We are motivated to do things by our needs. But all needs do not have the same power to motivate us. The best theory to explain human motivation was put forward by a prominent humanistic theorist called Abraham Maslow.
Maslow has conceptualized that human needs can be arranged into a hierarchy. The most basic needs (usually based on satisfaction of biological needs and drives) have to be satisfied to a reasonable extent for a person to become concerned about the needs at higher levels.
Tier 1 - Physiological needs like hunger, thirst etc.
Tier 2 – Safety and security needs.
Tier 3 – Belongingness, love and affiliation.
Tier 4 – Achievement, recognition and self esteem needs
Tier 5 – Cognitive needs, that is knowledge and understanding.
Tier 6 – Aesthetic needs, that is for order and beauty.
Tier 6 – Need for self actualization. A person can be fully happy if he is able to fulfill his real potential.
This theory has been highly influential in the fields of psychology, behavioral sciences and management studies. The strength is that it integrates the biological needs of a person with his social and emotional needs, thus achieving a synthetic or holistic perspective.
Maslow says “What a man can be, he must be” (or he should rather attempt to become).
ഇന്ത്യ
2 weeks ago
3 comments:
Hi friends,
Abraham Maslow’s concept of motivation is so abstract that I am doubtful of its practical applications. It is good to preach in MBA classes or to get a vague awareness about motivation for lay people who are interested in the psychology, as an art. It is always the extraordinary individuals who have contributed to science, civilization, art or philosophy. Maslow’s theory is not worth explaining the behavior of these individuals. It is impossible to apply Maslow’s theory to people like Gandhi, Buddha, Carl Marx, Abraham Lincoln, Socrates, Sree Narayana Guru etc… It is the freedom of a nation that motivated Gandhi and everything else was less important.
Thank you.
You rae right, Ajeesh. I wrote about Maslow as a prelude to the next post on love. Maslow's theory has some empirical support, but it cannot explain why Biddha or Gandhi chose to live for the common good of mankind. But still the theory is uesful in understanding the motivational underpinnings in human nehavior on a massive scale. It can be applied to large groups of people, if not in all individual cases. It can be used in sociological research. Thank you.
There are many types of motivations:
Once I went to an Ophthalmologist for my eye problem. Later I came to known that it was Allergic conjunctivitis. The Ophthalmologist closed the door and locked after I entered his room. He told me to lie in a bed and informed me that it is possible to get eyes infected from genital areas while he examined my penis! He played with it for a while. Who was me to ask about a doctor’s wisdom though I doubted the intention? I talked about this to a friend who was once a patient of this doctor. He had also the same experience. So we started to ask many friends who visited the same doctor. Now we know that he is an established dick-eye specialist.
Post a Comment