Human Needs

Manfred Max-Neef and a few others defined the Fundamental human needs, not as a hierarchy, but rather as an interconnected system of needs which are complementary and seeking to be satisfied at the same time. He offers a matrix which breaks down the Fundamental human needs into how they are displayed with in oneself (being), one's possessions (having), one's behaviors (doing) and one's surroundings (interacting). (I tried to insert it, but it wouldn't fit right.)

Henry Murray elaborated on this view of needs. He said that one's individual personality determines how strongly they desire each of the basic human needs. A few of his needs are listed in the below chart with the behaviors people take to meet their needs.

Domain	Need for...	Representative behavior
Ambition	Achievement	Overcoming obstacles
	Recognition	Describing accomplishments
	Exhibition	Attempting to shock or thrill others
Inanimate objects	Acquisition	Obtaining things
	Order	Making things neat and orderly
	Retention	Hoarding things
	Construction	Building something
Defense of status	Infavoidance	Concealing a handicap or a failing
	Defendance	Giving an explanation or excuse
	Counteraction	Retaliating for something
Human power	Dominance	Directing others' behavior
	Deference	Cooperating with or obeying someone
	Autonomy	Standing up to authority
	Contrariance	Being oppositional
	Aggression	Attacking or belittling others
	Abasement	Apologizing or confessing
	Blame avoidance	Stifling blameworthy impulses
Affection between people	Affiliation	Spending time with others
	Rejection	Snubbing others
	Nurturance	Taking case of someone
	Succorance	Being helped by another
	Play	Seeking diversion through others
Exchange of information	Cognizance	Asking questions of others
	Exposition	Delivering information to others

I think this is so interesting to me because I like how they tied the need into a behavior. That's what I'm usually most interested in. What is it exactly that motivates two people to react to identical situations in differing ways? These charts don't explain that per se, but they do offer some more insight. People have differing degrees of each of the needs, so their initial reflex is to meet the need they hold in highest regard. That's why people in a similar situation react differently: not only have they had different experiences which give different perspectives, they also gave different their goals prioritized differently, so they are searching for different results.
People are complex. This social thing is hard!