[arctangent]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to suspect that some proportion of people do not conform to Maslow's model.

Wikipedia says that a large study "found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs (scroll to "Criticism" section)

Part of being a (successful) human is making sacrifices to get the things you want the most, and this contradicts an established hierarchy of needs like that supposed by Maslow.

I suppose a great example would be people who participate in dangerous sports - they sacrifice their safety in the short term to achieve the success, money and respect they aspire to.