MASLOWS HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Abraham Maslow was born in New York in 1908 and died in 1970, although
various publications appear in Maslow's name in later years. Maslow's PhD in
psychology in 1934 at the University of Wisconsin formed the basis of his
motivational research, initially studying rhesus monkeys. Maslow later moved to
New York's Brooklyn College.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham

Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological
Review. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of
humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of
human developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages
of growth in humans. Maslow used the terms "Physiological", "Safety",
"Belongingness" and "Love", "Esteem", "Self-Actualization", and "SelfTranscendence" to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move
through.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the
largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for selfactualization at the top.

The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow
called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem, friendship and love, security, and
physical needs. If these "deficiency needs" are not met with the exception of the
most fundamental (physiological) need there may not be a physical indication,
but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Maslow's theory suggests that the
most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or
focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined

the term "metamotivation" to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the
scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment.
The human mind and brain are complex and have parallel processes running at the
same time, thus many different motivations from various levels of Maslow's
hierarchy can occur at the same time. Maslow spoke clearly about these levels and
their satisfaction in terms such as "relative," "general," and "primarily." Instead of
stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at any given time, Maslow
stated that a certain need "dominates" the human organism. Thus Maslow
acknowledged the likelihood that the different levels of motivation could occur at
any time in the human mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of
motivation and the order in which they should be met.

According to Maslows theory, there are four types of needs that must be satisfied
before a person can act unselfishly. The needs are arranged in a hierarchical order.
The upward climb is made by satisfying one set of needs at a time. The most basic
drives are physiological. After that comes the need for safety, then the desire for
love, and then the quest for esteem. Note the softening of terminology used to
describe the move up the ladder. Were driven to satisfy the lower needs, but were
drawn to meet the higher ones.
Maslow referred to the four lower needs as deficiency needs because their lack
creates a tension within us. He saw nothing wrong with the human desire to scratch
where we itch. As long as we can work to satisfy the cravings, were moving
toward growth. Its when a repressive society or a warped individual curtails our
freedom to satisfy our needs that we become ill. Satisfying needs is healthy.
Blocking gratification makes us sick. The urge to fulfill needs is potent but not
overpowering.
Although everyone has the same set of the needs, our ways of fulfilling those needs
can be different. You could meet your need to belong (love and be loved) by going
to a party, whereas your roommate might go for a quiet walk with a friend. Despite
these different means of gratification, our common desire for love makes us
brothers or sisters under the skin.

LOWER NEEDS TAKE PRIORITY UNTIL MET

There is nothing unique about Maslows focus on physical, safety, love, and esteem
needs. Other theorists include these four in their lists of basic needs. The genius of
the hierarchy is its concept of prepotency. A prepotent need is the one that has the
greatest power or influence over our actions. Maslow claimed that everyone has a
prepotent need, but the need will differ among individuals. You might be motivated
by a craving for love, while I may be motivated by a desire for esteem. Which need
is prepotent for a given individual?
According to Maslow, a persons prepotent need is the lowest unmet need in the
pyramid. Not surprisingly physical drives take priority in Maslows system. Almost
all motivational theorists regard the needs for food and other physical necessities
as powerful and primary urges. Fortunately for many people, these basic wants are
usually well satisfied. What happens when there is plenty of bread and the belly is
full day after day?
Maslow described the shift in motivation that occurs when survival needs are met:
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. As one desire is satisfied, another pops
up to take its place 3. What follows is a brief description of the deficiency needs in
the order Maslow predicted they occur.

1. Physiological Needs
Physiological needs are basic: The body craves food, liquid, sleep, oxygen, sex,
freedom of movement, and a moderate temperature. When any of these are in short
supply, we feel the distressing tension of hunger, thirst, fatigue, shortness of breath,
sexual frustration, confinement, or the discomfort of being too hot or cold. These
irritants compel us to seek the missing commodity so that our body can return to
homeostasis-a system in balance or at rest. As long as the body feels substantially
deprived, it marshals all its energies in the service of satisfying these demands.
Responding like a heatseeking missile, a dog or cat invariably finds the one patch
of sunlight that provides a warm place to doze.
On the physiological level, Maslow sees people as no different. But once these
physical needs are met regularly, they no longer exert pressure. A need fulfilled no
longer motivates. Weight Watchers advises that the time to go to the grocery store
is after a complete meal. When weve had enough to eat, food becomes relatively
unimportant. As hunger and the other physiological needs are met, the need for
security kicks in.

2. Safety Needs
The safety needs operate mainly on a psychological level. Naturally we try to
avoid a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. But once weve managed a certain level
of physical comfort, well seek to establish stability and consistency in a chaotic
world. When he talked about security, Maslow pictured the child who strives for
predictability and certainty. For instance, most kids enjoy a set bedtime routine and
grow visibly distressed if a parent tries to short-circuit the ritual. Their safety needs
require a consistent and secure world that offers few surprises. Unfortunately, life
doesnt always cooperate. Some of you who come from a broken or dysfunctional
home know the cringing fear of waiting for the next fight or the other shoe to fall.
Many adults go through life stuck on this level and act as if catastrophe will
happen any moment. Political appeals for law and order are aimed at people whose
insecurities have never been quieted. Maslow also placed religious inclination on
the safety rung because he saw that tendency as an attempt to bring about an
ordered universe with no nasty shocks.

3. Love and Belongingness Needs

The love or belongingness needs come into play after the physiological and
security drives are satisfied. Gratification is a matter of degree rather than an
either-or accomplishment. But once a need has been significantly satisfied over a
long period of time, it becomes functionally absent. The action switches to the next
highest level, in this case, love.
For Maslow, giving love is seeking to fill a void by understanding and accepting
selected others. Receiving love is a way of staving off the pangs of loneliness and
rejection. The man who attains this level will feel keenly, as never before, the
absence of friends, or a wife, or children. Even though its higher in the hierarchy
than physical or safety needs, the desire for love and belonging is similar in that it
motivates only when a person feels a deficit. Maslow notes that the need for love is
more fragile than the needs that go before. For example, this need is nonexistent in
the psychopath, who feels no desire for warmth or affection. And some people they
want respect before they want love. But for most of us, the prepotent order is as
Maslow depicted it:
Physiological + Safety + Love -+ Esteem.

4. Esteem Needs

The esteem needs are of two types. Theres self-esteem, which is the result of
competence or mastery of tasks. Harvard psychologist David McClelland calls this
need for achievement. Theres also the attention and recognition that come from
others. Wanting this admiration is part of what McClelland labels need for
power. McClelland assumes that individual differences in needs are tied to
personality, and they change slowly if at all. Maslow, on the other hand, believes
that repeated shifts in motivation are possible when a person is in a supportive
environment.
Consider the real-life case of Tony, who seemed to have everything going against
him, yet he has risen to the esteem level in the hierarchy of needs. Tony was raised
in the inner city of Chicago, the seventh child in a Hispanic family of twelve that
lacked legal status in the United States. With his father working a minimum-wage
job, Tony never had enough to eat. The lack of health care and sufficient heat in the
winter guaranteed that Tonys childhood would center on his physical wants. When
Tony was 12 years old, extended welfare benefits plus financial aid from a local
church combined to raise his family slightly above the poverty line. As food,
warmth, and medical attention silenced his bodys chronic aches, Tony began to
worry about the twin threats of the immigration service and street gangs.
He had risen to the safety level in Maslows hierarchy. The Amnesty Act of 1986
took away the fear of deportation, and a high school coach recruited him for an
after-hours wrestling program that removed him from the constant hassle with
gang members. With safety no longer a major concern, Tony started to feel the pull
of his previously dormant needs to love and to belong.

As Maslow would have predicted, the last few years of Tonys life have been
characterized by an increased interest in his brothers and sisters, friendship with his
wrestling buddies, and a mutual fascination with a girl named Helen. Although his
needs for love are only partially fulfilled, Tony now talks about making something
of his life and has applied for financial aid to enter college. Maslow would cite
these initial efforts as evidence that Tony has worked his way up to the esteem
level of the hierarchy. Contrast Tonys experience with a man who has been
brought up in a comfortable, secure, loving environment. He has never known
physical want, experienced danger, or felt separation from the people he loves.
Unlike Tony, he will probably take for granted the blessings he already has.
Because of the constant gratification hes received, this person might put up with
all sorts of hardship, danger, and loneliness in order to gain a sense of worth. He
might even die for a cause. Maslow notes that its easier to make sacrifices when
youre never faced chronic deprivation. There are few martyrs from the ranks of
those who have to struggle for existence.

5. SELF-ACTUALIZATION:
THE ULTIMATE GOAL Maslow described the need for self-actualization as
the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one
is capable of becoming5 People feel this gentle but persistent tug to maximize
their potential only after they have satisfied their basic deficiency cravings.
Obviously, the comic strip character Charlie Brown, who bemoans the curse of
great potential, has yet to reach that point. Self-actualization can take many
forms, depending on the individual. These variations may include the quest for
knowledge, understanding, peace, self-fulfillment, meaning in life, or beauty. For
instance, the aesthetic person operating on this level may feel physically ill when
driving past an ugly array of fast-food restaurants with garish neon signs. But the
need for beauty is neither higher nor lower than the other needs at the top of the
pyramid.
Self actualization needs arent hierarchically ordered. Youll recall that Maslow
set out to study fully functioning people who had grown past the discontent and
restlessness that characterize the lower order needs of the hierarchy. He found

very few. People who fit his criteria turned out to be mature in years as well as in
the process of living. Each was dedicated to a task or calling which would benefit
others. Since they werent people who need people, they were free to pursue a
cause or vocation. Most of us have trouble imagining ourselves on this
transcendent plane, so Maslow developed a device that would give the uninitiated
a glimpse of the self-actualized life. He asked people to describe the single most
joyous, happy, or blissful moment of their life. Perhaps youd recount a religious
experience, a moment of sexual ecstasy, or a time when a piece of music took
you to the heights. This peak experience would provide a taste of the fulfillment
available to those who get beyond the deficiency needs.
Maslows vision of self-actualization as the highest human attainment became a
rallying point for Carl Rogers, Rollo May, Erich Fromm, and other humanistic
psychologists. If not the founder of the human potential movement, Maslow
certainly is a father figure to those who are part of the if-it feels-good-do-it
tradition. Its hard to imagine hordes of people lined up to hug Leo Buscaglia had
not Maslow paved the way.

Examples When Order Is Different

A saint will have the self actualization need after safety needs instead of
belongingness and esteem needs.

 People living in USA will have esteem needs after physiological needs as their
basic needs are fulfilled and their culture is such.
Residents of terror affected places will have safety needs as priority.
Places which are earthquake prone will have shelter needs over any other need.
An orphan will have love needs after basic needs.

Criticisms
Maslow proposed that if people grew up in an environment in which their needs
are not meet, they would be unlikely to function healthy, well-adjusted individuals.
Research testing Maslows theory has supported the distinction between the
deficiencies and growth needs but showed that not all people are able to satisfy
their higher-order needs on the job. According the results of the research managers
from higher echelons of organisations are able to satisfy both their growth and
deficiency needs lower level managers are able to satisfy only their deficiency
needs on the job. Maslows theory has not received a great deal of support with
respect to specific notion it proposes (Greenberg &Baron 2003, p195). To them
this model is theorised to be especially effective in describing the behaviour of
individuals who are high in growth need strength because employees who are
different to the idea of increasing their growth will not realize any physiological
reaction to their jobs.
Centers & Bgental (1966, .193) in their survey carried out among a cross-section of
the working population in Los Angeles, posited background factors, altitudes and
aspirations affects workers needs, expectations and situation assessment.
According to Graham & Messner (1998, p.196) there are generally three major
criticisms directed to the need theory and other content theories of motivation. (A)
There is scant empirical data to support their conclusions, (b) they assume
employees are basically alike, and (c) they are not theories of motivation at all, but

rather theories of job satisfaction. This was supported by the views of Nadler &
Lawler (1979) in Graham &Messner (2000, p 188).
Nadler & Lawler (1979) cited in Graham & Messner (2000, p.198) were also
critical of the need theory of motivation. They argue that the theory makes the
following unrealistic assumptions about employees in general that: (a) all
employees are alike (b) all situations are alike and that (c) there is only one best
way to meet needs. Another critic to this view was Basset-Jones & Lloyd (2004, p
961). Basset-Jones & Lloyd (2004, p 961) presents that in general, critics of the
need theory argue that it is as a result of the natural feeling of employees to take
credit for needs met and dissatisfaction on needs not met.

Conclusion
Nonetheless and regardless of the heavy criticism levied at the hierarchy of need
theory, I believe that this theory has a made a significant contribution in the field of
organisational behaviour and management especially in the area of employee
motivation and remains attractive to both researchers and managers alike. The
incorporation of the need theory into the work environment today could be as a
result of the contributions made so far by Maslows Hierarchy of need theory.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
MASLOWS HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS

ANUSHRI RATHI
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