Analyzing People: A Beginner’s Guide

How do you “read” a person? How can you quickly get a sense of someone’s personality without spending years earning a psychology degree? While you won’t have the precision of a trained psychologist, you can sharpen your awareness with a few simple strategies.

Step 1: Know Yourself First

One of the hardest—but most important—steps is understanding yourself. What motivates you? What are your likes, dislikes, and emotional triggers? When you gain clarity about your own personality, you’re better equipped to recognize traits in others. Self-awareness is half the battle.

Step 2: Remember Our Shared Humanity

Every person is unique, but we also share universal needs and desires. We are social beings driven by motivation, connection, and growth. Recognizing these patterns makes it easier to interpret behavior without overcomplicating things.

Step 3: Apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Psychologist Abraham Maslow created a hierarchy of five human motivational needs, arranged in ascending order:

Physiological Needs – Food, water, sleep, shelter.

Safety Needs – Security, stability, protection.

Social Needs – Love, friendship, belonging.

Esteem Needs – Respect, recognition, achievement.

Self-Actualization – Personal growth, fulfillment, purpose.

Here’s the key insight: only unsatisfied needs drive behavior. Once a lower-level need is met, people focus on the next level. For example, someone struggling with financial stability (safety needs) may not be concerned with personal growth (self-actualization) until they feel secure.

By paying attention to which needs in the hierarchy seem most pressing for someone, you can quickly understand what drives them and adjust how you interact with them.

👉 With practice, you’ll begin to notice patterns in body language, speech, and behavior that reveal where a person might be on this motivational ladder.