maslow's hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs motivational model

Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs model in 1940-50's USA,

and the Hierarchy of Needs theory remains valid today for understanding
human motivation, management training, and personal development. Indeed,
Maslow's ideas surrounding the Hierarchy of Needs concerning the
responsibility of employers to provide a workplace environment that
encourages and enables employees to fulfil their own unique potential (self-
actualization) are today more relevant than ever. Abraham Maslow's book
Motivation and Personality, published in 1954 (second edition 1970)
introduced the Hierarchy of Needs, and Maslow extended his ideas in other
work, notably his later book Toward A Psychology Of Being, a significant and
relevant commentary, which has been revised in recent times by Richard
Lowry, who is in his own right a leading academic in the field of motivational
psychology.

Abraham Maslow was born in New York in 1908 and died in 1970, although
various publications appear in Maslow's name in later years. Maslow's PhD in
psychology in 1934 at the University of Wisconsin formed the basis of his
motivational research, initially studying rhesus monkeys. Maslow later
moved to New York's Brooklyn College. Maslow's original five-stage
Hierarchy of Needs model is clearly and directly attributable to Maslow; later
versions with added motivational stages are not so clearly attributable,
although in his work Maslow refers to these additional aspects of motivation,
but not specifically as levels in the Hierarchy. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
has been extended through interpretation of Maslow's work by other people,
and these augmented models and diagrams are shown as the adapted seven
and eight-stage Hierarchy of Needs models below.

Free Hierarchy of Needs diagrams in pdf and MSWord formats similar to the
image below are available from this page.
 click to enlarge

(N.B. The word Actualization/Actualisation can be spelt either way. Z is

preferred in American English. S is preferred in UK English. Both forms are
used in this page to enable keyword searching for either spelling via search
engines.)

maslow's hierarchy of needs

Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having
evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn,
starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival
itself.

Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are
satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and
personal development.

Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away,
we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.

Maslow's original Hierarchy of Needs model was developed between 1943-

1954, and first widely published in Motivation and Personality in 1954. At this
time the Hierarchy of Needs model comprised five needs. This original
version remains for most people the definitive Hierarchy of Needs.

maslow's hierarchy of needs - free pdf diagram and free msword diagram

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex,
sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits,

stability, etc.

3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection,

relationships, etc.

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status,

dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.

5. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment,

seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

This is the definitive and original Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

While Maslow referred to various additional aspects of motivation, he

expressed the Hierarchy of Needs in these five clear stages.

Here is a quick simple self-test based on the original Maslow's 5-level

Hierarchy of Needs. It's not a scientific or validated instrument - merely a
quick indicator, which can be used for self-awareness, discussion, etc.
1970's adapted hierarchy of needs model, including cognitive and aesthetic
needs - free pdf diagram and free msword diagram

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex,
sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits,

stability, etc.

3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection,

relationships, etc.

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status,

dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.

5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.

7. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment,

seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

N.B. Although Maslow referred to additional aspects of motivation,

'Cognitive' and 'Aesthetic', he did not include them as levels or stages within
his own expression of the Hierarchy of Needs.

1990's adapted hierarchy of needs including transcendence needs - free

diagram and free msword diagram

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex,
sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits,

stability, etc.

3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection,

relationships, etc.

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status,

dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.
5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.

7. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment,

seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization.

N.B. Although Maslow referred to additional aspects of motivation,

'Cognitive', 'Aesthetic', and 'Transcendence', he did not include any of these as
additional stages in the Hierarchy of Needs.

Here is a quick self-test based on the extended 8-level Hierarchy of Needs.

Like the 5-level Hierarchy of Needs self-test it is not a scientific or validated
instrument - merely a quick indicator for helping self-awareness, discussion,
etc.

what hierarchy of needs model is most valid?

Abraham Maslow created the original five level Hierarchy of Needs model,
and for many this remains entirely adequate for its purpose. The seven and
eight level 'hierarchy of needs' models are later adaptations by others, based
on Maslow's work. Arguably, the original five-level model includes the later
additional sixth, seventh and eighth ('Cognitive', 'Aesthetic', and
'Transcendence') levels within the original 'Self-Actualization' level 5, since
each one of the 'new' motivators concerns an area of self-development and
self-fulfilment that is rooted in self-actualization 'growth', and is distinctly
different to any of the previous 1-4 level 'deficiency' motivators. For many
people, self-actualizing commonly involves each and every one of the newly
added drivers. As such, the original five-level Hierarchy of Needs model
remains a definitive classical representation of human motivation; and the
later adaptations perhaps serve best to illustrate aspects of self-actualization.

Maslow said that needs must be satisfied in the given order. Aims and drive
always shift to next higher order needs. Levels 1 to 4 are deficiency
motivators; level 5, and by implication 6 to 8, are growth motivators and
relatively rarely found. The thwarting of needs is usually a cause of stress,
and is particularly so at level 4.
Examples in use:

You can't motivate someone to achieve their sales target (level 4) when they're
having problems with their marriage (level 3).

You can't expect someone to work as a team member (level 3) when they're
having their house re-possessed (level 2).

maslow's self-actualizing characteristics

• keen sense of reality - aware of real situations - objective judgement,

rather than subjective
• see problems in terms of challenges and situations requiring solutions,
rather than see problems as personal complaints or excuses
• need for privacy and comfortable being alone
• reliant on own experiences and judgement - independent - not reliant
on culture and environment to form opinions and views
• not susceptible to social pressures - non-conformist
• democratic, fair and non-discriminating - embracing and enjoying all
cultures, races and individual styles
• socially compassionate - possessing humanity
• accepting others as they are and not trying to change people
• comfortable with oneself - despite any unconventional tendencies
• a few close intimate friends rather than many surface relationships
• sense of humour directed at oneself or the human condition, rather
than at the expense of others
• spontaneous and natural - true to oneself, rather than being how others
want
• excited and interested in everything, even ordinary things
• creative, inventive and original
• seek peak experiences that leave a lasting impression (see the
Hellespont Swim case study)

See the Maslow inteviews DVDs - especially Maslow and Self-Actualization

to understand the subject more fully. These films were made in 1968 and are
helpful on several levels, and both wonderful teaching and learning aids.

maslow's hierarchy of needs in advertising

To help with training of Maslow's theory look for Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs motivators in advertising. This is a great basis for Maslow and
motivation training exercises:

1. Biological and Physiological needs - wife/child-abuse help-lines,

social security benefits, Samaritans, roadside recovery.
2. Safety needs - home security products (alarms, etc), house an contents
insurance, life assurance, schools.
3. Belongingness and Love needs - dating and match-making services,
chat-lines, clubs and membership societies, Macdonalds, 'family'
themes like the old style Oxo stock cube ads.
4. Esteem needs - cosmetics, fast cars, home improvements, furniture,
fashion clothes, drinks, lifestyle products and services.
5. Self-Actualization needs - Open University, and that's about it; little
else in mainstream media because only 2% of population are self-
actualizers, so they don't constitute a very big part of the mainstream
market.

You can view and download free Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs diagrams,
and two free Hierarchy of Needs self-tests, based on the original Maslow's
five-stage model and later adapted eight-stage model, ideal for training,
presentations and project work, at the businessballs free online resources
section.

Free diagrams include:

• Pyramid diagram based on Maslow's original five-level Hierarchy of

Needs (1954).
• Adapted seven-level Hierarchy of Needs diagram (which seems to
have first appeared in the 1970's - after Maslow's death).
• Adapted eight-level Hierarchy of Needs diagram (appearing later,
seemingly 1990's).

interpreting behaviour according to maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is an excellent model for understanding human

motivation, but it is a broad concept. If you are puzzled as to how to relate
given behaviour to the Hierarchy it could be that your definition of the
behaviour needs refining. For example, 'where does 'doing things for fun' fit
into the model? The answer is that it can't until you define 'doing things for
fun' more accurately.
You'd need to define more precisely each given situation where a person is
'doing things for fun' in order to analyse motivation according to Maslow's
Hierarchy, since the 'fun' activity motive can potentially be part any of the
five original Maslow needs.

Understanding whether striving to achieve a particular need or aim is 'fun'

can provide a helpful basis for identifying a Maslow driver within a given
behaviour, and thereby to assess where a particular behaviour fits into the
model:

• Biological - health, fitness, energising mind and body, etc.

• Safety - order and structure needs met for example by some heavily
organised, structural activity
• Belongingness - team sport, club 'family' and relationships
• Esteem - competition, achievement, recognition
• Self-Actualization drivers - challenge, new experiences, love of art,
nature, etc.

However in order to relate a particular 'doing it for fun' behaviour the

Hierarchy of Needs we need to consider what makes it 'fun' (ie rewarding) for
the person. If a behaviour is 'for fun', then consider what makes it 'fun' for the
person - is the 'fun' rooted in 'belongingness', or is it from 'recognition', ie.,
'esteem'. Or is the fun at a deeper level, from the sense of self-fulfilment, ie
'self-actualization'.

Apply this approach to any behaviour that doesn't immediately fit the model,
and it will help you to see where it does fit.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs will be a blunt instrument if used as such. The

way you use the Hierarchy of Needs determines the subtlety and
sophistication of the model.

For example: the common broad-brush interpretation of Maslow's famous

theory suggests that that once a need is satisfied the person moves onto the
next, and to an extent this is entirely correct. However an overly rigid
application of this interpretation will produce a rigid analysis, and people and
motivation are more complex. So while it is broadly true that people move up
(or down) the hierarchy, depending what's happening to them in their lives, it
is also true that most people's motivational 'set' at any time comprises
elements of all of the motivational drivers. For example, self-actualizers (level
5 - original model) are mainly focused on self-actualizing but are still
motivated to eat (level 1) and socialise (level 3). Similarly, homeless folk
whose main focus is feeding themselves (level 1) and finding shelter for the
night (level 2) can also be, albeit to a lesser extent, still concerned with social
relationships (level 3), how their friends perceive them (level 4), and even the
meaning of life (level 5 - original model).

Like any simple model, Maslow's theory not a fully responsive system - it's a
guide which requires some interpretation and thought, given which, it
remains extremely useful and applicable for understanding, explaining and
handling many human behaviour situations.

maslow's hierarchy of needs and helping others

There are certainly some behaviours that are quite tricky to relate to Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs.

For example:

Normally, we would consider that selflessly helping others, as a form of

personal growth motivation, would be found as part of self-actualisation, or
perhaps even 'transcendence' (if you subscribe to the extended hierarchy).

So how can we explain the examples of people who seem to be far short of
self-actualising, and yet are still able to help others in a meaningful and
unselfish sense?

Interestingly this concept seems to be used increasingly as an effective way to

help people deal with depression, low self-esteem, poor life circumstances,
etc., and it almost turns the essential Maslow model on its head: that is, by
helping others, a person helps themselves to improve and develop too.

The principle has also been applied quite recently to developing disaffected
school-children, whom, as part of their own development, have been
encouraged and enabled to 'teach' other younger children (which can
arguably be interpreted as their acting at a self-actualising level - selflessly
helping others). The disaffected children, theoretically striving to belong and
be accepted (level 3 - belongingness) were actually remarkably good at
helping other children, despite their own negative feelings and issues.

Under certain circumstances, a person striving to satisfy their needs at level 3

- belongingness, seems able to self-actualise - level 5 (and perhaps beyond,
into 'transcendence') by selflessly helping others, and at the same time begins
to satisfy their own needs for belongingness and self-esteem.
Such examples demonstrate the need for careful interpretation and
application of the Maslow model. The Hierarchy of Needs is not a catch-all,
but it does remain a wonderfully useful framework for analysing and trying
to understand the subtleties - as well as the broader aspects - of human
behaviour and growth.

self-actualisation, employees and organisations

Maslow's work and ideas extend far beyond the Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow's concept of self-actualisation relates directly to the present day

challenges and opportunities for employers and organisations - to provide
real meaning, purpose and true personal development for their employees.
For life - not just for work.

Maslow saw these issues fifty years ago: the fact that employees have a
basic human need and a right to strive for self-actualisation, just as much as
the corporate directors and owners do.

Increasingly, the successful organisations and employers will be those who

genuinely care about, understand, encourage and enable their people's
personal growth towards self-actualisation - way beyond traditional work-
related training and development, and of course way beyond old-style X-
Theory management autocracy, which still forms the basis of much organised
employment today.

The best modern employers and organisations are beginning to learn at last:
that sustainable success is built on a serious and compassionate commitment
to helping people identify, pursue and reach their own personal unique
potential.

When people grow as people, they automatically become more effective and
valuable as employees.

In fact virtually all personal growth, whether in a hobby, a special talent or

interest, or a new experience, produces new skills, attributes, behaviours
and wisdom that is directly transferable to any sort of job role.

The best modern employers recognise this and as such offer development
support to their staff in any direction whatsoever that the person seeks to
grow and become more fulfilled.