Definition
Maslow's hierarchy of needs explains human motivation not as a single drive but as a hierarchy of needs with different priorities. Just as food matters more than honor or self-improvement to someone who is starving, a severely unmet basic need dominates thought and behavior. Once basic needs are relatively satisfied, the needs at the next level emerge as new motivators.
The theory is cited not only in introductory psychology but also in motivation theory in business, needs assessment in nursing, client needs analysis in social work, and units on learning motivation in education. It is one of the first theories introduced whenever a paper or exam deals with “motivation.”
Key Concepts
The hierarchy of needs
Needs differ in prepotency: when lower needs are not met, higher needs hardly appear. Maslow summed this up by saying that a satisfied need is no longer a motivator.
Deficiency needs and growth needs
The four lower levels are deficiency needs, while self-actualization is a growth need. Unmet deficiency needs produce anxiety and tension and lose their motivating power once satisfied, whereas growth needs tend to become stronger the more they are fulfilled.
The hierarchy is not a rigid staircase
In his 1943 paper Maslow himself explained that the hierarchy is not fixed and that one level does not have to be 100% satisfied before the next one emerges. People hold several needs at once, and the focus of behavior shifts according to how far each need is satisfied; this is closer to his original claim.
Stages and Components
| Level | Need | Content and examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physiological needs | The most basic needs for survival, such as food, water, sleep and body temperature |
| 2 | Safety needs | Physical safety, a stable life, order and predictability, financial security |
| 3 | Love and belonging | The need to belong to family, friends, partners and groups and to give and receive affection |
| 4 | Esteem needs | Self-esteem such as confidence and achievement, and the wish to be recognized by others |
| 5 | Self-actualization | The need to realize one's full potential and become what one is capable of becoming |
In later writings Maslow mentioned cognitive needs to know and understand and aesthetic needs for beauty, and late in life he discussed self-transcendence, devotion to values beyond the self. For this reason some textbooks present the model as having seven or eight levels.
Theorists and Background
In the mid-20th century, when behaviorism and psychoanalysis dominated, Maslow (1908–1970) rejected views of humans merely as organisms responding to stimuli (Skinner's behaviorism) or as driven by unconscious impulses (Freud's psychoanalysis), and focused on healthy people striving to grow. Together with Carl Rogers and others, this led to humanistic psychology, often called the “third force” in psychology.
He first presented the need hierarchy systematically in Psychological Review in 1943 and expanded it in Motivation and Personality (1954). Research (Bridgman et al., 2019) shows that the familiar pyramid diagram was not drawn by Maslow but spread through management textbooks and consulting materials from the 1960s onward, so “hierarchy” is the more accurate term in academic writing.
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Criticisms and Limitations
- Weak empirical support: Reviewing earlier studies, Wahba and Bridwell (1976) reported little evidence that needs fall into five distinct categories or appear in a fixed order.
- Exceptions to the order: Many people devote themselves to beliefs or art even when lower needs are unmet. In an international survey by Tay and Diener (2011), various needs were related to subjective well-being, but they did not follow a strict order.
- Cultural bias: Critics argue that placing individual achievement and self-actualization at the top reflects individualistic cultures. In collectivist cultures, belonging and relationships may be valued more highly.
- Vagueness of self-actualization: Because the traits of self-actualizers were drawn from biographical analysis of a small number of figures, the concept is hard to measure and generalize.
Theories that address these limits include Alderfer's ERG theory, which reduces needs to existence, relatedness and growth and allows flexibility in their order, and Herzberg's two-factor theory, which separates job satisfaction factors from dissatisfaction factors. Comparing it with Bandura's social learning theory, which locates the causes of behavior in observation and expectation rather than needs, gives a broader overview of motivation theories.
Applying It in a Report
Case analysis in social work and nursing
Assignments often ask you to map a case onto the levels. For an older person living alone, for example, you can organize meals and health (physiological), housing safety (safety), isolation (belonging) and loss of roles (esteem) level by level, and complement the influence of family, community and institutions with ecological systems theory for a more three-dimensional analysis. Adding the criticism that the hierarchy is not rigid at the end makes for a balanced report.
The CampusDown library (in Korean) also has reports that apply this theory in practice, such as 「매슬로우 욕구단계 이론의 개념과 5단계별 특징, 이론에 대한 비판과 동기부여·마케팅에의 시사점」, 「Maslow의 욕구 5단계 이론과 욕구위계 이론을 인간 행동과 사회 환경적 측면에서 살펴보고 나의 생각 정리」. They show how the theory can be connected to real cases. For more, try the '매슬로우' report search.
Development and the life cycle
When dealing with identity issues in adolescence or esteem needs in old age, using it together with Erikson's psychosocial development theory helps explain which needs stand out at which stage of life.
Business and organizational behavior
A typical argument in employee-motivation reports is that when pay and job security (safety needs) are shaken, praise or a vision alone can hardly raise motivation. When summarizing an organization's internal capabilities and external environment, you can link it to SWOT analysis to propose HR strategies. The effect of the urge to justify one's choices on organizational commitment can be explained with cognitive dissonance theory.
References
- Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.
- Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row.
- Wahba, M. A., & Bridwell, L. G. (1976). Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 15(2), 212–240.
- Alderfer, C. P. (1969). An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 4(2), 142–175.
- Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Needs and subjective well-being around the world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 354–365.
- Bridgman, T., Cummings, S., & Ballard, J. (2019). Who built Maslow's pyramid? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 18(1), 81–98.