PSYCHOLOGY OF INTELLIGENCE, LEARNING, MOTIVATION AND

EMOTION

ACTIVITY BASED ASSIGNMENT

Seminar Report on

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF MOTIVES

SUBMITTED TO:
Christina Mariam Chacko
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous)
SUBMITTED BY:
Swetha. P. S.
1st MSc Psychology
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 21 March 2021
INTRODUCTION

According to Petri (1996), “Motivation is the process by which activities are started,

directed and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met”. In other

words, motivation is the internal process that activate, guide and maintain behaviour over

time.

The two main types of motivation are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic

motivation involve motivation that come from within the individual. Extrinsic motivation

involve motivation that arises from external factors. Broadly, apart from intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation, there are two types of motivation as illustrated below;

MOTIVATIO
N

BIOLOGICAL LEARNED
MOTIVATIO MOTIVATIO
N N

Biological motives include our motivation to acquire food, water, sex etc. Learned

motives are also called social motives. They are called social because they are learned in

social groups, especially in the family as children grow up, and because they usually involve

other people. One of the major learned motive is the achievement motivation.

There are various theories on motivation, nevertheless the most popular among them

is Maslow’s hierarchy of motives or Maslow’s needs hierarchy. This theory was proposed by

Abraham Maslow (1970). Maslow (1943) argued that any comprehensive theory of human

motivation must take into account the individual as a whole. For example, sexual behavior

may serve physiological as well as psychological needs of belongingness and esteem. He held

that we must seek to understand the ultimate goals of behavior rather than the superficial or
apparent goals, because the apparent goal for any observed behavior may be quite different

from the ultimate goal.

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Like Rogers, Maslow also regarded the striving for perfection or self-actualization as

the ultimate purpose of behavior. According to Maslow, human motivation can best be

studied by observing human rather than animal behavior. His observations led him to the

conclusion that human needs can be understood in terms of a hierarchy of needs. He

regarded the satisfaction of needs on the hierarchy in a probabilistic manner. If a lower need

is being satisfied most of the time (perhaps 85%), that need will have little influence on

behavior, while other higher needs that are less satisfied will have a larger influence on

behavior. Needs lower on the hierarchy are prepotent (stronger) and must be satisfied before

needs higher on the hierarchy will be triggered.

The various hierarchy of needs are elaborately discussed below.

i. Physiological Need
 It is the lowest level of need in the hierarchy. It includes survival and basic

need for food, water, oxygen, sleep, sex etc. If needs such as hunger or thirst

are not adequately being met, the needs above them on the hierarchy are

pushed into the background in terms of controlling behavior. Maslow felt that

physiological needs are adequately met for most people in our society. When

these needs are met, the next need on the hierarchy emerges as a dominant

force in controlling and directing behavior.

ii. Safety Need

These needs represent a need for safety or security in our environment. Like

the physiological needs, safety needs are triggered primarily in emergency

situations. Higher needs become unimportant when life is endangered, and

then behavior reflects attempts to remain secure. Maslow felt that safety needs

can also be seen in people’s preference for familiar surroundings, secure jobs,

savings accounts, and insurance. Safety needs are most evident in young

children.

iii. Love and Belongingness Need

This is also known as social need. When safety needs have been adequately

met, they become unimportant in the direction of behavior, and the love or

belongingness needs emerge. The love needs are not equivalent to sexual

needs (which are physiological), though sexual intimacy can serve to satisfy

our need to belong. The love needs require both the receiving and giving of

love—love from another and someone to love. We may gain a sense of

belonging in a number of ways. Marriage, a job, or admission to a select group

such as a fraternity, sorority, or civic group can serve this need. According to

Maslow, thwarting of the love needs leads to behavioral maladjustment and

society.

iv. Esteem Need

If the love needs have been adequately met, they too slip into the background

in relation to guiding behavior, and the esteem needs become dominant. These

are needs for a positive, high evaluation of self. This evaluation can be broken

down into two subcategories─

ESTEEM NEEDS

NEED FOR
SELF- ESTEEM
ESTEEM FROM
NEEDS
OTHERS

The need for self-esteem motivates the individual to strive for achievement,

strength, confidence, independence, and freedom. Appears highly similar to

Rogers’s concept of positive regard. The related need of esteem from others

involves a desire for reputation, status, recognition, appreciation by others of

our abilities, and a feeling of importance. When the esteem needs are satisfied,

we have feelings of self-confidence and self-worth and see ourselves as having

a purpose in the world. When these needs are frustrated, maladjustment can

occur, typified by feelings of inferiority, weakness, and, helplessness. Lack of

esteem leads the individual to feel inconsequential and to have little self-

worth.

The first four steps on Maslow’s hierarchy constitute the needs that must be satisfied

before reaching the final level, the level of self-actualization. Maslow considered these needs

to result from deficiencies in the person’s life; that is, behaviors related to the first four
categories are motivated by a deprivation of those things necessary for full development.

Behaviors generated in attempts to fill these needs are therefore said to be activated by

deprivation motivation (D-motivation). i.e., the deficiency needs are triggered by deprivation

motivation. Maslow also believed that for some individuals chronically deprived at the

physiological level, the higher needs might never emerge. For these people it is sufficient

simply to get enough to eat. On the other hand, Maslow believed that people who have

always had their basic needs satisfied will be less influenced by these needs later if the needs

are suddenly no longer being met.

Each level of the hierarchy does not have to be perfectly satisfied. As lower needs are

partly met, higher needs partly emerge. As the lower needs become more and more satisfied,

the higher needs become more and more prominent in the control of behavior. Finally,

Maslow suggested that most people are unaware of the need hierarchy; their needs are mostly

unconscious.

v. Self- actualisation Need

The self-actualized individual has satisfied all the deprivation needs of the first

four levels of the hierarchy. The behavior of the self-actualized person is, as a

result, motivated by a new set of needs, which Maslow termed the being needs

(B-motivation, or metamotivation). These B-motives are values such as truth,

honesty, beauty, and goodness, and they provide meaning to the life of the

self-actualized individual. Self-actualized individuals are no longer motivated

by deficiencies but are motivated to grow and become all that they are capable

of becoming.

Self-actualization constantly stimulates people to test their abilities and

expand their horizons. Maslow suggested that the process of growth leading to

self-actualization takes considerable time and that most self-actualizing

society reach self-actualization, estimating that fewer than 1% of the

population could be considered self–actualized (Goble, 1970). In his later

writing, Maslow (1971) came to the conclusion that there are actually two

types of self-actualizing people, differentiated in regard to peak experiences.

SELF-
ACTUALIZERS

NON-
TRANSCENDERS
TRANSCENDERS
OR PEAKERS
OR NON-PEAKERS

Self-actualizers who experience peak experiences often are called

transcenders. Self-actualizers who rarely or do not experience peak

experiences are called non-transcenders. A peak experience is a short but

intense feeling of awe or ecstasy often accompanied by a sense of fulfillment,

insight, and oneness with something larger than one’s self.

Criticisms

 Lack of replicability.

Many of the living individuals he studied preferred to remain anonymous, so other

psychologists could not check the accuracy of Maslow’s perceptions of these people.

Also, the historical figures were dead, requiring reliance on written accounts, which

are often self-serving.

 Difficulty in generalization
 Maslow’s theory has sometimes been criticized as elitist. People confined by poor

education, dead-end jobs, or societal expectations are unlikely to become self-

actualized persons. The elite seem to have a distinct advantage in obtaining self-

actualization.

 Motivation toward growth may not be as general as Maslow proposed.

So many people fail to become self-actualized. Perhaps the need to become all that

one can become is idiosyncratic to some persons rather than present in all of us.

Moreover, the idea that needs arise and are satisfied in a particular order has not been

confirmed.

 Lack of evidence and ambiguity of concepts

The theory has little scientific support because he developed his theory based on his

personal observations of people rather than any empirically gathered observations or

research.

 Culture bias

Maslow's work was also based on his studies of Americans so it does not always hold

true for other cultures. Some results suggest that people sometimes seek to satisfy

higher- order needs even when lower order needs in the hierarchy have not been met.

REVISED HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Kenrick et. al., (2010) have proposed a reformulated hierarchical structure of needs

that retains much of Maslow’s original model. In addition to Maslow’s five needs, Kenrick

et. al., have identified three other needs. The most important aspect of Kenrick et al., theory

of hierarchy of needs is the omission of the self-actualization needs. Kenrick et al. do not

dismiss this motive entirely, but they do argue that it is not a fundamental human need.
Rather, they believe that it is part of other needs such as status/esteem and, ultimately, the

needs that govern mating.

The three mating needs are at the top of the hierarchy because successful propagation

of one’s genes is the ultimate goal. Kenrick et al. invoke their three levels of analysis to

elaborate on this point. They argue that evolution has provided all animals with a

developmental trajectory that best fits their day to- day environment and maximizes

reproductive success. For humans, this means that as infants physiological and safety needs

are paramount. We must satisfy them before we move up the hierarchy, but these basic needs

can still motivate behavior throughout the life span. In early childhood, affiliation needs

become more dominant, followed by a motive to gain status/esteem in the eyes of the people

with whom we have become affiliated. When we reach adolescence, our evolutionary history

dictates that sexual needs become strong motivators of behavior. This urge to find a mate or
mates continues into adulthood. Once a suitable mate has been found the motive to retain him

or her becomes prominent and both positive (e.g., emotional bonding) and negative (e.g.,

jealousy) factors can help us satisfy this need. Individuals who have met each of the first six

needs are in the best position to become parents and to nurture their offspring, and hence their

genes, through the same process.

Kenrick and colleagues realize that this model does not fully account for the large

differences both between and within the sexes in terms of how individuals choose to navigate

these stages. Kenrick et al. argue that the model can serve as a useful tool in guiding research

on many positive aspects of human behavior including topics such as emotional bonding,

caregiving, courtship, affiliation, and the development of competence.

CONCLUSION

Human motives may exist in a hierarchy. More basic needs must be satisfied before moving

on to ones that are less linked to biological needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of motives provide a

pyramid of needs that require to be satisfied for an individual to attain self- actualisation. This

theory has been revised by Kenrick et al. (2010) to provide further additions to the needs

hierarchy.

REFERENCES

Petri, H.L. (1991) Motivation: Theory, Research and Applications. USA: Wordsworth

Publishing Company.

Ciccarelli, S. K., White, N. J., & Mishra, G. (2018). Psychology (5th ed.). New Delhi:

Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd.

Weiten, W. (2011). Psychology: Themes and Variations (8th ed.). USA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.