Testing Maslow's hierarchy of needs: National quality-of-life across time

Maslow's hierarchy-of-needs theory is used to predict development of Qualit y of Life (QOL) in countries over time. Previous data sets have not had suf ficient power to test these development trends among countries. Therefore a new database was developed that includes annual quality of life time-serie s for 88 countries from 1960 to 1994, covering measures on all five of Masl ow's need-levels. Results showed significant agreement with some of Maslow' s predictions, including his sequence of need achievement, and parts of an S-shaped trajectory in QOL. However, his mechanism of growth - that countri es must slow growth in one area to increase growth in another - was disconf irmed.