Human Relations Contributors

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Introduction

Abraham Maslow carried out his investigations into human behavior between 1939 and 1943. Maslow suggested that there are five sets of goals which may be called basic needs. These are:

physiological safety love esteem and self!actuali"ation or self!fulfillment.

#e arranged these into a series of different levels or the order of importance of these basic needs. Man$s basic needs are physiological for e%ample hunger thirst sleep etc. &hen these are satisfied they are replaced by safety needs reflecting his desire for protection against danger or deprivation. These in turn when satisfied are replaced by the need for love or belonging to which are functions of man$s gregariousness and his desire to belong to a group to give and receive friendship and to associate happily with people. &hen these needs have been satisfied there is the esteem needs i.e. the desire for self! esteem and self!respect which are affected by a person$s standing reputation and his need for recognition and appreciation. 'inally individuals have a need for self actuali"ation or a desire for self!fulfillment which is an urge by individuals for self!development creativity and (ob satisfaction. The human hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow are illustrated on the following pages. )n the past management reward systems have attempted to satisfy an individual$s lower level needs for safety and physiological security for protection against deprivation and the threat to a wor*er or his family. #owever management reward systems are now or should be endeavoring to satisfy the individual$s higher level needs for esteem and self!fulfillment. as outlined in the following pages 1 and + .

,e%t - .ouglas Mc/regor