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MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Abraham Maslow developed a theory of personality that has influenced a number of different
fields, including education. This wide influence is due in part to the high level of practicality of
Maslow's theory. This theory accurately describes many realities of personal experiences. Many
people find they can understand what Maslow says. They can recognize some features of their
experience or behavior which is true and identifiable but which they have never put into words.
Maslow is a humanistic psychologist. Humanists do not believe that human beings are pushed
and pulled by mechanical forces, either of stimuli and reinforcements (behaviorism) or of
unconscious instinctual impulses (psychoanalysis). Humanists focus upon potentials. They
believe that humans strive for an upper level of capabilities. Humans seek the frontiers of
creativity, the highest reaches of consciousness and wisdom. This has been labeled "fully
functioning person", "healthy personality", or as Maslow calls this level, "self-actualizing
person."
Maslow has set up a hierarchic theory of needs. All of his basic needs are instinctoid, equivalent
of instincts in animals. Humans start with a very weak disposition that is then fashioned fully as
the person grows. If the environment is right, people will grow straight and beautiful, actualizing
the potentials they have inherited. If the environment is not "right" (and mostly it is not) they will
not grow tall and straight and beautiful.
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Maslow has set up a hierarchy of five levels of basic needs. Beyond these needs, higher levels of
needs exist. These include needs for understanding, esthetic appreciation and purely spiritual
needs. In the levels of the five basic needs, the person does not feel the second need until the
demands of the first have been satisfied, nor the third until the second has been satisfied, and so
on. Maslow's basic needs are as follows:
Physiological Needs
These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a
relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person
were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person's search
for satisfaction.
Safety Needs
When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and
behaviors, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their
security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social
structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and
the need to be safe.
Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness
When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of
needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek
to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and
receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.
Needs for Esteem
When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become
dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from
others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and
respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and
valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels
inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.
Needs for Self-Actualization
When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-
actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and
do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must
paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness.
The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is
hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know
what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is
a need for self-actualization.
The hierarchic theory is often represented as a pyramid, with the larger, lower levels representing
the lower needs, and the upper point representing the need for self-actualization. Maslow
believes that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is
because of hindrances placed in their way by society. He states that education is one of these
hindrances. He recommends ways education can switch from its usual person-stunting tactics to
person-growing approaches. Maslow states that educators should respond to the potential an
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individual has for growing into a self-actualizing person of his/her own kind. Ten points that
educators should address are listed:
1. We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their
inner-feeling voices.
2. We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world
citizens.
3. We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is
especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate.
4. We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life,
and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes
life worth living.
5. We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature.
From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what
potentials are really there.
6. We must see that the person's basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety,
belongingness, and esteem needs.
7. We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the
other good things in nature and in living.
8. We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes
control to improve the quality of life in all areas.
9. We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious
problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death.
10. We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good
choices.
Theory of Human Motivation
By Abraham Maslow (1943)
In a previous paper (A preface to motivation theory . Psychosomatic Medicine, 1943, 5, 85-92) various
propositions were presented which would have to be included in any theory of human or worker
motivation that could lay claim to being definitive. These conclusions may be briefly summarized as
follows:
1. The integrated wholeness of the organism must be one of the foundation stones
of motivation theory .
2. The hunger drive (or any other physiological drive) was rejected as a centering point or model
for a definitive theory of motivation. Any drive that is somatically based and localizable was
shown to be atypical rather than typical in human motivation.
3. Such a theory should stress and center itself upon ultimate or basic goals rather than partial
or superficial ones, upon ends rather than means to these ends. Such a stress would imply a
more central place for unconscious than for conscious motivations.
4. There are usually available various cultural paths to the same goal. Therefore conscious,
specific, local-cultural desires are not as fundamental in motivation theory as the more basic,
unconscious goals.
5. Any motivated behavior, either preparatory or consummatory, must be understood to be a
channel through which many basic needs may be simultaneously expressed or satisfied.
Typically an act has more than one motivation.
6. Practically all organismic states are to be understood as motivated and as motivating.
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7. Human needs arrange themselves in hierarchies of pre-potency. That is to say, the
appearance of one need usually rests on the prior satisfaction of another, more pre-potent
need. Man is a perpetually wanting animal. Also no need or drive can be treated as if it were
isolated or discrete; every drive is related to the state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of other
drives.
8. Lists of drives will get us nowhere for various theoretical and practical reasons. Furthermore
any classification of motivations must deal with the problem of levels of specificity or
generalization the motives to be classified.
9. Classifications of motivations must be based upon goals rather than upon instigating drives or
motivated behavior.
10. Motivation theories should be human-centered rather than animal-centered.
11. The situation or the field in which the organism reacts must be taken into account but the field
alone can rarely serve as an exclusive explanation for behavior. Furthermore the field itself
must be interpreted in terms of the organism. Field theory cannot be a substitute for
motivation theory.
12. Not only the integration of the organism must be taken into account, but also the possibility of
isolated, specific, partial or segmental reactions. It has since become necessary to add to
these another affirmation.
13. Motivation theory is not synonymous with behavior theory. The motivations are only one class
of determinants of behavior. While behavior is almost always motivated, it is also almost
always biologically, culturally and situationally determined as well.
The Hawthorne Effect - Mayo Studies in Employee Motivation
Elton Mayo's Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne Studies (also knowns as the Hawthorne Experiments) were conducted from
1927 to 1932 at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois (a suburb of
Chicago). This is where professor Elton Mayo examined the impact of work conditions in
employee productivity. Elton Mayo started these experiments by examining the physical and
environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. brightness of lights, humidity) and later,
moved into the psychological aspects (e.g. breaks, group pressure, working hours,
managerial leadership) and their impact on employee motivation as it applies to
productivity.
The Hawthorne Effect
In essence, the Hawthorne Effect, as it applies to the workplace, can be summarized as
"Employees are more productive because the employees know they are being studied."
Elton Mayo's experiments showed an increase in worker productivity was produced by the
psychological stimulus of being singled out, involved, and made to feel important.
Additionally, the act of measurement, itself, impacts the results of the measurement. Just
as dipping a thermometer into a vial of liquid can affect the temperature of the liquid being
measured, the act of collecting data, where none was collected before creates a situation
that didn't exist before, thereby affecting the results.
The Hawthorne Experiments and Employee Motivation
Elton Mayo's studies grew out of preliminary experiments at the Hawthorne plant from 1924
to 1927 on the effect of light on productivity. Those experiments showed no clear
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connection between productivity and the amount of illumination but researchers began to
wonder what kind of changes would influence output.
Variables Affecting Productivity
Specifically, Elton Mayo wanted to find out what effect fatigue and monotony had on job
productivity and how to control them through such variables as rest breaks, work hours,
temperature and humidity. In the process, he stumbled upon a principle of human
motivation that would help to revolutionize the theory and practice of management.
Elton Mayo selected two women, and had those two select an additional four from the
assembly line, segregated them from the rest of the factory and put them under the eye of
a supervisor who was more a friendly observer than disciplinarian. Mayo made frequent
changes in their working conditions, always discussing and explaining the changes in
advance.
Relay Assembly
The group was employed in assembling telephone relays - a relay being a small but intricate
mechanism composed of about forty separate parts which had to be assembled by the girls
seated at a lone bench and dropped into a chute when completed.
The relays were mechanically counted as they slipped down the chute. The intent was to
measure the basic rate of production before making any environmental changes. Then, as
changes were introduced, the impact to effectiveness would be measured by increased or
decreased production of the relays.
Feedback mechanism
Throughout the series of experiments, an observer sat with the girls in the workshop noting
all that went on, keeping the girls informed about the experiment, asking for advice or
information, and listening to their complaints.
The experiment began by introducing various changes, each of which was continued for a
test period of four to twelve weeks. The results of these changes are as follows:
Work Conditions and Productivity Results
Under normal conditions with a forty-eight hour week, including Saturdays, and no rest
pauses. The girls produced 2,400 relays a week each.
1. They were then put on piecework for eight weeks.
o Output increased
2. They were given two five-minute breaks, one in the morning, and one in the
afternoon, for a period of five weeks.
o Output increased, yet again
3. The breaks were each lengthened to ten minutes.
o Output rose sharply
4. Six five-minute breaks were introduced.
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o The girls complained that their work rhythm was broken by the frequent
pauses
o Output fell only slightly
5. The original two breaks were reinstated, this time, with a complimentary hot meal
provided during the morning break.
o Output increased further still
6. The workday was shortened to end at 4.30 p.m. instead of 5.00 p.m.
o Output increased
7. The workday was shortened to end at 4.00 p.m.
o Output leveled off
8. Finally, all the improvements were taken away, and the original conditions before the
experiment were reinstated. They were monitored in this state for 12 more weeks.
o Output was the highest ever recorded - averaging 3000 relays a week
Elton Mayo's Conclusions on Job Performance
Elton Mayo came to the following conclusions as a result of the study:
The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job
performance. Although they give some indication of the physical and mental
potential of the individual, the amount produced is strongly influenced by social
factors.
Informal organization affects productivity. The researchers discovered a
group life among the workers. The studies also showed that the relations that
supervisors develop with workers tend to influence the manner in which the workers
carry out directives.
Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were not the
first to recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is "a fair day's
work." However, they provided the best systematic description and interpretation of
this phenomenon.
The workplace is a social system. The researchers came to view the workplace as
a social system made up of interdependent parts. The worker is a person whose
attitudes and effectiveness are conditioned by social demands from both inside and
outside the work plant. Informal group within the work plant exercise strong social
controls over the work habits and attitudes of the individual worker.
The need for recognition, security and sense of belonging is more important in
determining workers' morale and productivity than the physical conditions under
which he works.
The major finding of the study was that almost regardless of the experimental manipulation,
worker production seemed to continually improve. One reasonable conclusion is that the
workers were happy to receive attention from the researchers who expressed an interest in
them. Originally, the study was expected to last one year, but since the findings were
inexplicable when the researchers tried to relate the worker's efficiency to manipulated
physical conditions, the project was incrementally extended to five years.
Looking Back on the Experiments
For decades, the Hawthorne studies provided the rationale for human relations within the
organization. Then, in 1978, R. H. Franke and J.D. Kaul used a new procedure called "time-
series analyses" with the original data and variables, including the Great Depression and the
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instance of a managerial discipline in which two insubordinate and mediocre workers were
replaced by two different, productive workers.
They discovered that production was most affected by the replacement of the two workers
due to their greater productivity and the effect of the disciplinary action on the other
workers. The occurrence of the Depression also encouraged job productivity, perhaps
through the increased importance of jobs and the fear of losing them.
Rest periods and a group incentive plan also had a somewhat positive smaller effect on
productivity. These variables accounted for almost all the variation in productivity during the
experimental period. Social science may have been too ready to embrace the original
Hawthorne interpretations since it was looking for theories of employee motivation that
were more humane and democratic.
Modern Management Lessons
What seemed to be most impactful during the experiments was that six individuals became
a team and the team gave itself wholeheartedly and spontaneously to cooperation in the
experiment. Consequently, they felt as if they were participating freely and were happy in
the knowledge that they were working without coercion from above or limitation from
below.
The experimental group had considerable freedom of movement. With the observer
overseeing them, rather than their previous Theory X managers, they weren't pushed
around or micromanaged. They were satisfied with the result of working under less pressure
than ever before. In fact, regular medical checks showed no signs of cumulative fatigue and
absence from work declined by 80 percent. Under these conditions, they developed an
increased sense of responsibility. Instead of receiving discipline from higher authority, it
emerged from within the group.
Applying the Hawthorne Effect to Employee Motivation
Suppose you select a management trainee and provide specialized training in management
skills not currently possessed. Without saying a word, you've given the trainee the feeling
that she is so valuable to the organization that you'll spend time and money to develop her
skills. She feels she's on a track to the top, which, in turn, motivates her to work harder and
more effectively. This form of employee motivation is independent of any particular skills or
knowledge she may have gained from the training session. That's the Hawthorne Effect at
work.
In a way, the Hawthorne Effect can be construed as an enemy of the modern manager.
Carrying the theory further toward cynicism, it could be said that it doesn't matter how you
manage, because the Hawthorne Effect will produce the positive outcome you want.
Tracking Process Improvements - Gathering Performance Metrics
Unfortunately, the measurement of performance can unintentionally affect the performance
itself. In order to determine the impact of a new or modified process, someone needs to
subtly observe workers on the job and monitor production. Occasionally, managers object,
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saying that observation isn't a valid test, "Of course they'll perform better, you're watching
them."
The power of the social setting and peer group dynamics was reinforced for Elton Mayo later
in the Hawthorne Studies, when he saw an unusual reaction to his original experiments. A
group of 14 men participating in a similar study restricted production because they were
distrustful of management and thought that their quotas would be artificially elevated if
they were to perform beyond the norm during these studies.
If workers suddenly sense an environmental shift from a Theory X organization to a Theory
Y organization, this can trigger false positives from nearly any otherwise meaningless or
even slightly detrimental process change. Involving your workers in setting their own
direction, showing them that you care about how their job is progressing, and fostering a
more positive relationship will create beneficial productivity impacts.
Conversely, if your environment one of mistrust and fear, and the workers unite in rebellion
of management's efforts to control and oppress them, there will be little a manager can do
to effect positive change without first handling this toxic situation.
Someone Really Cares About Me? - Benefits of the Hawthorne Effect
Elton Mayo realized that the women, exercising a freedom they didn't have on the factory
floor, had formed a social atmosphere that also included the productivity-tracking observer.
They talked and joked with one another. They began to meet socially outside of work.
When these women were singled out from the rest of the factory workers, it raised their
self-esteem. When they were allowed to have a friendly relationship with their supervisor,
they felt happier at work. When he discussed changes in advance with them, and allowed
them a form of participation, they felt like part of the team. Elton Mayo had secured the
girls cooperation and loyalty. This explains why productivity rose even when he took away
their rest breaks.
There's nothing wrong with intentionally using the Hawthorne Effect to reach your goals. In
fact, the Hawthorne Effect has also been called the 'Somebody Upstairs Cares' syndrome.
When people spend a large portion of their time at work, they require a sense of belonging,
of being part of something bigger than themselves. When they do, they are more effective.
This effect has been described as the reward you reap when you pay attention to people.
The mere act of showing people that you're concerned about them usually spurs them to
better job performance.
That's the true Hawthorne Effect.
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Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
In his 1960 management book, The Human Side of Enterprise, Douglas McGregor made
his mark on the history of organizational management and motivational psychology when he
proposed the two theories by which managers perceive employee motivation. He referred to
these opposing motivational methods as Theory X andTheory
Y management. Each assumes that the manager's role is to organize resources, including
people, to best benefit the company. However, beyond this commonality, they're quite
dissimilar.
Theory X Management
According to McGregor, Theory X leadership assumes the following:
Work is inherently distasteful to most people, and they will attempt to avoid work
whenever possible.
Most people are not ambitious, have little desire for responsibility, and prefer to be
directed.
Most people have little aptitude for creativity in solving organizational problems.
Motivation occurs only at the physiological and security levels of Maslow's Needs
Hierarchy.
Most people are self-centered. As a result, they must be closely controlled and often
coerced to achieve organizational objectives
Most people resist change.
Most people are gullible and unintelligent.
Essentially, theory x assumes that the primary source of most employee motivation is
monetary, with security as a strong second.
The Hard Approach and Soft Approach
Under Theory X, management approaches to motivation range from a hard approach to
a soft approach.
The hard approach to motivation relies on coercion, implicit threats, micromanagement, and
tight controls -- essentially an environment of command and control. The soft approach,
however, is to be permissive and seek harmony in the hopes that, in return, employees will
cooperate when asked. However, neither of these extremes is optimal. The hard approach
results in hostility, purposely low-output, and extreme union demands. The soft approach
results in increasing desire for greater reward in exchange for diminishing work output.
It would appear that the optimal approach to human resource management would be lie
somewhere between these extremes. However, McGregor asserts that neither approach is
appropriate since the foundations of theory x are incorrect.
The Problem with X Theory
Drawing on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, McGregor argues that a need, once satisfied, no
longer motivates. The company relies on monetary rewards and benefits to satisfy
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employees' lower level needs. Once those needs have been satisfied, the motivation is
gone. This management style, in fact, hinders the satisfaction of higher-level needs.
Consequently, the only way that employees can attempt to satisfy higher level needs at
work is to seek more compensation, so it is quite predictable that they will focus on
monetary rewards. While money may not be the most effective way to self-fulfillment, it
may be the only way available. People will use work to satisfy their lower needs, and seek
to satisfy their higher needs during their leisure time. Unfortunately, employees can be
most productive when their work goals align with their higher level needs.
McGregor makes the point that a command and control environment is not effective
because it relies on lower needs for motivation, but in modern society those needs are
mostly satisfied and thus no longer motivate. In this situation, one would expect employees
to dislike their work, avoid responsibility, have no interest in organizational goals, resist
change, etc., thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. To McGregor, motivation seemed more
likely with the Theory Y model.
Theory Y
The higher-level needs of esteem and self-actualization are continuing needs in that they
are never completely satisfied. As such, it is these higher-level needs through which
employees can best be motivated.
In strong contrast to Theory X, Theory Y leadership makes the following general
assumptions:
Work can be as natural as play if the conditions are favorable.
People will be self-directed and creative to meet their work and organizational
objectives if they are committed to them.
People will be committed to their quality and productivity objectives if rewards are in
place that address higher needs such as self-fulfillment.
The capacity for creativity spreads throughout organizations.
Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common
in the population.
Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility.
Under these assumptions, there is an opportunity to align personal goals with organizational
goals by using the employee's own need for fulfillment as the motivator. McGregor stressed
that Theory Y management does not imply a soft approach.
McGregor recognized that some people may not have reached the level of maturity assumed
by Theory Y and therefore may need tighter controls that can be relaxed as the employee
develops.
XY Theory Management Application - Business Implications for Workforce
Motivation
If Theory Y holds true, an organization can apply these principles of scientific management
to improve employee motivation:
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Decentralization and Delegation - If firms decentralize control and reduce the
number of levels of management, managers will have more subordinates and
consequently will be forced to delegate some responsibility and decision making to
them.
Job Enlargement - Broadening the scope of an employee's job adds variety and
opportunities to satisfy ego needs.
Participative Management - Consulting employees in the decision making process
taps their creative capacity and provides them with some control over their work
environment.
Performance Appraisals - Having the employee set objectives and participate in the
process of evaluating how well they were met.
If properly implemented, such an environment would result in a high level of workforce
motivation as employees work to satisfy their higher level personal needs through their
jobs.
Maslow Needs Marketing
What would it be worth to you if you could predict the buying trends over the next year? How about even
the next few weeks? By using the principles of the Maslow hierarchy of needs, you can use the news to
predict what your customers will be buying in the future.
Early in his career, Abraham Maslow noticed that certain things were much more important to have than
others. For instance, water is more important to have than food. Because you would die of thirst within a
few days, but most people would live over a month without food.
On the other hand, you would die within a couple of minutes without oxygen. So, air is much more
important than water.
You may be wondering what this has to do with marketing. Well, hang in there. When the reality hits you,
it will be worth the wait.
Maslow also noticed that there was a regular order to needs that were added when people had enough of
the basic necessities. The first level of needs he labeled as physiological (basic needs for body function)
needs.
When those needs were taken care of, people would then want to take care of safety needs.Safety needs
consist of things like a safe environment, protection and stable government. These are the needs that
keep you having anxiety and fear.
The next level of needs are those dealing with love and belonging. These are things like friends, a life
mate and children. But, if you lose your safety or your basic body needs, you may not worry about your
family and friends until those needs are taken care of.
If your needs of love and belonging are met, you then would tend to try and get your needs for esteem
met. These needs include such things as fame, recognition and reputation. These esteem needs include
not only what other people think of you, but that you think of yourself.
The final level is different than the previous four. It involves the desire to 'be all that you can be'. This is
the level where people try to maximize their potential. It is called the self-actualization level.
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Now comes the payoff. How can you use this knowledge to predict buying patterns? Well, you may have
already figured it out. If not, get ready for a big payoff.
As an example, think of the events of 9/11. On that day, the world changed. There was an immediate
realization of the threat to all civilized nations. At that point, the needs on many minds were those
primarily of safety.
You can probably think of what you would want to market because of that change. There would be a big
demand on things that would improve people's safety. Demand for everything from training of security
personnel to personal firearms increased.
Because of where the need for safety is placed in the hierarchy, there was no real change in the demand
for food and water - or clean air for that matter.
However, consider what was not - in no way - on anyone's mind at that point. Things like art classes and
even politics took a back seat to the basic need for safety.
By keeping track of current events and public opinion, you can predict to a great extent what people are
going to be spending their time and money on. When things are going very well, they will tend to spend
more money - sometimes huge amounts - on things higher up the pyramid.
So, here is the rule. When things are going bad. Market things in the layer of the hierarchy where people
feel their need. When things are going well, put more emphasis on marketing things that appeal to the
more self satisfying side of people.
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