Maslow's hierarchy and social and emotional wellbeing

Abstract

Mental health, or more broadly, social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is dependent on many factors, both internal and external. The external factors such as socio economic disadvantage are fairly well documented and generally their link to SEWB are fairly easy to understand, although the degree of impact they have may be debated. The internal factors such as motivation are much more difficult to explain. One framework that is still used to explain motivation since it was first published in the 1940s is that of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Put simply this framework suggests that people are motivated by different needs that can be classified in a hierarchy with the lower level needs having to be fulfilled before the higher level needs can be. Better understanding the link between cultural disconnection and SEWB may offer clear solutions to how it can be addressed.
\nThis paper will argue that those higher level needs are closely linked to culture and that consequently any disconnection from culture can impede, if not make impossible, their attainment. If this link can be demonstrated it becomes possible to explain how the SEWB of people who have been disconnected from their culture such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is at greater risk of impairment.
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