Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has always been a crock.
So is Kolhbergs.
Both have the Self in the center of the highest pinnacle of humanity.
We all know that is not true and history shows it. The soldier who jumps on a grenade to save his squad, the missionary who gives up normal living to save the lost, the parent who gives up dreams to raise her young and well.
Maslow shared your concern.
In order to account for people like Mother Teresa, who were clearly self-actualized but also held an apparent desire to “identify with something greater than the individual self,” Maslow set a higher motivational level above self-actualization. He named this motivational level “self-transcendence.”
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/maslows_theory_revisited
Does that restore the value of the hierarchy for you?