A Critical Analysis Essay of a Theory of Human Motivation Introduction
Abraham Maslow once stated the following, “All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization.” (CITE). The above quote alludes to the fact that all human beings naturally and instinctively want good health, to become better than what they are, and to reach their full potential. Maslow, a pioneer in the discipline of humanistic psychology, and commonly known for his article, a Theory of Human Motivation. Fig 1. The pyramid is a visual illustration of Marlow’s Hierarchy of
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In the article, Maslow explored a range of different issues that had an influence in psychology in a variety of ways. Furthermore, the above figure illustrates the central concept that Maslow was trying to get the experts within his career field to understand and to explore as a viable framework for further analysis. Maslow (1943) stated that certain things drive people to attain particular needs, and then organized the fundamental human needs into a hierarchy of relative prepotency. Also, Maslow identified that some needs take priority over others. As figure one shows, physical survival is the human beings most basic need; therefore, this will be the first thing that motivates human behavior. Furthermore, once people fulfill that level of needs, then they will go to the next level, and the next level, et cetera (Cite Main …show more content…
To put it another way, if a person has everything taken away from them, then a human being primary motivation would be that of physiological needs rather than any others (CITE Main P.373). For example, one could use the concept of a person stranded on an island, like Cast Away with Tom Hanks. What would be the first need that person sought out? It would not be love, respect, intimacy, or social stability. Although these may be needs, the first thing that people will fulfill is that of food, water, and shelter, all physiological
Maslow’s original theory talked about a pyramid shape of achievements that every person unknowingly is striving to achieve. The bottom level is physiological needs such as food, water, shelter, and warmth. As we move up the pyramid next is safety which is security (money), stability, and freedom of fear. These two bottom sections of the pyramid are known as the basic needs because everyone on earth requires these basic needs to move to the next level of the pyramid. The next level is belonging/ love needs consisting of friends, family, spouse, or lover. From here on up your base needs are very helpful in reaching your next needs, Self-esteem which includes achievement, mastery, recognition, and respect. Lastly is your self-actualization need where ...
Maslow’s hierarchy of need is a psychological theory that was proposed by Maslow in his writing in 1943. It is a theory in psychological review about human motivation. In his writing, Maslow wanted to have a clear understanding what exactly makes people motivated. He believed that there is a system of motivation possessed by individuals, which are not connected to unconscious desires or rewards. Maslow stated that motivation helps people to attain specific needs. An individual desires to get the next need when one is fulfilled.
Maslow believed that there was a hierarchy of five innate needs that influence people’s behaviors (Schultz & Schultz, 2013, p.246-247). In a pyramid fashion, at the base are physiological needs, followed by safety needs, then belonginess and love needs, succeeded by esteem needs, and finally the need for self-actualization. Maslow claimed that lower order needs must be at least partially satisfied before higher level needs are addressed. Furthermore, behavior is dominated by solely one need
"How does Maslow’s theory of human needs explain conflict in human society?” Maslow’s model of what the five basic needs are for humans to advance, as described by Urwiler, R.N. (2008) are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Once an individual is missing any of the basic physiological needs to survive such as “oxygen, food, water and warmth”, then the behavior changes. “If one or more of these basic needs is lost, the priorities of a person immediately shift to satisfying the missing need” (p.83). Maslow, A. H. (1948) also found that meeting these needs could also address other conflicts in society. Humans need food, water, clothing and shelter to survive.
People have long considered general theories of motivation, and the question regarding the specific motives that direct and energize our human behavior has undergone tremendous speculation. To this day the question still stands: what is it that humans seek most in life? In an effort to answer this question, Abraham Maslow proposed what he called the hierarchy of needs. Maslow theorizes that human beings are motivated to fulfill this hierarchy, which consists of needs ranging from those that are basic for survival up to those that promote growth and self-enhancement (Kassin 300).
In 1954 an American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that all people are motivated to fulfill a hierarchical pyramid of needs. At the bottom of Maslow's pyramid are needs essential to survival, such as the needs for food, water, and sleep. The need for safety follows these physiological needs. According to Maslow, higher-level needs become important to us only after our more basic needs are satisfied. These higher needs include the need for love and 'belongingness', the need for esteem, and the need for self-actualization (In Maslow's theory, a state in which people realize their greatest potential) (All information by means of Encarta Online Encyclopedia).
Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled, a person seeks to fulfil the next one, and so on. The earliest and most widespread version of Maslow's (1943, 1954) hierarchy of needs includes five motivational needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.
Theories of Motivation What is the motivation for this? According to the text, motivation is defined as a set of factors that activate, direct, and maintain behavior, usually toward a certain goal. Motivation is the energy that makes us do things; this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied so that we have inspiration to complete the mission. These needs vary from person to person as everybody has their individual needs to motivate themselves.
Physiological needs are requirements necessary to sustain life such as water, air, shelter, warmth, and food (McLeod). Maslow argued that these needs take priority before individuals can act based on further needs. If an individual is having trouble breathing, or having an asthma attack, this individual's behavior will be driven by this and the motivation to improve their breathing will take precedence over any other concerns. Of course, people can go limited amounts of time without food or water and still operate among the higher levels, but at the extreme levels, can severely alter and drive a person's behavior. Assuming the physiological needs are met, the next level is Safety and Security Needs. This level encompasses not only bodily safety, but things such as financial safety and emotional safety and security (McLeod). When the economy goes into a recession and people's financial safety and security needs are severely affected, people tend to behave differently due to the lack of security. Social needs, which is a level above Safety and Security, will become reprioritized as individuals can stop going out with friends and start working additional hours or two jobs in order to conserve funds. The need for love and belonging, comprises the middle level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. It is a need to feel belonging to a particular group of people such as friends, family, coworkers,
Similarly, Maslow's theory also reflects that humans have an internal force to reach their highest potential (Maslow, 1968). Maslow examined the hierarchy of basic human needs and developed a pyramid of requirements which motivates human beings and shapes their personality. At the bottom of his pyramid are found the basic physiological motivations which are necessary for survival such as food and shelter. The next level incorporates the need for safety, both physical and psychological. This is followed by love and belongingness which relate to receiving and giving affection. Presuming the love need is met, the next level up is the need for esteem which includes the feeling of self-esteem and self-respect. At the top of the pyramid stands the complex need for self-actualization which is a meta-need as per Maslow (1964) and we can reach it through peak experiences. It is the highest level of growth when someone reached her or his capacity to the fullest. Maslow estimated that only 1 percent of people ever really fulfil this need (Maslow,
Abraham Maslow did studies of the basic needs of human beings. He put these needs into a hierarchical order. This means that until the need before it has been satisfied, the following need can not be met (Encyclopedia, 2000). For example, if someone is hungry they are not thinking too much about socializing. In the order from lowest to highest the needs are psychological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. The first three are classified as lower order needs and the last two are higher order (Hierarchy, 2000). Without meeting these needs workers are not going to be as productive as they could otherwise. The first three are considered to be essential to all humans at all times. The last two have been argued but are mostly considered to be very important as well.
People go to work for many different reasons: because they are board, or need to help support a family in this day in age it takes 2 incomes to support a family and keep a home in running order with the cost of everything going up. There are many different types of ways to motivate people, because different people get motivated in different ways not just one thing will work on everyone. There are two types of motivations intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is where if you stay over at work to help out because you enjoy the work, Extrinsic is I hurry threw my work as so to get out early so I can go shopping, the reward shopping. Green River employees are motivated by higher rates of pay and benefits, Aberdeen’s are motivated by extra days off, or self accomplishment. Aberdeen’s reward structure is different all employees are referred to and treated as technicians all paid overtime for anything over 40 hours per week. Working in group atmosphere at Green River will work with a steady time line. The employees may first object because most people do not like change but it will make their jobs easier and more efficient for FMC. The employees at Green River employees will have to trust the leadership of managers to work thru it. At Aberdeen there is more trust employees are allowed to do their jobs with complete trust and confidence, unlike at Green River where there is fear they only do what they are told and show no creativity on fear of getting in trouble. In 1910 a term was coined as Scientific Management to describe the system of industrial management created and promoted by Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915) and his followers. Scientific management, the set of principles and practices stressing job simplification and specialization, was developed by Taylor to increase the performance of individual employees. While some disadvantages of designing jobs according to the principles of scientific management became apparent, many problems stemmed from the fact that employees are intelligent human beings who could think of things on their own accord and have the capacity to be intrinsically as well as extrinsically motivated and who also like to have control over their work. Job enlargement & enrichment focus on expanding the simple jobs created by scientific management. The job itself has five dimensions of motivating potential (according to Hackman and Oldman 1975).
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory of basic human needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His theory suggests that embedded in the very nature of each human being are certain needs that must be attained in order for a person to be whole physically, psychologically, and emotionally. First, there are phys...
According to Greenberg (1999) motivation is defined "as a process of arousing, directing and maintaining behaviour towards a goal." Where directing' refers to the selection of a particular behaviour; and maintenance' refers to the inclination to behave with consistency in that manner until the desired outcome is met.
Abraham Maslow wrote the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. This theory was based on fulfilling five basic needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization. Maslow believed that these needs could create internal pressures that could influence the behavior of a person. (Robbins, p.204)