Needs and Wants

One of the first and most obvious things we learned was that people will naturally (and often automatically) place their attention and sensory processing power on items that they themselves feel are related to their “needs”. However, what we consciously state to be our main concerns, interests, and needs often do not match what we subconsciously crave. The students studied and reflected on the meaning behind Maslow’s hierarchy, contemplated their own wants and wishes, designed and conducted research regarding people’s self-reported feelings of the difference between needs and luxuries, conducted an in depth case study regarding perceptions of needs, and attempted to analyze their own behavior in this respect by studying their own spending habits.