<![CDATA[This study examines the representation of esteem needs and psychological defense mechanisms in Luca Guadagnino’s film, Challengers (2024), utilizing Abraham Maslow’s humanistic motivation theory. Through a qualitative content analysis, this paper investigates the divergent psychological trajectories of Tashi Duncan, Art Donaldson, and Patrick Zweig. The findings reveal that Tashi’s post-injury transformation into a hyper-controlling strategist serves as a vicarious mechanism to sustain external prestige. Conversely, Art exhibits an internal confidence vacuum coupled with the impostor phenomenon, while Patrick represents internal self-adequacy paired with a severe deficit in social standing. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that competing pursuits of self-worth within a shared social circle turn interpersonal connections into transactional power struggles, proving that external recognition cannot substitute for intrinsic self-acceptance.]]>
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