Maslow 's Theory Of Motivation

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,

Psychologist Abraham Maslow created Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a list of necessary needs in order to live with healthy mental. The levels are physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. Physiological deals with survival needs which include food, shelter, and water. Safety is the need to be secure from danger, a shelter or safe environment. Love is the is need for affection and belongingness, friends and family. Esteem is the personal worth, success and achievements. Self-actualization is actualizing one’s potential and what you are capable of. According to Maslow, the most important level is physiological and is needed for survival.

With these few thoughts in mind Abraham Maslow made up a hierarchy of needs. (Boeree, Page 2) The hierarchy of needs has five levels: the bottom one is Physiological Needs, the next one up is Safety needs, the next one is Belonging needs, the next one is Esteem Needs and finally the last one is Self-actualization needs. As Maslow thought he “saw human beings needs arranged like a ladder”, the most basic needs at the bottom and at the top the need to fulfill yourself. (pbs.org, Page 1) Below is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

These needs can be biological like thirst or psychological arising from the need of recognition or belonging. A need can be aroused to a sufficient level of intensity when it alters a motive. A motive is basically a need that drives a person to seek satisfaction. Abraham Maslow is probably the most know psychologist who has examined these human needs. He sought to explain why humans are driven by different needs at different times (Kotler & Armstrong,

As it was mentioned before, the key idea of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory relates to the existence of several sets of motivation and needs that govern human behavior. Hence, the major concepts of this theory include certain needs that are grouped into sets based on their place within the hierarchy of all the needs. The first version of the theory has five needs, which are divided into

Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness are needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied; the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.

The hierarchy of needs of Abraham Maslow is the theory from where the humanistic psychology is built. It is constituted of diverse stages from where a person can move from one stage to another. However, to move to the next stage, the person must complete the previous one. Maslow’s theory suggests each individual have the drive and desire to meet their basic needs in order to meet the fundamental

Abraham Maslow theory argues that basic needs must be fulfilled in order for a person to fulfill higher needs. Maslow believed that the first need to be met involves physiological needs such as food and water. Once physiological needs have been met, the person must fulfill safety needs. After a person feels safe and secure, they will rise to the next level in the hierarchy of needs. The next level involves the need to belong, be loved, and be accepted.

As stated further by Maslow, there are five levels in the need hierarchy, which are physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization and they are very often of unconscious nature and can be at certain times reserved. Unfortunately, there are not too many who are capable of reaching self-actualization and the ones who will are very creative and acknowledge the world very accurately. An individual however is always aware of the fact that he or she has possesses a choice and therefore he or she has the ability to influence their behavior and personality at anytime (Cloninger, 2008).

The drive-reduction theory assumes that humans possess bodily necessities, such as food. Additionally, when without the necessities, the drive to receive those necessities occurs, such as hunger. The drive makes humans try to lessen the need. To lessen the reoccurring food example, one would have to eat. The arousal theory states that once aroused, humans enliven or stiffen. Additionally, without the motivation built upon necessities, curiosity then causes humans and animals to explore and investigate. If humans have fulfilled their physiological and biological requirements to survive, they hunt for arousal elsewhere. Furthermore, the hierarchy theory refers to Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of human needs. The pyramid breaks up into six sections,

As previously discussed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs focuses on five main areas of human needs; physiological,

Needs theories suggest that people have needs that are satisfied (or not) by working. Some theorists suggest that individuals may have a preference towards particular needs, with the motivational impact varying from individual to individual. Others suggest that the needs occur at different levels and individuals move through these levels as lower-order needs are satisfied. An example of a needs based theory is Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” – see diagram below:

Existence needs are similar to Maslow’s physiological and  E it d i il t M l ’ h i l i l d security needs. Relatedness needs are those that require interpersonal  interaction to satisfy (prestige and esteem from others). Growth needs are similar to Maslow’s needs for self‐esteem and  self‐actualization.

Maslow (1943) stated about the Hierarchy of Needs, that people are motivated to achieve certain needs (See Fig. 1).. It includes 5 motivational needs often seen as within a pyramid. Maslow believed that when one is fulfilled, people would seek and be motivated to fulfill the next stage. The first stage covers physiological needs, the most basic needs. This includes the needs of air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, and sleep. Once the physiological needs are satisfied sufficiently, people will seek for their needs of safety. Safety needs embraces the needs of protection from elements, stability, security, order, law, stability, and freedom from fear. When the first two stages are fulfilled, came the needs of love and belongings. These needs include the urge of having friends, the desire to have a partner and children, the needs for a relationship between close family and interpersonal needs such as the need to give and receive love. After the needs for love have been achieved, then came the esteem needs.

The physiological needs the very basic foundation of a person’s motivational drive. They are usually taken as the starting points for motivation theory are the so called physiological drives. These needs include the necessary elements of survival and maintain homeostasis