Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Survival needs (air, water, food, etc)
- Safety needs (to be secure, protected from danger)
- Belonging needs (I’ll come back to this one)
- Esteem needs (self explanatory)
- Self-actualization (to make the most of their abilities)
Belonging needs:
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, this need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure. (source = wikipedia)
Proverbs 27:7
He who is full loathes honey,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
This is the verse that comes to my mind when I think of young people who do stupid things just to fit in.
Question: have you ever worn something stupid just to belong?
Do you have any other insights into how style changes as a person moves up or down Maslow’s pyramid? I suspect we’d see alot more artistic presentation from those who are less desperate to feel included.
I am at 3 & 4, if this is a pyramid. I’ve got all these babies (*grin*), I’m in a new state, my life is completely opposite of what it was 5 years ago, and although I don’t consciously think, “If I wear this will I fit in?” I do feel a bit stifled due to my place in life. I want to get back to innovative/bohemian/ contemporary *creative* dressing, but I’ve been mostly functional since pregnancy # 2, that I’m not quite sure how to get where I want to be!
I’m at a reinventing stage, and being young with 4 kiddos, and not too many good friends, it is daunting!
Thanks for sharing, bonnie. I am getting better, more relaxed, but I am perpetually more fragile with regard to #3 than I should be. It’s becoming less of an issue with what I wear though. 🙂
I did try when I was in school (though Australia has school uniforms so not as free as the US). However my mum would never buy me anything remotely like what the other trendy girls were wearing (she didn’t think it was important). In the end, I always looked different. In self defense I then consiously tried to look different (which is better than trying to look the same and failing).
Now I am who I am and I’m happy. I wear trends occasionally, but only because they suit me, never to look like other people.
This post is right up my alley. 😉 I have never been much of a crowd follower, but in my middle school days I was guilty of wearing clothing with giant (ugly) designer labels or logos across the front because everybody else was doing it. Yuck.
Icy ~ interesting that you bring up uniforms. I always think what really shows a person’s personality is what’s unique about them when they have to wear a uniform. (If that makes any sense.)
Tessa ~ I should have asked you to write this one! 😉
uh, how about everything I wore from about 1984-1989? 😉
Midi skirts?