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Chapter 10: Problem 11

A terrorist blows up a building in a hated foreign country. How might Maslow explain the terrorist's behavior?

Short Answer

Expert verified
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the terrorist might have had unmet needs, especially those related to safety, belonging, or esteem which led them to resort to violent action in an attempt to fulfill these needs. However, understanding terrorism fully requires consideration of various sociological, political, and psychological aspects.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a pyramid structure. It starts from the bottom with physiological needs (like food and water), safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, up to the top with self-actualization needs. These needs are generally met in order, according to Maslow.
02

Connecting unmet needs to aggressive behavior

According to Maslow's hierarchy, if basic needs are unmet, an individual may not progress to meet higher level needs. This could potential lead to feelings of aggression or engaging in violent behavior in an attempt to meet these needs. For example, if an individual feels their safety is threatened (second level of the pyramid), they may resort to aggressive behavior as a means to secure that safety. In the case of the terrorist's behavior, perceived threats to their safety, belonging, or esteem could motivate such aggressive behavior.
03

Applying the theory to the terrorist's behavior

Under these premises, the terrorist might have had unmet needs in Maslow's hierarchy, which led to aggressive behavior in attempt to meet them. This could be a perceived lack of safety or the need for belonging or esteem. The need for power or control (which can be related to esteem) might also play a role. It should however be clear, that Maslow's theory is just one way to look at the complex issue of terrorism, and multiple factors and psychological theories usually play into it.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

(a) According to Maslow, a vast hunger for power is unlikely ever to be satisfied because it is actually an unconscious substitute for such fundamental needs as love or esteem. Do you agree or disagree? Why? (b) By classifying self-actualization as the highest need (and thus the last to emerge), Maslow takes the position that discovering and fulfilling your true potentials is extremely difficult. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Is it possible for a job to be self-actualizing, yet have poor working conditions and not be esteemed by others? What would this imply about Maslow's theory?

The following statements by Maslow express significant disagreements with Freud: (a) "Growth is, in itself, a rewarding and exciting process \(\ldots .\) Given sufficient gratification, free choice, and lack of threat, [the child] renounces \(\ldots\) [the oral stage] himself. He doesn't have to be "kicked upstairs." " (b) "Healthy people welcome drive increases, and may well complain that the trouble with eating is that it kills my appetite." (c) "For the child who hasn't been loved enough, obviously the treatment of first choice [during psychotherapy] is to love him to death, to just slop it all over him." In each case, do you agree with Maslow or Freud? Why?

Give an example to support each of the following arguments by Maslow: (a) It is very difficult to recognize and satisfy our highest-level needs (metaneeds), such as the love of truth and justice, because society teaches us that material rewards are more important. (b) True self-esteem is based on real competence and significant achievement, rather than on external fame and unwarranted adulation.

Maslow argues that there is a widespread tendency to undervalue need gratifications that one has already achieved, and that this is a profound source of human unhappiness. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
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