Once you're sure you'll survive and be safe, you can notice the need for belonging and love, the need to connect with other people. You move up a rung on the ladder. When your need for love and belonging are not yet satisfied, all your behavior will be focused on ensuring those needs are filled. When the need for love and belonging is met, you feel the need to make your mark in the world, to be significant. Significance and self-respect are esteem needs.
Maslow splits esteem into two categories.
One kind of esteem is the desire for achievement, for mastery and competence, for confidence to face the world and for independence and freedom. The other side of esteem is the desire for reputation or prestige, status, fame, recognition, attention, dignity or appreciation. When you satisfy the need for esteem, you feel self- confident, adequate, useful and necessary in the world. At this level you may even be willing to risk safety or relationships to attain your goals. But not for long.