Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow - Essay Example

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory has been widely discussed by different scholars and applied to different settings. The theory proposes that people are motivated by extrinsic rewards of their needs that follow a particular pattern from basic needs to self actualization needs. However, not all people follow the pattern proposed by the theory in fulfilling their needs because it can be difficult to stick to the hierarchical pattern practically. This paper explains the relevance of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and further states the variations of the theory that are adopted by people to enable them to survive. The paper demonstrates how people are able to switch their level of needs depending on various circumstances surrounding them. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs In the current society, people are motivated to carry out the different roles in their life in order to satisfy their various needs depending on their financial and social capabilities. It is because of this behavior that different psychologists went into great lengths of studying human behavior in relation to their needs and hence different theories were advanced. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory that was advanced by American psychologist by the name Abraham Maslow in 1943. Maslow described the motivational behavior adopted by people in the society in their quest to satisfy their needs. In order to advance his theory, Maslow studied the behavior of reputable people such as Albert Einstein, who is a great was a great physicist and Eleanor Roosevelt who a wife to the longest serving American president. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are presented in pyramid shape with the basic needs at the lower levels and growth needs at higher levels. According to Maslow’s theory, people have to satisfy their basic needs before attaining the growth needs. However, aiming to be self actualized is not easy and not all people can attain the state. This paper will delve into the issue of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and further explain why fulfillment of the theory may not be easy. To start with, the Maslow’s theory groups the human needs into five groups namely the physiological needs, safety and security needs, social needs, esteem needs and self actualization needs that are attained sequentially from the physiological to self actualization. This categorization of human needs and the pattern followed to achieve them makes great sense. This is because human beings are motivated to satisfy basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing before thinking of anything else. After satisfying the basic needs, human beings feel the need for security in order to carry out their different daily operations. Further, human beings start to feel the need for belonging and identification with certain groups. Lastly, human beings start to feel the need for respect and recognition by other people for their achievement before exploring their full potential as human beings (Reece 2014). However, this is not always the case in fulfillment of human needs. According to Dick, people are able to switch from one kind of need to another as they become more established in work place for example (2001). This is true because a mature people, for example adults, are able to switch personal needs depending on the available opportunities. For instance, an employee can switch from the need of job security to the need of promotion when there is an available vacancy in the organization. Secondly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that human beings are motivated extrinsically to satisfy higher needs until self actualization. According to Rakowski, human beings are motivated to attain the lower needs as described by the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs after which the higher needs become active and attractive hence motivating people to attain the needs (2008). This ideally makes the common formula followed by many people to attain the desired needs in their life. For example, most people strive to get the basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing before focussing on other things such as recognition of achievements in the society. Further, Reece states that only unsatisfied needs motivate human behaviour in different settings (2014). This is true because, once people have achieved certain needs they can no longer get motivated by the same needs. For example, if a person is motivated to make certain achievements like constructing a house to live in, shortly after completion of the house, the person cannot be motivated to construct another house. However, it is important to note that people cannot live by extrinsic motivation only. Intrinsic motivation also plays an important role in motivating people to achieve their perceived needs. According to Coon, Mitterer, Talbot, and Vanchella, intrinsic motivation happens when people carry out activities without an obvious external reward such as pay or approval (2010). This is true because people always perform various activities in order to enjoy or improve their abilities. For example, it is a normal occurrence for people to perform outdoor or in door sporting activities for enjoyment. In sporting activities, there are no extrinsic rewards as proposed by the Maslow’s theory. Another significant element on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the positioning of social needs such as love, esteem and prestige. These social necessities are placed in the third and fourth level respectively meaning that they are the stepping stones to the achievement of self actualization. Social necessities are important in making people to fully realize their potential as human beings. This is because the society is structured in such a way that members have to be united in order to effectively accomplish different goals. Therefore, a person needs to gain support from other people in order to accomplish remarkable development. For example, considering the effects of love to personal development, it is undoubted that people who experience acceptance and good relations with other people perform well in various activities for instance in their work places. Further, McLeod states that “society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs” (2007). This means that only people who have achieved the social necessities hierarchically can achieve the self actualization state. However, this is not always the case for every person considering the fact that human beings are social since their existence on earth. On this basis, it is important to point out that human beings require social necessities such as love from even the lower levels of psychological needs. For example, a newly married couple are motivated to work hard and attain psychological needs such as food and clothing due to the love support offered by their partners. Of more significance, the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that only sufficient people are able to achieve self actualization. Self actualization is the ultimate need where people are motivated to exploit their full potential as human beings (Reece 2014). This is quite acceptable in the current society because all human beings aim to achieve their full capabilities on earth so that they can live comfortably. Considering the types of activities carried out by people who have attained their full potential, for example becoming a politician, it is evident that much support and financial stability is needed. Moreover, it is impossible for people to develop needs for being recognized in the society if they have not addressed their physiological needs fully. Similarly, it is impossible for a person to become a politician if he is not well known in the society and has not addressed his security concerns. This demonstrates that the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is real and that the needs are achieved procedurally from the lowest to the highest. However, it is also possible to become self actualized without having to follow the described model of needs (Environmental Justice Organization, Liberties and Trade 2012). For example, talented people such as marathoners, who have not yet gained self-esteem needs can get a lot of money through their talent and hence be in a position to achieve their full potential like setting up their dream businesses. Similarly, other people like talented artists can gain popularity faster without necessarily having to achieve their security needs and can further advance to the self actualization level. These examples show that even ‘in sufficient’ people can attain the self actualization level. Expectedly, the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs demonstrates the pattern on which individual needs motivate people to seek certain types of information. According to Huitt, people seek for information that can help them to address their needs effectively and faster (2007). This is true because people are less concerned with information that cannot help them in any way. Considering the hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow, people at the physiological stage of need seek for information that enables them to meet their basic needs. On the other hand, people at the security level of need seek for helping information that can assist them to acquire security (Huitt 2007). Huitt further states that people at the social need stage seek for enlighten information that commonly talks about relationships. In addition, people at the self esteem level of needs seek for empowering information that can help them to develop their egos. Lastly, people seeking to explore their full potential look for edifying information that can help them instruct other people (Huitt 2007). However, this is not always the case in the society because people at different levels of their needs seek for different kind of information that does not necessarily lead to satisfaction of their needs. For example, people at psychological level of needs can seek for helping information which is thought to be meant for people at the security level of needs in order to have an understanding of security level in the society. In conclusion, the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represent a classical example of how individual needs are satisfied in the society. It is important to point out that Maslow’s theory of needs demonstrates how extrinsic rewards can be a motivation for people in the society to move in to higher level of needs and hence accomplish activities. However, from the above discussion, it is evident that exceptions to the Maslow’s theory exist. In addition, the theory does not fully represent the reality on the ground of how people can switch their needs from one level to another without following the proposed arrangement depending on surrounding circumstances in order to facilitate their survival. References Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., Talbot, S., & Vanchella, C. M. (2010). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Print. Dick,B. (2001). Maslow Revis(it)ed. Retrieved on April 30, 2014 from http://www.aral.com.au/DLitt/DLitt_P02masrev.pdf Environmental Justice Organization, Liberties and Trade. (2012). Needs. Retrieved on April 30, 2014 from http://www.ejolt.org/2012/12/needs/ Huitt, W. (2007). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved April 30, from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html McLeod, S. (2007). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved on April 30, 2014 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html Rakowski, N. (2008). Maslows hierarchy of needs model: The difference of the Chinese and the Western pyramid on the example of purchasing luxurious products. Norderstedt: Grin Verla,g. Print. Reece, B. L. (2014). Effective human relations: Interpersonal and organizational applications. Mason, OH: South-Western. Print. Read More