When emotional shielding goes up, it transforms a character, causing their personality to change and their worldview to shift. How they behave towards others is driven by the belief that if they let down their guard, they will be hurt again by life’s relentless cruelty. This skewed negative outlook causes friction in the character’s relationships, stymies their ability to grow and change, and makes it harder for them achieve meaningful goals. Ultimately, this leads to a lack of fulfillment and something called unmet needs.

When it comes to understanding this element of human and character psychology, the Hierarchy of Human Needs can be an excellent tool. It’s a theory created by psychologist Abraham Maslow that looks specifically at human behavior and the drivers that compel a person to act. Separated into five categories, it begins with needs that are the most pressing to satisfy (physiological) and ends with needs centered on personal fulfillment (self-actualization):

• Physiological: the most basic and primal needs, such as food, water, shelter, oxygen, sleep, and reproductive sex.
• Safety and Security: the need to be safe, in good health, and have stability, both for oneself and loved ones.
• Love and Belonging: to be connected to others and be able to form lasting bonds (experience intimacy), feel love, and love others in turn.
• Esteem and Recognition: the need to be valued, appreciated, and recognized by others for one’s contributions, as well as to achieve higher levels of worthiness, self-respect, and confidence.
• Self-Actualization: the need to attain fulfillment through the realization of one’s potential. This might come in the form of pursuing and achieving meaningful goals, seeking knowledge, attaining spiritual enlightenment, or embracing core values, beliefs, and an identity so one may live one’s truth.