Critics note the needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than those in collectivist societies, and a 1976 review found little evidence for the theory's specific ranking of needs, undermining its claim to universality.
What would resolve this Controlled cross-cultural studies directly testing whether need-priority sequencing holds across individualist and collectivist societies.
OpenCross-cultural psychologyMaslow%27s hierarchy of needs