Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - Learning Theories Learning Theories • Humanist Theories , Motivation Theories • 0 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (often represented as a pyramid with five levels of needs) is a motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs, they seek to meet successively higher needs in the form of a pyramid. Contents Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970) Key Concepts Abraham H. Maslow felt as though conditioning theories did not adequately capture the complexity of human behavior. In a 1943 paper called A Theory of Human Motivation, Maslow presented the idea that human actions are directed toward goal attainment[1]. Any given behavior could satisfy several functions at the same time; for instance, going to a bar could satisfy one’s needs for self-esteem and for social interaction. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has often been represented in a hierarchical pyramid with five levels. The four levels (lower-order needs) are considered physiological needs, while the top level of the pyramid is considered growth needs. The lower level needs must be satisfied before higher-order needs can influence behavior.

The levels are as follows (see pyramid in Figure 1 below). Self-actualization – includes morality, creativity, problem solving, etc. Esteem – includes confidence, self-esteem, achievement, respect, etc. Belongingness – includes love, friendship, intimacy, family, etc. Safety – includes security of environment, employment, resources, health, property, etc. Physiological – includes air, food, water, sex, sleep, other factors towards homeostasis, etc. Figure 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. Deprivation Needs The first four levels are considered deficiency or deprivation needs (“D-needs”) in that their lack of satisfaction causes a deficiency that motivates people to meet these needs. Physiological needs, the lowest level on the hierarchy, include necessities such as air, food, and water. These tend to be satisfied for most people, but they become predominant when unmet. During emergencies, safety needs such as health and security rise to the forefront. Once these two levels are met, belongingness needs, such as obtaining love and intimate relationships or close friendships, become important. The next level, esteem needs, include the need for recognition from others, confidence, achievement, and self-esteem.

Growth Needs The highest level is self-actualization, or the self-fulfillment. Behavior in this case is not driven or motivated by deficiencies but rather one’s desire for personal growth and the need to become all the things that a person is capable of becoming[2][3]. Criticisms While a useful guide for generally understanding why students behave the way that they do and in determining how learning may be affected by physiological or safety deficiencies, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has its share of criticisms. Some critics have noted vagueness in what is considered a “deficiency”; what is a deficiency for one is not necessarily a deficiency for another. Secondly, there seem to be various exceptions that frequently occur. For example, some people often risk their own safety to rescue others from danger. Additional Resources and References Resources Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs | Simply Psychology Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2016 < Maslow's (1943, 1954) hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people.

He believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires . Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs, and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behaviour. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on. 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) and the top level is known as growth or being needs (B-needs). The deficiency needs are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the need to fulfil such needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes without food the more hungry they will become. One must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. When a deficit need has been satisfied it will go away. Our activities become habitually directed towards meeting the next set of needs that we have yet to satisfy. These then become our salient needs.

However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have been engaged. Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization. Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences, including divorce and loss of job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy. Therefore, not everyone will move through the hierarchy in a uni-directional manner but may move back and forth between the different types of needs. Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs. The original hierarchy of needs five-stage model includes: 1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep. 2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear. 3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, trust and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work). 4.

Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others. 5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. Maslow posited that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy: 'It is quite true that man lives by bread alone — when there is no bread. But what happens to man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled? At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still “higher”) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency' (Maslow, 1943, p. 375). The expanded hierarchy of needs: It is important to note that Maslow's (1943, 1954) five stage model has been expanded to include cognitive and aesthetic needs (Maslow, 1970a) and later transcendence needs (Maslow, 1970b).

Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and include a seven-stage model and a eight-stage model, both developed during the 1960's and 1970s. 1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, etc. 3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, trust and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work). 4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Cognitive needs - knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability. 6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. 7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. 8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization.

Self-actualization Instead of focusing on psychopathology and what goes wrong with people, Maslow (1943) formulated a more positive account of human behavior which focused on what goes right. He was interested in human potential, and how we fulfill that potential. Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that human motivation is based on people seeking fulfillment and change through personal growth. Self-actualized people are those who were fulfilled and doing all they were capable of. The growth of self-actualization (Maslow, 1962) refers to the need for personal growth and discovery that is present throughout a person’s life. For Maslow, a person is always 'becoming' and never remains static in these terms. In self-actualization a person comes to find a meaning to life that is important to them. As each person is unique the motivation for self-actualization leads people in different directions (Kenrick et al., 2010). For some people self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others through sport, in the classroom, or within a corporate setting.

Maslow (1962) believed self-actualization could be measured through the concept of peak experiences. This occurs when a person experiences the world totally for what it is, and there are feelings of euphoria, joy and wonder. It is important to note that self-actualization is a continual process of becoming rather than a perfect state one reaches of a 'happy ever after' (Hoffman, 1988). Maslow offers the following description of self-actualization: 'It refers to the person’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially. The specific form that these needs will take will of course vary greatly from person to person. In one individual it may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions' (Maslow, 1943, p. 382–383). Are you self-actualized?

Characteristics of self-actualized people Although we are all, theoretically, capable of self-actualizing, most of us will not do so, or only to a limited degree. Maslow (1970) estimated that only two percent of people will reach the state of self actualization. He was particularly interested in the characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as persons. By studying 18 people he considered to be self-actualized (including Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein) Maslow (1970) identified 15 characteristics of a self-actualized person. Characteristics of self-actualizers: 1. They perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty; 2. Accept themselves and others for what they are; 3. Spontaneous in thought and action; 4. Problem-centered (not self-centered); 5. Unusual sense of humor; 6. Able to look at life objectively; 7. Highly creative; 8. Resistant to enculturation, but not purposely unconventional; 9. Concerned for the welfare of humanity; 10. Capable of deep appreciation of basic life-experience; 11.

Establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships with a few people; 12. Peak experiences; (a) Experiencing life like a child, with full absorption and concentration; (b) Trying new things instead of sticking to safe paths; (c) Listening to your own feelings in evaluating experiences instead of the voice of tradition, authority or the majority; (d) Avoiding pretense ('game playing') and being honest; (e) Being prepared to be unpopular if your views do not coincide with those of the majority; (f) Taking responsibility and working hard; (g) Trying to identify your defenses and having the courage to give them up. The characteristics of self-actualizers and the behaviors leading to self-actualization are shown in the list above. Although people achieve self-actualization in their own unique way, they tend to share certain characteristics. However, self-actualization is a matter of degree, 'There are no perfect human beings' (Maslow,1970a, p. 176). It is not necessary to display all 15 characteristics to become self-actualized, and not only self-actualized people will display them. Maslow did not equate self-actualization with perfection.

Self-actualization merely involves achieving ones potential. Thus, someone can be silly, wasteful, vain and impolite, and still self-actualize. Less than two percent of the population achieve self-actualization. Educational applications Maslow's (1968) hierarchy of needs theory has made a major contribution to teaching and classroom management in schools. Rather than reducing behavior to a response in the environment , Maslow (1970a) adopts a holistic approach to education and learning. Maslow looks at the entire physical, emotional, social, and intellectual qualities of an individual and how they impact on learning. Applications of Maslow's hierarchy theory to the work of the classroom teacher are obvious. Before a student's cognitive needs can be met they must first fulfil their basic physiological needs. For example a tired and hungry student will find it difficult to focus on learning. Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential. Maslow suggests students must be shown that they are valued and respected in the classroom and the teacher should create a supportive environment. Students with a low self-esteem will not progress academically at an optimum rate until their self-esteem is strengthened.

Critical evaluation The most significant limitation of Maslow's theory concerns his methodology. Maslow formulated the characteristics of self-actualized individuals from undertaking a qualitative method called biographical analysis. He looked at the biographies and writings of 18 people he identified as being self-actualized. From these sources he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of this specific group of people, as opposed to humanity in general. From a scientific perspective there are numerous problems with this particular approach. First, it could be argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher. Personal opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity of any data obtained. Therefore Maslow's operational definition of self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as scientific fact. Furthermore, Maslow's biographical analysis focused on a biased sample of self-actualized individuals, prominently limited to highly educated white males (such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, William James, Aldous Huxley, Gandhi, Beethoven). Although Maslow (1970) did study self-actualized females, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa, they comprised a small proportion of his sample .

This makes it difficult to generalize his theory to females and individuals from lower social classes or different ethnicity. Thus questioning the population validity of Maslow's findings. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow's concept of self-actualization in a way that causal relationships can be established. Another criticism concerns Maslow's assumption that the lower needs must be satisfied before a person can achieve their potential and self-actualize. This is not always the case, and therefore Maslow's hierarchy of needs in some aspects has been falsified. Through examining cultures in which large numbers of people live in poverty (such as India) it is clear that people are still capable of higher order needs such as love and belongingness. However, this should not occur, as according to Maslow, people who have difficulty achieving very basic physiological needs (such as food, shelter etc.) are not capable of meeting higher growth needs. Also, many creative people, such as authors and artists (e.g. Rembrandt and Van Gough) lived in poverty throughout their lifetime, yet it could be argued that they achieved self-actualization. Psychologists now conceptualize motivation as a pluralistic behavior, whereby needs can operate on many levels simultaneously.

A person maybe motivated by higher growth needs at the same time as lower level deficiency needs. Contemporary research by Tay & Diener (2011) has tested Maslow’s theory by analyzing the data of 60,865 participants from 123 countries, representing every major region of the world. The survey was conducted from 2005 to 2010. Respondents answered questions about six needs that closely resemble those in Maslow's model: basic needs (food, shelter); safety; social needs (love, support); respect; mastery; and autonomy. They also rated their well-being across three discrete measures: life evaluation (a person's view of his or her life as a whole), positive feelings (day-to-day instances of joy or pleasure), and negative feelings (everyday experiences of sorrow, anger, or stress). The results of the study support the view that universal human needs appear to exist regardless of cultural differences. However, the ordering of the needs within the hierarchy was not correct.

"Although the most basic needs might get the most attention when you don't have them," Diener explains, "you don't need to fulfill them in order to get benefits [from the others]." Even when we are hungry, for instance, we can be happy with our friends. "They're like vitamins," Diener says about how the needs work independently. "We need them all." View the complete article as a PDF document APA Style References Hoffman, E. (1988). The right to be human: A biography of Abraham Maslow. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., Griskevicius, V., Becker, D. V., & Schaller, M. (2010). Goal-Driven Cognition and Functional Behavior The Fundamental-Motives Framework. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(1), 63-67. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation . Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality.

New York: Harper and Row. Maslow, A. H. (1962). Towards a psychology of being. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Company. Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a Psychology of Being. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company. Maslow, A. H. (1970a). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row. Maslow, A. H. (1970b). Religions, values, and peak experiences. New York: Penguin. (Original work published 1964) Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Needs and subjective well-being around the world . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 354. How to cite this article: McLeod, S. A. (2016). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from Was this article useful? An Introduction to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs | Student Guide Contact Us Menu StudentGuide.org is a collection of useful resources for students to assist their scholastic goals.

We provide articles on hundreds of student related topics to help them improve their study habits, writing skills, organizational skills, and analytical skills. An Introduction to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was an American psychologist who is most noted for developing the hierarchy of needs theory. Considered the founder of humanistic psychology , Maslow typically wrote about such topics as behavior and motivation, and first introduced the hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper, A Theory of Human Motivation . The basic premise of this theory is that humans are born with certain needs, which can be categorized into levels depending on their degree of importance. Our most fundamental needs are physiological needs, and then safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, and finally the need for self-actualization. The idea is that as we fulfill our most basic needs in life we are able to move upward and fulfill the more complex needs represented higher on the hierarchy. We will not seek to reach higher levels, however, until our most basic needs are realized. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is commonly depicted as a five-tier pyramid, in which the bottom level represents our physiological needs, or the most critical needs for life.

In this category are the requirements necessary for survival: food, water, air, warmth, and sleep. Once these needs have been addressed, we are able to move onto the next level, which is comprised of safety needs. The need to feel safe and secure is psychological as well as physical, and may manifest itself in different ways depending on individual circumstances. Job security and a stable family environment are two examples of ways individuals seek to bring safety into their lives, and feeling removed from danger is an important step in reaching more advanced platforms of the pyramid. When we feel out of danger and secure in the world, we are able to progress up the hierarchy and begin to fulfill our needs of love and belonging. In the third level of the pyramid, our social needs become a priority only after our physiological and safety requirements have been met and maintained. Our affiliation with and acceptance by others becomes the focus of our desires. While many adults look to fill this need by marrying someone and starting a family, children seek belonging from their parents and teenagers work to gain acceptance from their peers. The fourth tier of the pyramid is reserved for esteem needs, or the need for achievement, confidence, respect, recognition, and approval.

People increase their self-esteem by gaining an education, advancing in their careers, and working to improve themselves. After all the previous needs have been met, an individual is capable of achieving the highest point in the pyramid â€“ self-actualization. According to Maslow, fulfilling this need means reaching one’s highest potential and truly understanding one’s self. Few people reach this level in their lifetime, and even fewer stay there on a consistent basis. If the previous levels are thought to be oriented towards physical and psychological needs, the fifth level can be considered more spiritual in nature. While there are some critiques of the theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has informed scholars in many fields from education to healthcare, and continues to be applied to a diverse set of academic disciples. Moreover, it remains an important contribution to humanistic psychological theory, and is still relevant to discussions today regarding human behavior and motivation. The Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs The Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Search the site By Kendra Cherry Updated October 10, 2016 What motivates human behavior? According to humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow , our actions are motivated in order to achieve certain needs.

Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" and his subsequent book Motivation and Personality. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs. While some of the existing schools of thought at the time (such as psychoanalysis and behaviorism ) tended to focus on problematic behaviors, Maslow was much more interested in learning more about what makes people happy and the things that they do to achieve that aim. As a humanist, Maslow believed that people have an inborn desire to be self-actualized, that is, to be all they can be. In order to achieve these ultimate goals, however, a number of more basic needs must be met first such as the need for food, safety, love, and self-esteem . From Basic to More Complex Needs Maslow's hierarchy is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the most complex needs are at the top of the pyramid. Needs at the bottom of the pyramid are basic physical requirements including the need for food, water, sleep, and warmth.

Once these lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs, which are for safety and security. As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological, and social. Soon, the need for love , friendship, and intimacy become important. Further up the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority. Like Carl Rogers , Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential. Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs, which arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences. Maslow termed the highest level of the pyramid as growth needs. These needs don't stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person. There are five different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Physiological Needs These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food, and sleep.

Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met. Most of these lower level needs are probably fairly apparent. We need food and water to survive. We also need to breathe and maintain a stable body temperature. In addition to eating, drinking, and having adequate shelter and clothing, Maslow also suggested that sexual reproduction was a basic physiological need. Security Needs These include the needs for safety and security, things such as steady employment, health care, safe neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment. The needs become a bit more complex at this point in the hierarchy. Now that the more basic survival needs have been fulfilled, people begin to feel that they need more control and order in their lives. A safe place to live, financial security, physical safety, and staying healthy are all concerns that might come into play at this stage. Social Needs These include needs for belonging, love, and affection. Maslow described these needs as less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments, and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community, or religious groups.

Esteem Needs After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs become increasingly important.At this point, it becomes increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to accomplish things and then have their efforts recognized. People often engage in activities such as going to school, playing a sport, enjoying a hobby, or participating in professional activities in order to fulfill this need. Satisfying this need and gaining acceptance and esteem helps people become more confident. Failing to gain recognition for accomplishments, however, can lead to feelings of failure or inferiority. Self-actualizing Needs This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested fulfilling their potential. Criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs While some research showed some support for Maslow's theories, most research has not been able to substantiate the idea of a needs hierarchy. Wahba and Bridwell reported that there was little evidence for Maslow's ranking of these needs and even less evidence that these needs are in a hierarchical order. Other criticisms of Maslow's theory note that his definition of self-actualization is difficult to test scientifically.

His research on self-actualization was also based on a very limited sample of individuals, including people he knew as well as biographies of famous individuals that Maslow believed to be self-actualized, such as Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt. Regardless of these criticisms, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represents part of an important shift in psychology. Rather than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow's humanistic psychology was focused on developing healthy individuals. While there was relatively little research supporting the theory, the hierarchy of needs is well-known and popular both in and out of psychology. In a study published in 2011, researchers from the University of Illinois set out to put the hierarchy to the test. What they discovered is that while the fulfillment of the needs was strongly correlated with happiness, people from cultures all over the reported that self-actualization and social needs were important even when many of the most basic needs were unfulfilled. What Is Self-Actualization? Maslow described this concept that was at the peak of his hierarchy this way: "What a man can be, he must be.

This need we may call self-actualization...It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming." While the theory is generally portrayed as a fairly rigid hierarchy, Maslow noted that the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not always follow this standard progression. For example, he noted that for some individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. For others, the need for creative fulfillment may supersede even the most basic needs. Sources: Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business - BBC News BBC News Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business By William Kremer and Claudia Hammond BBC World Service 1 September 2013 Read more about sharing. Close share panel The psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation is 70 years old but continues to have a strong influence on the world of business. What is it, and is it right? There is a commonly reproduced symbol which many believe holds the secret to personal fulfilment and business success.

It usually takes the form of a triangle, but variants in the shape of 3D pyramids and staircases are not uncommon. It regularly appears in university psychology modules, and may pop up in other degree courses too. On management training courses it's as inevitable as biscuits and role-playing. In 1943, the US psychologist Abraham Maslow published a paper called A Theory of Human Motivation , in which he said that people had five sets of needs, which come in a particular order. As each level of needs is satisfied, the desire to fulfil the next set kicks in. Find out more Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs was broadcast on Mind Changers on Radio 4 and Health Check on the BBC World Service Get the Health Check podcast First, we have the basic needs for bodily functioning - fulfilled by eating, drinking and going to the toilet. Maslow also included sexual needs in this group. Then there is the desire to be safe, and secure in the knowledge that those basic needs will be fulfilled in the future too. After that comes our need for love, friendship and company. At this stage, Maslow writes, the individual "may even forget that once, when he was hungry, he sneered at love".

The next stage is all about social recognition, status and respect. And the final stage, represented in the graphic as the topmost tip of the triangle, Maslow labelled with the psychologists' term "self-actualisation". It's about fulfilment - doing the thing that you were put on the planet to do. "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy," wrote Maslow. "What a man can be, he must be." While there were no pyramids or triangles in the original paper, Maslow's hierarchy of needs is now usually illustrated with the symbol. And although the paper was written as pure psychology it has found its main application in management theory. "There's no question it's had a profound influence on management education and management practice," says Gerard Hodgkinson, a psychologist at Warwick Business School.

"One of the insights is that as managers we can shape the conditions that create people's aspirations." The lesser-spotted self-actualiser Maslow said only 2% of people reached the stage of self-actualisation He wanted to study self-actualisers but he said it was extremely difficult to find any In 1970 he published a list of famous people he considered to have been self-actualisers - the roll call included Einstein (pictured), Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Beethoven, Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt and... Abraham Maslow He believed they underwent "peak experiences"- moments of sublime inspiration and ecstasy He also said they were unusually creative, spontaneous and had a strange sense of humour Managers use Maslow's hierarchy to identify the needs of their staff and help them feel fulfilled, whether it's by giving them a pet project, a fancy job title or flexible working arrangements, so they can pursue their interests outside the workplace. In the second half of the 20th Century, bosses began to realise that employees' hopes, feelings and needs had an impact on performance. In 1960, Douglas McGregor published The Human Side of Enterprise, which contrasted traditional managerial styles with a people-centred approach inspired by Maslow.

It became a best-seller. Some managers began to move away from a purely "transactional" contract with a company's staff, in which they received money in exchange for doing a job, to a complex "relational" one, where a company offered opportunities for an individual to feel fulfilled, but expected more in return. Bill O'Brien, President and CEO of Hanover Insurance, put it well in an interview published in 1990. "Our traditional organisations are designed to provide for the first three of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs," he said. "Since these are now widely available to members of industrial society our organisations do not provide significantly unique opportunities to command the loyalty and commitment of our people." According to Douglas Kenrick at Arizona State University, the appeal of Maslow's hierarchy can be explained by the fact that it reflects a pattern of growth we observe in children. "I have a child who is six years old and I noticed that when he was an infant he couldn't care less about public opinion," Kenrick says. "In kindergarten he started to worry about making friends but he didn't really care about getting respect from those people.

And now he's in the first grade and you can see he's beginning to think about his friends' opinions and what status they hold him in." Abraham Maslow Born 1908, in a slum in Brooklyn, New York His parents were Russian Jews - he faced anti-Semitism as a child and in academia Had an IQ of 195, but flunked some undergraduate courses - he couldn't focus on anything that didn't interest him He was shy and reportedly very humble, even after he became famous He eventually became a public intellectual who wrote for a general audience As well as influencing business leaders, Maslow's ideas fed into the counter-culture movement - he had links with the psychedelic figurehead, Timothy Leary Kenrick also thinks the longevity of the hierarchy of needs can be explained by the pyramid which came to represent it, and which "captures a complicated idea in a very simple way". Maslow's theories have many supporters today, including US hotelier and business guru Chip Conley . But critics point to dozens of counter-examples. What about the famished poet? Or the person who withdraws from society to become a hermit? Or the mountaineer who disregards safety in his determination to reach the summit?

Muddying things slightly, Maslow said that for some people, needs may appear in a different order or be absent altogether. Moreover, people felt a mix of needs from different levels at any one time, but they varied in degree. There is a further problem with Maslow's work. Margie Lachman, a psychologist who works in the same office as Maslow at his old university, Brandeis in Massachusetts, admits that her predecessor offered no empirical evidence for his theory. "He wanted to have the grand theory, the grand ideas - and he wanted someone else to put it to the hardcore scientific test," she says. "It never quite materialised." However, after Maslow's death in 1970, researchers did undertake a more detailed investigation, with attitude-based surveys and field studies testing out the Hierarchy of Needs. "When you analyse them, the five needs just don't drop out," says Hodgkinson. "The actual structure of motivation doesn't fit the theory. And that led to a lot of discussion and debate, and new theories evolved as a consequence." In 1972, Clayton Alderfer whittled Maslow's five groups of needs down to three, labelled Existence, Relatedness and Growth.

Although elements of a hierarchy remain, "ERG theory" held that human beings need to be satisfied in all three areas - if that's not possible then their energies are redoubled in a lower category. So for example, if it is impossible to get a promotion, an employee might talk more to colleagues and get more out of the social side of work. More sophisticated theories followed. Maslow's triangle was chopped up, flipped on its head and pulled apart into flow diagrams. Hodgkinson says that one business textbook has just been published which doesn't mention Maslow, and there is a campaign afoot to have him removed from the next editions of others. The absence of solid evidence has tarnished Maslow's status within psychology too. But as a result, Lachman says, people miss seeing that he was responsible for a major shift of focus within the discipline. Image caption A recent internet meme is evidence of Maslow's enduring hold on popular culture "He really was ground-breaking in his thinking," Lachman says. "He was saying that you weren't acting on the basis of these uncontrollable, unconscious desires.

Your behaviour was not just influenced by external rewards and reinforcement, but there were these internal needs and motivations." Unlike the psychoanalysts and behaviourists who preceded him, Maslow was not that interested in mental illness - instead of finding out what went wrong with people, he wanted to find out what could go right with them. This opened the door for later movements such as humanistic psychology and positive psychology, and the "happiness agenda" that preoccupies the current UK government. Maslow's friend, management guru Warren Bennis, believes the quality underlying all Maslow's thinking was his striking optimism about human nature and society. "Abe Maslow, a Jewish kid who really grew up poor, represented the American dream," he says. "All of his psychology really had to do with possibility, not restraints. His metaphysics were all about the possibilities of change, the possibilities of the human being to really fit into the democratic mode." Photos of Maslow courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections, Brandeis University.

Maslows Hierarchy of needs | Actforlibraries.org Paleontology Maslows Hierarchy of needs Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory first presented in Maslow’s “Theory of Human Motivation” of 1943. This theory is a basic description of human stages of growth and psychological development, most commonly represented as a pyramid. This pyramid has five levels. The lower four of these levels are considered basic needs, where these needs should be met if the individual is to feel sufficiently comfortable and satisfied with his or her life to be able to focus on the fifth level. From the lowest level, the hierarchy of needs is as follows: -Physiological These needs are basic, physical needs, namely air, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion and the ability to regulate one’s own internal biological workings. If all of these needs are not met, an individual can become ill, physically and mentally, and die either slowly or at a more accelerated pace. -Safety This term refers to the secure state of an individual’s own person, as well as their belongings, those values and ideals they hold sacred, and their loved ones.

If the safety of these elements is threatened, an individuals may become aggressive, anxious, paranoid, nervous or depressed, and this may ultimately lead to criminal activity or death. In short, a prolonged condition of insecurity infers that this level of need is not being met. -Connection Humans as a species are not solitary animals. They instinctively look for others to band with, when alone. An individual living alone is prone to suffer mental illness as a result of seclusion and lack of connection with other people. A person will feel this need as a longing for love or the sense of belonging to a family, which is why enforced solitude as punishment, such as solitary confinement or time outs for children, are so effective. -Esteem People seek approval from each other. It is why the fashion and cosmetics industries exist, and why cars have become so expensive and luxurious. There is a basic need for an individual to achieve more and to attain recognition for those achievements. When a person is held in low regard by his or her peers, there is a feeling of rejection and otherness which causes emotional discomfort. Children who have been abused or bullied at school by their peers or teachers will often display signs of mental illness in adulthood, as a lasting effect of this lack of esteem.

-Self-Actualization When an individual has achieved the fulfillment of the four basic levels of needs, a feeling of contentment is achieved, which is then translated into the need to look beyond the primary elements of life. When one is healthy, safe, loved and held in good regard, then one is able to reassess those extraneous concepts such as spiritual enlightenment, creative or abstract thought, problem-solving and the consideration of the lives of others. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describes the human condition and can be used to explain many different human behaviours. It is a simple, yet effective, representation of the psychological growth of an individual, and how elements in one’s life may affect or be affected by the lack of certain key needs. Overall, the hierarchy is a useful tool for the analysis of a society and its members, and can offer answers to questions, such as “why do philanthropists tend to come from the more affluent economic strata?” References: Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business - BBC News BBC News Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business By William Kremer and Claudia Hammond BBC World Service 1 September 2013 Read more about sharing.

Close share panel The psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation is 70 years old but continues to have a strong influence on the world of business. What is it, and is it right? There is a commonly reproduced symbol which many believe holds the secret to personal fulfilment and business success. It usually takes the form of a triangle, but variants in the shape of 3D pyramids and staircases are not uncommon. It regularly appears in university psychology modules, and may pop up in other degree courses too. On management training courses it's as inevitable as biscuits and role-playing. In 1943, the US psychologist Abraham Maslow published a paper called A Theory of Human Motivation , in which he said that people had five sets of needs, which come in a particular order. As each level of needs is satisfied, the desire to fulfil the next set kicks in. Find out more Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs was broadcast on Mind Changers on Radio 4 and Health Check on the BBC World Service Get the Health Check podcast First, we have the basic needs for bodily functioning - fulfilled by eating, drinking and going to the toilet. Maslow also included sexual needs in this group.

Then there is the desire to be safe, and secure in the knowledge that those basic needs will be fulfilled in the future too. After that comes our need for love, friendship and company. At this stage, Maslow writes, the individual "may even forget that once, when he was hungry, he sneered at love". The next stage is all about social recognition, status and respect. And the final stage, represented in the graphic as the topmost tip of the triangle, Maslow labelled with the psychologists' term "self-actualisation". It's about fulfilment - doing the thing that you were put on the planet to do. "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy," wrote Maslow. "What a man can be, he must be." While there were no pyramids or triangles in the original paper, Maslow's hierarchy of needs is now usually illustrated with the symbol. And although the paper was written as pure psychology it has found its main application in management theory. "There's no question it's had a profound influence on management education and management practice," says Gerard Hodgkinson, a psychologist at Warwick Business School.

"One of the insights is that as managers we can shape the conditions that create people's aspirations." The lesser-spotted self-actualiser Maslow said only 2% of people reached the stage of self-actualisation He wanted to study self-actualisers but he said it was extremely difficult to find any In 1970 he published a list of famous people he considered to have been self-actualisers - the roll call included Einstein (pictured), Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Beethoven, Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt and... Abraham Maslow He believed they underwent "peak experiences"- moments of sublime inspiration and ecstasy He also said they were unusually creative, spontaneous and had a strange sense of humour Managers use Maslow's hierarchy to identify the needs of their staff and help them feel fulfilled, whether it's by giving them a pet project, a fancy job title or flexible working arrangements, so they can pursue their interests outside the workplace. In the second half of the 20th Century, bosses began to realise that employees' hopes, feelings and needs had an impact on performance. In 1960, Douglas McGregor published The Human Side of Enterprise, which contrasted traditional managerial styles with a people-centred approach inspired by Maslow.

It became a best-seller. Some managers began to move away from a purely "transactional" contract with a company's staff, in which they received money in exchange for doing a job, to a complex "relational" one, where a company offered opportunities for an individual to feel fulfilled, but expected more in return. Bill O'Brien, President and CEO of Hanover Insurance, put it well in an interview published in 1990. "Our traditional organisations are designed to provide for the first three of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs," he said. "Since these are now widely available to members of industrial society our organisations do not provide significantly unique opportunities to command the loyalty and commitment of our people." According to Douglas Kenrick at Arizona State University, the appeal of Maslow's hierarchy can be explained by the fact that it reflects a pattern of growth we observe in children. "I have a child who is six years old and I noticed that when he was an infant he couldn't care less about public opinion," Kenrick says. "In kindergarten he started to worry about making friends but he didn't really care about getting respect from those people.

And now he's in the first grade and you can see he's beginning to think about his friends' opinions and what status they hold him in." Abraham Maslow Born 1908, in a slum in Brooklyn, New York His parents were Russian Jews - he faced anti-Semitism as a child and in academia Had an IQ of 195, but flunked some undergraduate courses - he couldn't focus on anything that didn't interest him He was shy and reportedly very humble, even after he became famous He eventually became a public intellectual who wrote for a general audience As well as influencing business leaders, Maslow's ideas fed into the counter-culture movement - he had links with the psychedelic figurehead, Timothy Leary Kenrick also thinks the longevity of the hierarchy of needs can be explained by the pyramid which came to represent it, and which "captures a complicated idea in a very simple way". Maslow's theories have many supporters today, including US hotelier and business guru Chip Conley . But critics point to dozens of counter-examples. What about the famished poet? Or the person who withdraws from society to become a hermit? Or the mountaineer who disregards safety in his determination to reach the summit?

Muddying things slightly, Maslow said that for some people, needs may appear in a different order or be absent altogether. Moreover, people felt a mix of needs from different levels at any one time, but they varied in degree. There is a further problem with Maslow's work. Margie Lachman, a psychologist who works in the same office as Maslow at his old university, Brandeis in Massachusetts, admits that her predecessor offered no empirical evidence for his theory. "He wanted to have the grand theory, the grand ideas - and he wanted someone else to put it to the hardcore scientific test," she says. "It never quite materialised." However, after Maslow's death in 1970, researchers did undertake a more detailed investigation, with attitude-based surveys and field studies testing out the Hierarchy of Needs. "When you analyse them, the five needs just don't drop out," says Hodgkinson. "The actual structure of motivation doesn't fit the theory. And that led to a lot of discussion and debate, and new theories evolved as a consequence." In 1972, Clayton Alderfer whittled Maslow's five groups of needs down to three, labelled Existence, Relatedness and Growth.

Although elements of a hierarchy remain, "ERG theory" held that human beings need to be satisfied in all three areas - if that's not possible then their energies are redoubled in a lower category. So for example, if it is impossible to get a promotion, an employee might talk more to colleagues and get more out of the social side of work. More sophisticated theories followed. Maslow's triangle was chopped up, flipped on its head and pulled apart into flow diagrams. Hodgkinson says that one business textbook has just been published which doesn't mention Maslow, and there is a campaign afoot to have him removed from the next editions of others. The absence of solid evidence has tarnished Maslow's status within psychology too. But as a result, Lachman says, people miss seeing that he was responsible for a major shift of focus within the discipline. Image caption A recent internet meme is evidence of Maslow's enduring hold on popular culture "He really was ground-breaking in his thinking," Lachman says. "He was saying that you weren't acting on the basis of these uncontrollable, unconscious desires.

Your behaviour was not just influenced by external rewards and reinforcement, but there were these internal needs and motivations." Unlike the psychoanalysts and behaviourists who preceded him, Maslow was not that interested in mental illness - instead of finding out what went wrong with people, he wanted to find out what could go right with them. This opened the door for later movements such as humanistic psychology and positive psychology, and the "happiness agenda" that preoccupies the current UK government. Maslow's friend, management guru Warren Bennis, believes the quality underlying all Maslow's thinking was his striking optimism about human nature and society. "Abe Maslow, a Jewish kid who really grew up poor, represented the American dream," he says. "All of his psychology really had to do with possibility, not restraints. His metaphysics were all about the possibilities of change, the possibilities of the human being to really fit into the democratic mode." Photos of Maslow courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections, Brandeis University. Maslow's Humanistic Theory of Personality About Watch and Favorite Watch Watching this resources will notify you when proposed changes or new versions are created so you can keep track of improvements that have been made.

Favorite Favoriting this resource allows you to save it in the “My Resources” tab of your account. There, you can easily access this resource later when you’re ready to customize it or assign it to your students. Maslow's Humanistic Theory of Personality Maslow's humanistic theory of personality states that people achieve their full potential by moving from basic needs to self-actualization. Learning Objective Summarize Maslow's humanistic theory of personality Key Points As a leader of humanistic psychology , Abraham Maslow approached the study of personality by focusing on subjective experiences, free will, and the innate drive toward self-actualization . Maslow expanded the field of humanistic psychology to include an explanation of how human needs change throughout an individual's lifespan, and how these needs influence the development of personality. Maslow's hierarchy of needs ranks human needs from the most basic physical needs to the most advanced needs of self-actualization. A person must acquire and master each level of need before proceeding to the next need. Maslow studied the personalities of self-actualizers and found they had many things in common; he believed self-actualizers indicate a coherent personality syndrome and represent optimal psychological health and functioning.

Maslow's ideas have been criticized for their lack of scientific rigor, as well as their Western cultural bias . Terms Register for FREE to remove ads and unlock more features! Learn more Full Text Often called the “third force” in psychology, humanism was a reaction to both the pessimistic determinism of psychoanalysis , with its emphasis on psychological disturbance, and to the behaviorists’ view of humans passively reacting to the environment. Two of the leading humanistic theorists who made advancements in the field of personality psychology were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Abraham Maslow's Humanism As a leader of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow approached the study of personality psychology by focusing on subjective experiences and free will. He was mainly concerned with an individual's innate drive toward self-actualization—a state of fulfillment in which a person is achieving at his or her highest level of capability.

Maslow positioned his work as a vital complement to that of Freud, saying: "It is as if Freud supplied us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the healthy half." In his research, Maslow studied the personalities of people who he considered to be healthy, creative, and productive, including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and others. He found that such people share similar characteristics, such as being open, creative, loving, spontaneous, compassionate, concerned for others, and accepting of themselves. Personality and the Hierarchy of Needs Maslow is perhaps most well-known for his hierarchy of needs theory , in which he proposes that human beings have certain needs in common and that these needs must be met in a certain order. These needs range from the most basic physiological needs for survival to higher-level self-actualization and transcendence needs. Maslow's hierarchy is most often presented visually as a pyramid, with the largest, most fundamental physiological needs at the bottom and the smallest, most advanced self-actualization needs at the top. Each layer of the pyramid must be fulfilled before moving up the pyramid to higher needs, and this process is continued throughout the lifespan.

Abraham Maslow developed a human hierarchy of needs that is conceptualized as a pyramid to represent how people move from one level of needs to another. First physiological needs must be met before safety needs, then the need for love and belonging, then esteem, and finally self-actualization. Maslow believed that successful fulfillment of each layer of needs was vital in the development of personality. The highest need for self-actualization represents the achievement of our fullest potential, and those individuals who finally achieved self-actualization were said to represent optimal psychological health and functioning. Maslow stretched the field of psychological study to include fully-functional individuals instead of only those with psychoses , and he shed a more positive light on personality psychology. Characteristics of Self-Actualizers Maslow viewed self-actualizers as the supreme achievers in the human race. He studied stand-out individuals in order to better understand what characteristics they possessed that allowed them to achieve self-actualization. In his research, he found that many of these people shared certain personality traits . Most self-actualizers had a great sense of awareness, maintaining a near-constant enjoyment and awe of life. They often described peak experiences during which they felt such an intense degree of satisfaction that they seemed to transcend themselves.

They actively engaged in activities that would bring about this feeling of unity and meaningfulness. Despite this fact, most of these individuals seemed deeply rooted in reality and were active problem-seekers and solvers. They developed a level of acceptance for what could not be changed and a level of spontaneity and resilience to tackle what could be changed. Most of these people had healthy relationships with a small group with which they interacted frequently. According to Maslow, self-actualized people indicate a coherent personality syndrome and represent optimal psychological health and functioning. Criticism of Maslow's Theories Maslow's ideas have been criticized for their lack of scientific rigor. As with all early psychological studies, questions have been raised about the lack of empirical evidence used in his research. Because of the subjective nature of the study, the holistic approach allows for a great deal of variation but does not identify enough constant variables in order to be researched with true accuracy . Psychologists also worry that such an extreme focus on the subjective experience of the individual does little to explain or appreciate the impact of society on personality development. Furthermore, the hierarchy of needs has been accused of cultural bias—mainly reflecting Western values and ideologies.

Critics argue that this concept is considered relative to each culture and society and cannot be universally applied.

Question: Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs' theory is commonly represented as a?
Answer: Pyramid