Abraham Maslow, an American professor of psychology, identified a hierarchy that represents the priorities that individuals and communities espouse in order to survive and reach their fullest potential. Primary needs such as food, water and shelter have a higher priority. Secondary needs such as social status, self esteem, and contributing to society are met after the primary needs are fulfilled. Participation in community development is successfully attained when an analysis of the community's needs is undertaken. Lack of support for community initiatives may be because community members are still striving to meet their primary needs and as such the community cannot be involved in these meeting secondary needs.
Community psychology is concerned with the quality of life of communities. Through research and social action such as advocacy and resource mobilization, community psychologists seek to improve the quality of life for communities. Underlying community psychology is the assumption that working with communities instead of individuals is more effective in bringing about social change and social justice. Practitioners of community psychology also encourage a participatory approach in both their research and social actions by including all stakeholders affected by a community initiative.
The concept of psychological sense of community was initially propagated by the psychologist Seymour Sarason (1974). The Sense of Community describes the sentiment of belonging, trust and cooperation that people of a community feel toward each other. With this sense of community members are able to feel empowered enough to participate in the community's activities. This is important for community workers and organizers. By acknowledging the community's contribution to development, understanding their values and opinions, community development workers are able to get more cooperation from an empowered community. Disempowering a community means disregarding people's values and needs and thus making them feel disconnected from the larger community.
Cultural psychology is a field that studies the manner in which cultural practices and perceptions influence the psychologies of humans, communities and organizations. According to the Association for Psychological Sciences, culture is more than exotic foods and arts. Culture entails ideas that influence the way people form meaning and organize their actions. This is an important contribution to community development because it is by understanding a community's practices and institutions that you are able to devise effective means of meeting the specific needs of that community.