danger. They come forward once the needs of the body are fairly well met.
Love and belongingFriends, family and a place in a group. The 1943 paper calls these the love needs.
Esteem needsSelf-respect and the respect of other people.
Self-actualizationBecoming everything a person is able to become. The paper gives a musician who must make music.
The two groups 2
Deficiency needsThe four lower levels together. They are felt when something is lacking.
Growth needsThe top level: a wish to grow as a person. It does not come from a lack.
How this list was compiled: Every name was read on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two of these give it. (1) A. H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review, volume 50 (1943), pages 370 to 396, read in the copy York University hosts in its Classics in the History of Psychology (section II, The Basic Needs: the physiological needs, the safety needs, the love needs, described as love and affection and belongingness needs, the esteem needs, and the need for self-actualization; the needs form a hierarchy of relative prepotency; the paper has no pyramid and no figure). (2) Wikipedia, English edition, Maslow's hierarchy of needs (five sets of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization; usually shown as a pyramid that Maslow did not draw himself; the four most fundamental layers are deficiency needs, and the hierarchy divides into deficiency needs and growth needs). (3) A study guide to the hierarchy on a psychology education site (the same five levels, the third written love and belonging needs; the first four levels are deficiency needs, which arise from deprivation, and the top level is growth or being needs, which come from a wish to grow as a person). The wording of every line is our own. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Own original chart; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
This Maslow's hierarchy of needs diagram worksheet is a blank pyramid: five levels with a numbered box beside each, and two brackets for the deficiency needs and the growth needs. Print it, or answer on screen.
Read the full guide
Read the pyramid from the base
The widest band holds the physiological needs. Above it come the safety needs, love and belonging, the esteem needs and, at the tip, self-actualization. The small picture in each band is an example of that level.
The two brackets
The long bracket marks the four lower levels, the deficiency needs. The short bracket marks the top level, the growth needs.
Where the pyramid comes from
The five names are from a paper of 1943, A Theory of Human Motivation. The paper has no pyramid; the drawing was made later by other writers.
In the 1943 paper a level does not have to be fully met before the next one appears.
Questions and answers
What are the 5 levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
From the base of the pyramid up: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem needs and self-actualization.
What is at the bottom of Maslow's pyramid?
The physiological needs: what the body requires, such as food, water, air and sleep. The 1943 paper calls them the most prepotent of all needs, which means the strongest when they are not met.
What is the difference between deficiency needs and growth needs?
The four lower levels are deficiency needs: they are felt when something is lacking. The top level, self-actualization, is a growth need: it comes from a wish to grow as a person and not from a lack.
Did Maslow draw the pyramid?
No. His 1943 paper describes a hierarchy of five sets of needs in words and has no figure. The triangle of five bands was drawn later by others.