Where does need collide?

In psychology a need is a fundamental requirement whose satisfaction is necessary for psychological or physical wellbeing, and whose frustration produces harm, ill health, or diminished functioning. Maslow's 1943 A theory of human motivation arranged such needs in a rising order from food and safety up to belonging and self-actualisation, while Deci and Ryan's 2000 self-determination theory narrowed the psychological ones to three, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, that every person must satisfy to grow and thrive. Here a need is a property of the individual, gauged by the wellbeing that follows when it is met or the damage that follows when it is not, and it is not a minimum target set for a whole society or a moral claim weighed against a preference.[1][2]

Unit

One requirement of the person, such as autonomy or safety, whose satisfaction supports wellbeing

Recovery means

A deprived need can be satisfied again and wellbeing restored, though chronic frustration can leave lasting harm

Measured by

Assessed through self-report scales of need satisfaction and frustration and their links to wellbeing outcomes

In development economics a basic need is a minimum requirement for a decent life, such as adequate food, clean water, shelter, sanitation, health care, and schooling, specified as a floor to be reached for every person rather than as an average income. Streeten and Burki's 1978 Basic needs: Some issues, an early statement of the basic needs approach they later set out in the 1981 book First things first, argued that development should be judged by whether these minimum requirements are met directly, not by growth in income or GDP alone. Here a need is a social target defined for a population and tracked by coverage and shortfall, and it is not a requirement of the individual psyche or a moral claim that outranks a preference.[3]

Unit

A minimum provision, such as calories, clean water, or basic health care, owed to each person

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Tracked by coverage rates and shortfalls against minimum standards for food, water, shelter, health, and schooling

In moral and political philosophy a need is a normative concept: to say a person needs something is to claim that they will be harmed, not merely disappointed, if they go without it, so needs are held to generate stronger moral claims than mere wants or desires. Wiggins and Dermen's 1987 Needs, need, needing marked off what a person needs from what they merely want by asking what they cannot do without and what serious harm would follow, grounding needs-based theories of justice and of fair distribution. Here a need is a reason that binds others and ranks competing claims, argued for rather than measured, and it is not a wellbeing requirement studied in the individual or a coverage target set for development.[4]

Unit

A claim that binds others, ranked above a mere want because going without brings harm

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Argued conceptually by testing whether going without would cause serious harm rather than disappointment