MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Theory of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs



Theory of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Harold Maslow remains a benchmark for many psychologists in the world. It is known in the psychology of work for his studies on motivation, often unfairly summarized in a simple pyramid should ascend the steps one after the other to reach satisfaction. For psychotherapists are the initiators of humanistic psychology, with Carl Rogers in particular. Other psychologists still see in them the figurehead of the trans-personal psychology - the branch of psychology that goes beyond strictly respect the personality to be interested in the spiritual dimension of man and exceptional states of consciousness (Manning, Curtis, 1988).

Abraham Maslow is all at once. These Prisms each give just a glimpse but incomplete. Early researches of Maslow have concerned the behavior of animals (dogs, monkeys) and determinants of human behavior in society. From the 1940s, his interest has focused on negative feelings (fear, deprivation, insecurity), then turn to their opposite, motivation and satisfaction.

During his career, Maslow became interested primarily motivated "superior" man in the hierarchy (self-fulfillment) and the states of fullness (paroxysmal experiments), and the foundations of mental health. His hierarchy of needs means that man attains the full development of his psyche that he is satisfied on all levels: physiological, safety, love (belonging), esteem (recognition) and self-fulfillment (creativity)

This hierarchy is commonly represented as a pyramid, from base to top, are five levels of needs:

The basic physiological needs (such as hunger, thirst),

Second, security needs and protection (such as the desire for a roof or good insurance),

Then come the needs of belonging, social needs that reflect the desire to be part of a family, group, tribe,

Then come the needs of self-esteem (which can look in the mirror, in the morning),

Appearing at the top of the hierarchy, the needs of self-fulfillment.

The pyramid has been attributed to Maslow misrepresents the richness of his analysis, especially betrays the dynamic vision that he needs in the construction of personality. Maslow believes that the basic needs (physiological and safety) are met, then the person looking to meet other needs of higher order so as to constantly supply the motivation. Need a higher order can be satisfied only if the previous are. Thus, to apply this model to the professional world, it is useless to try to motivate employees in the esteem and achievement, whether threats of layoffs undermine the security and if wages are ...