Maslow, a popular theory of motivation
One of the most popular theories of motivation is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The theory has been said to be evident in movies such as Cast Away, Rocky, Titanic, and Forrest Gump. In this article I will discuss the history, the summary of the theory, motivational understanding, goal assignment, and criticism of Maslow’s theory.
Abraham Maslow was born in 1908 and raised in New York. He started to gather notes on behavior by observing two of his mentors. One mentor was an anthropologist and the other was a psychologist. The observations became the foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The concept was first presented in Maslow’s 1943 paper titled, “A Theory of Human Motivation.”
One of the most popular schools of thought in the early 1900’s included Psychoanalysis, the talking out of feelings, events, and childhood. Another popular school of thought was Behaviorism, the idea that interacting with the environment around you shapes your actions. Maslow was different and grafted toward a different school of thought. He focused on the Humanistic school of thought which utilized the resources inside an individual. Maslow believed that all of us want and strive to be the best individual we can be. Maslow thought that we all want to be happy and in order to be happy we need to realize and embrace our potential.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs consists of five levels or steps. Designed like a ladder, an individual starts at the first step of the ladder and moves up. The first step is termed Physiological needs. The step is described as the basic needs of an individual. Objects such as food, water, shelter, sleep, reproduction, and clothing are basic needs. The next step up is termed Safety Needs and consists of health, work, personal security, property, and social ability. The third step is called Love and Belonging and consists of friendship, sense of connection, family, and intimacy. Step four is named Self-Esteem consisting of respect of others, achievement, unique self, and confidence. The last step is termed Self-Actualization embracing morality, acceptance, inner potential, creativity, sense of purpose, and spontaneity. Originally, the theory stated that an individual could only move up a step if they were secure in the current step. It is now known that the theory is not linear in nature and an individual may skip steps or even step backwards.
The theory suggests that the unfulfilled needs in our lives motivate our behavior. Motivation is the desire to act in order to complete a goal. When we state that we have lost our motivation, it’s because the desire is gone. Our goals may still be active, but we just don’t have the desire to get it accomplished. Motivation fuels our behavior by charging up our internal state to go to the gym, finish reading that book we started, or mowing the lawn. Two types of forces inspire our motivation, intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from within ourselves. An example of intrinsic motivation is you go to the gym because you want to feel better and have more energy. An extrinsic motivation to go to the gym might be if you attend the gym five days in a row your name is entered into a drawing for $100 gift card. Both types of motivational forces are evident in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
The most important aspect of this theory is goal assignment. Whether you align your goals to Maslow’s theory or not isn’t necessarily important. What is important is that you are creating goals and working toward completing those goals. It’s hard to get anywhere in life without making goals. Maslow’s theory is a good reminder that we need to make and complete goals for our physical, psychological, and mental well-being.
Maslow’s theory has several criticisms. One criticism is the difficulty to test the theory. A systematic definition doesn’t exist for self-actualization. It’s hard to measure a variable when a solid definition doesn’t exist for the variable. Without the ability to measure the variable it is hard to validate self-actualization. Another criticism is the individual focus. Maslow’s theory is primarily built with an individualistic culture in mind. Collectivist cultures may not value individual growth as much as an individualistic culture. Some cultures may value group needs before individual needs. The theory also doesn’t address environmental aspects such as social and economic positions. Without addressing the wholistic nature of human needs, Maslow’s hierarchy can be perceived as incomplete and over simplified.
Despite the criticisms, Maslow’s hierarchy is still a popular and often used theory in our society. The simplification of the theory makes easy for individuals to understand. Many individuals do strive to be the best. The question is if their definition of ‘best’ aligns with Maslow’s defined needs.