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Abraham Maslow: a hierarchy of motives and needs

26 July, 2019 - 10:10
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Abraham Maslow's theory frames personal needs or motives as a hierarchy, meaning that basic or “lower level “ needs have to be satisfied before higher-level needs become important or motivating (1976, 1987). Compared to the stage models of Piaget and Erikson, Maslow's hierarchy is only loosely “developmental”, in that Maslow was not concerned with tracking universal, irreversible changes across the lifespan. Maslow's stages are universal, but they are not irreversible; earlier stages sometimes reappear later in life, in which case they must be satisfied again before later stages can redevelop. Like the theories of Piaget and Erikson, Maslow's is a rather broad “story”, one that has less to say about the effects of a person's culture, language, or economic level, than about what we all have in common.

In its original version, Maslow's theory distinguishes two types of needs, called deficit needs and being needs (or sometimes deficiency needs and growth needs). The Table 3.4 below summarizes the two levels and their sublevels. Deficit needs are prior to being needs, not in the sense of happening earlier in life, but in that deficit needs must be satisfied before being needs can be addressed. As pointed out, deficit needs can reappear at any age, depending on circumstances. If that happens, they must be satisfied again before a person's attention can shift back to “higher” needs. Among students, in fact, deficit needs are likely to return chronically to those whose families lack economic or social resources or who live with the stresses associated with poverty (Payne, 2005).

Table 3.4 Maslow's hierarchy of motives and needs

Deficit Needs

Physiological needs, Safety and security needs, Love and belonging needs

Being Needs

Cognitive needs, Aesthetic needs, Self-actualization needs