"A Theory of Human Motivation" by Abraham Maslow

Eero Ringmäe, 010636IAPM

02. December 2006

Total pages: 21 (+ 8 pages of preface that was published separately)

Total characters (excluding spaces): 51 071

Background
Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) was a well-known American psychologist. He made his most
important academic contributions in the 1940s and 1950s. He is considered one of the founders
of 'humanist psychology'. "The Theory of Human Motivation", originally published in 1943 in
"Psychological Review", Vol. 50, NO. 4, pp. 370-396 is one of his best known articles.

The theory consists of two parts. The first part is a short preface, first published in 1943 in
"Psychosomatic Medicine", Vol 5, pp. 85-92. The preface describes the most important
presumptsions to the motivation theory, while being Maslow's definition of 'humanist psychology'.
The main thesis of the theory itself is that all human needs can be categorized into a hierarchy
where 'higher' needs emerge only once the 'lower' needs have been (partially) satisfied.

The preface
The presumptions to the theory of motivation, that are listed in the preface, form the author's
definition of humanist psychology. The key propositions are the following:
 A human being should be viewed as a an integrated unit.
 The needs of a human being are felt more unconsciously than conciously, thus cultural
and social context do not play a significant role in the theory of needs.
 Man is a perpetually wanting animal.
 Behaviour is motivated by a complex set of conscious and unconscious needs, as well as
the socio-cultural context. Thus, studying one single need is usually too little to explain
behaviour.

The theory
As described, the main thesis of the theory of human motivation is that all human needs can be
arranged into a hierarchy of pre-potency, where the appearance of a certain need is connected to
the satisfaction of the other, more pre-potent needs.

The author proposes a five-level hierarchy. Starting from the most pre-potent needs, the hierarchy
is the following:
1. Physiological needs, such as - breathing, drinking, eating, staying warm (homeostasis).
2. Safety needs – the personal mental and pshysical safety.
3. Love/belonging needs – finding a partner, establishing relationships, building a
community.
4. Esteem needs – finding a status/reputation in the community.
5. Self-actualization needs – unleashing the creative power inside.

The first four levels of needs, as the author describes, can be called 'deficit needs'. He explains
that these needs are felt by every human being, but once any of these needs is satisfied, it is no
longer motivating.
The fifth level of needs, however, is called 'the being need'. It differs from the lower levels,
because it is never fully satisfied. The author explains that although people are mostly occupied
with satisfying their urgent 'lower' needs, it is the self-actualization need that drives us to the real
innovation and satisfaction. A famous quote from the article states: "what a man can be, he must
be!"

Limitations
Abraham Maslow's article offers the motivation theory in a form of a philosophical argumentation.
The author himself does not back the theory with any real-life experiments. He underlines the fact
that the hierarchy of needs is never fully exposed in human behaviour, as behaviour is always
affected by a large number of factors. He underlines that although cultural differences make a
difference on how people satisfy their needs, the needs are felt in the sub-conscious level and
thus they not much affected by social or cultural circumstances.