Eupsychian Theory I: Reclaiming Maslow and Rejecting The Pyramid – The Circle of Seven Essential Needs

Abstract
This paper argues that the popular “Pyramid of Needs” is not Maslow’s mature vision but a stripped-down, ideologically impregnated simplification. It reconstructs Maslow’s broader Eupsychian project—human flourishing at scale—and proposes a Circle of Seven Essential Needs, explicitly grounded in holistic and Indigenous-informed orientations, as a more accurate core model for development, potential, and wellbeing.

Key Points

• Critiques the pyramid as ideologically sanitized and conceptually flattening.
• Re-centers Maslow’s Eupsychian ambition: the good society enables good people.
• Proposes a Circle of Seven Essential Needs as a holistic alternative model.
• Treats flourishing as environmental and institutional: conditions matter more than slogans.

Recommended citation: Sosteric, Mike, & Ratkovic, Gina. (2026). "Eupsychian Theory I: Reclaiming Maslow and Rejecting The Pyramid – The Circle of Seven Essential Needs" *Athens Journal of Psychology*
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