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Universal Needs Inventory

This document provides an overview of the concept of universal needs in Nonviolent Communication and presents a table listing common basic human needs. It explains that needs are resources necessary for healthy living and outlines the goal of providing a language for identifying and communicating personal needs to support self-discovery and connection with others.

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Fernanda Rute
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52 views4 pages

Universal Needs Inventory

This document provides an overview of the concept of universal needs in Nonviolent Communication and presents a table listing common basic human needs. It explains that needs are resources necessary for healthy living and outlines the goal of providing a language for identifying and communicating personal needs to support self-discovery and connection with others.

Uploaded by

Fernanda Rute
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PositivePsychology.

com | Positive Psychology Toolkit

Universal Needs Inventory

Communication Nonviolent Communication (NVC; 1983, 2003) aims to reduce forms of hostile
communication and provides a framework for developing an empathic way of
Overview
communicating with the self and with others. In essence, NVC is about communicating
n/a our needs and listening to what other people need.

Client
NVC assumes that feelings emerge from the fulfillment or lack of fulfillment of personal
No needs. Therefore, after identifying feelings present in a given moment, the next step is to
clarify which needs are satisfied and which are not.

In the four-step NVC process (see the tool “Four-Step Non-Violent Communication
Process”), the personal need of the individual is identified. According to the NVC
framework, certain “universal needs” are common to all human beings. Besides essential
requirements for physical survival, such as air, food, sleep, and the like, all human beings
across all cultures are assumed to share some basic needs (e.g., connection, autonomy,
purpose, safety, respect, etc.) to flourish and lead meaningful and fulfilling lives. This tool
provides an overview of the most common basic needs and may serve as a helpful tool for
clients to detect and communicate their needs.

Goal

The goal of this tool is to provide an overview of the most common basic needs. This
overview offers a language to communicate personal needs, and it may serve as a helpful
tool for clients who aim to identify and communicate their personal needs.

Advice
■ The following inventory of needs is neither exhaustive nor definitive. While needs are
universal, the words in this inventory are simply words, and different people may use
different words to convey a perceived need.
■ The practitioner needs to realize that the expression of needs is not a science but art
that clients cultivate for themselves. As clients develop their vocabulary of needs, the
objective is not to achieve correctness but to deepen awareness.
■ It is important to distinguish the basic needs listed in this tool from more specific
wants and desires that generate the strategies (specific to time, place, persons, or
actions) by which we fulfill basic needs. These strategies and solutions are expressed
through the fourth step in the NVC process (“requests”).

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PositivePsychology.com | Positive Psychology Toolkit

■ Note that the number of needs in this inventory is rather extensive compared to
the number of needs identified by other frameworks. For instance, according to the
Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), there are only three basic needs
(autonomy, relatedness, and competence). While the latter three basic needs may
have been subject to more empirical research, the list included in this tool may be
more practically relevant because it allows for a more detailed and specific translation
of personal experiences. After all, narrowing the wide spectrum of feelings down to
only three basic needs is unlikely to reflect the complex and dynamic inner world
of clients.

References

■ Rosenberg, M.B. (1983). A Model for Nonviolent Communication. New Society


Publishers.

■ Rosenberg, M.B. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Puddledancer


Press.

■ Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of
intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55,
68-78.

[2]
PositivePsychology.com | Positive Psychology Toolkit

Universal Needs Inventory

Instructions

Rosenberg (2003) defined the concept of needs as follows:

“(Needs) can be thought of as resources life requires to sustain itself. For example, our physical well-being
depends on our needs for air, water, rest, and food being fulfilled. Our psychological and spiritual well-being
is enhanced when our needs for understanding, support, honesty, and meaning are fulfilled. As I’m defining
needs, all human beings have the same needs. Regardless of our gender, educational level, religious beliefs,
or nationality, we have the same needs” (2003, p. 4).

Simply put, a need is necessary for an individual to live a healthy and happy life.

On the next page, you will find an overview of the most common needs. Please note that the overview is
neither exhaustive nor definitive. The goal of this overview is to serve as a starting point to support you
in the process of self-discovery and to facilitate greater understanding and connection between you and
other people.

[3]
PositivePsychology.com | Positive Psychology Toolkit

Table 1. Overview of the most common needs

Connection Connection Peace Honesty

acceptance trust beauty authenticity


affection warmth communion integrity
appreciation ease presence
belonging MEANING equality
cooperation awareness harmony PLAY
communication celebration of life inspiration joy
closeness challenge order humor
community clarity
companionship competence AUTONOMY
compassion consciousness choice
consideration contribution freedom
consistency creativity independence
empathy discovery space
inclusion efficacy spontaneity
intimacy effectiveness
love growth PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
mutuality hope air
nurturing learning food
respect/self-respect mourning movement/exercise
safety participation rest/sleep
security purpose sexual expression
stability self-expression safety
support stimulation shelter
to know and be known to matter touch
to see and be seen understanding water
to understand and be
understood

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