In 1943, a paper called A Theory of Human Motivation was published by the U.S. psychologist Abraham Maslow, in which he argued that people had five types of needs coming in a specific order (Kremer and Hammond, 2013). These five human essential needs are physical needs, safety needs, social needs such as belonging and love, esteem and self-actualization. The specific order arranged these needs in a pyramid which Maslow called the hierarchy of needs. At the bottom of the pyramid are basic needs, physical needs, while needs of self-actualization are at the top. According to Sadri and Clarke Bowen (2011), for the purpose of progressing to the higher level, an individual has to satisfy each need. With the great reform and opening, there is an increasingly …show more content…
As it has been mentioned above, Maslow’s theory was published in 1943. It has its own historical background of manufacturing age, which is quite different from present society. In Maslow’s theory, pay is a fundamental factor in order to satisfy individuals’ physiological and safety needs. Consequently, managers may have the perception that emphasis on salary and bonuses can motivate their employees. Also, managers threaten job security to force employees perform well as safety needs are basic in Maslow’s theory (Chen, 2014). However, it has been proved that these measures are oversimplified. According to Chen (2014), after analyzing 12,000 diary entries, Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile and psychologist Steven Kramer pointed out that the most significant motivator for employees at work is “the power of small wins”, which means that employees are highly motivated when they perceive as though they are making headway daily toward an important goal. It can be seen that Amabile and Kramer’s finding contradicted Maslow’s theory. In addition, with the revolutions and innovations of high-technology, the organizations have gradually developed from manufacturing age into information age today. Stum (2001) claims that a sustaining change circle in the organizational life’ nature and the expectations of the labour force result in the …show more content…
In Maslow’s theory, the needs of belongingness, esteem and self-actualization are placed in higher hierarchies of physiological as well as safety needs. In other words, only when people’s basic needs and safety are ensured, will they begin to pursue higher level of needs. Whereas, it is not exactly true. The theory can not apply to the starved poets, the eremites who cut off the contact with society or the mountaineers caring less about security on his way to reach the top (Kremer and Hammond, 2013). All those people can be idealists that disregard physiological and safety needs but care more about self-actualization. It can be seen that people’s needs vary from person to person. Therefore, there is no doubt that Maslow’s theory is proved to be wrong. Also, it is evident that all the human needs are equal. Even if the individuals’ physiological and safety needs are not fulfilled, they still have the strong desire to be loved, receive respect and achieve their life objectives. Tay and Diener (2011) pointed out that whether other needs were satisfied had slight effect on the relevance of subjective well-being (SWB) with the fulfillment of particular needs. To be more specific, in the workplaces, employees work not only for salary to ensure their physiological and safety needs, but also for life evaluation at the same time. If
At the base of the hierarchy are the physiological needs of human beings. This level consists of a human's need for food, water, oxygen, sleep, and sex. Homeless people are at this level of the hierarchy because their concern is in obtaining those things necessary for survival. Once an individual has met these needs, they begin to seek steady work, financial security, stability at home, and a predictable environment. This level consists of overachievers and workaholics. People such as this are so concerned with their income that they do not feel that the amount of time they work is sufficient enough. If an individual meets all of these needs, then that person has obtained their general need for safety. Once human beings have obtained safety, they strive to fulfill their social needs. At this level humans concern themselves with affiliation, belongingness and love, affection, close relationships, family ties, and group membership. This is a particularly crucial level because if these needs are not met, then humans feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness and alienation. All the needs for love having been met, an individual seeks social status, respect, recognition, achievement, and power. All of these needs combine to fulfill an individual's need for esteem, and failing to satisfy this need, an individual endures a sense of inferiority and a lack of importance. All human beings are placed at one of these four levels, striving to satisfy the needs at that level. If there comes a time in which an individual has obtained all of the needs on the hierarchy, that person becomes ready, willing, and able to strive for self-actualization. According to Maslow, self-actualization is a distinctly human need to fulfill one's potential. As Maslow himself states, "A musician must make music, and artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is ultimately to be at peace with himself.
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
Psychologist Abraham Maslow created the hierarchy of needs, outlining and suggesting what a person need to reach self-actualization and reveal the true potential of themselves. In the model, Maslow propose that a person has to meet basic needs in order to reach the true potential of themselves. Biological/physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging need, esteem needs according to Maslow is the fundamental frame for reaching the peak of self. The last need to be met on the scale
Once in a generation, and only a few rare instances in a millennia, a certain designation of academic and/or scientist enters into the pursuit of knowledge that captures the epitome of makeup and living -the dynamic of life- to such a prolific magnitude that the world is revolutionized in their wake. Abraham Maslow so completely documented and achieved a level of understating of the causes of human events that his work effectively captivates the struggle of human life and achievement. His theories on the constitution of human needs provide an explanation as to just exactly why people do the things they do, and demonstrate the integral forces behind human behavior. His pyramid is an ubiquitous reference to the needs of human beings, and serves as a guide to those in positions of authority and influence when carrying out their duties for their constituents/charges. It also serves as invaluable doctrine for any and all who wish to take the necessary steps to take care of themselves, and learn the appropriate steps by which to lead fulfilling and successful lives, by outlining the empirical needs of the individual, and in which order they need be addressed. Furthermore, his observations regarding these steps constitute a guide by which to achieve a panacea for the difficulties of life’s struggles: from everyday petty grievances, to even the most arduous of scenarios- ending with (assuming the first levels have been met) a state of sublimity and enlightenment, also known as self-actualization. However, to confine Maslow’s accomplishments to his work in the “Pyramid/ hierarchy of needs” would hardly be sufficient, rather, a gross misrepresentation of a lifetime of work on behalf of humanity, and an account, while even unable to do...
Unlike many of his colleagues at the time who were focusing on psychopathology, or what is wrong with individuals, he focused on how individuals are motivated to fulfill their potential and what needs govern their respective behaviors (McLeod)). Maslow developed the hierarchy over time, adjusting from a rigid structure where needs must be met before being able to achieve a higher level, to where the individuals can experience and behave in ways across the hierarchy multiple times daily depending on their needs. The hierarchy is comprised of 5 levels; Physiological, Safety and Security, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization. The bottom two levels are considered basic needs, or deficiency needs because once the needs are met they cease to be a driving factor, unlike psychological needs. Loving and Belonging and Esteem needs are considered psychological needs, and are different from basic needs because they don’t stem from a lack of something, but rather the desire to grow. Maslow theorizes that individual’s decisions and behavior are determined based on their current level of needs, and the ideal level to achieve full potential culminates in self-actualization; however, operating on this level cannot be achieved until the preceding levels of needs have been
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.
In the analysis of this paper, the author believes that the model of Abraham Maslow (2009) can be very helpful. This model is called the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow (2009), people have needs...
Two of the earlier on some of the most widely discussed theories on motivation were proposed by psychologists Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg. Maslow introduced his Hierarchy of needs in 1943 and later fully developed it in 1954. This model consists of 5 levels of basic needs, often portrayed in a pyramid or triangular shape. The most fundamental needs are at the bottom of the pyramid and the person cannot accomplish the second need until the first need has been fulfilled, nor the third need until the second need is satisfied and so on (Simons, Irwin & Drinnien 1987). Maslow´s needs from the bottom to the top are as follows: physiological (breathing, food, water, etc.), safety (security of health, family, property, etc.), love/belonging (friendship, family, sexual intimacy, etc.), esteem (confidence, achievement, respect by and of others, etc.) and self-actualisation (creativity, problem solving, spontaneity, etc.) (Maslow 1954).
This paper looks specifically at the life of Abraham Maslow, and his hierarchy of needs theory of which he is most known for. Along with describing his theory, there are a number of other significant terms created and used by Maslow which are also defined in this paper. The important terms are bolded throughout the paper and will comprise of the following:
The following paper deals with the American psychologist Abraham Maslow, born in New York, who stated that every human being has 5 differently categorised needs that need to be fulfilled in order to provide healthy and happy living.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramidal structure that is necessary to reach a person’s full potential. Maslow’s theory consists of 5 levels, where each one must be mastered before going to the next level (Funder, 2013, p. 434). The lowest layer is the basic psychological needs such as having food and water that are necessary for the survival of the human body. The second layer is the need for safety and security. The third layer is the need for belonging and social activity.
Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist, who was considered to be the father of human psychology. Abraham Maslow said that basic physical needs must be met before people can realize their full potential in life. He developed the theory of human motivation now known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, some human needs were more powerful than others. Hierarchy of needs that he argued provides a model for understanding the need for human relations in the classroom. Needs lower on the pyramid, such as physical and safety needs, must be met before an individual will consider higher-level needs. This five-stage model can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs, D-needs.
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.
Self-actualization is an idea originating from the Humanistic psychological theory and particularly created by Abraham Maslow. The humanistic school of thought in psychology is the third force in psychology that attempts to regain the self, supporting that individuals do have free will and has the power to change for the better. Humanistic psychology was developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism focusing on individuality, personal growth and the concept of self-actualization. While early schools of thought were mostly concentrated on abnormal human behavior, humanistic psychology is different because of its emphasis on helping individuals achieve and fulfill their potential. The two main contributors to this school of thought
Human behavior is caused by the various needs. What drives us humans to pursue these needs and goal is a terminology called Motivation. But how do we define our needs? Eventually, a scientist named Abraham Maslow developed his model on 5 levels of biological needs, as motivators called Hierarchy of need; which is defined as self-actualization, esteem needs, belongingness, safety needs, and physiological needs. In this case, if I was a manger applying this terminology to motivate my employees would help bring out their best overall performance.