Psychology
Basic Human Needs
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Running head: BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
Basic Human Needs Thane S. Pittman and Kate R. Zeigler Colby College
DRAFT
Chapter to appear in Kruglanski, A., & Higgins, E. (2006), Social Psychology: A handbook of basic principles, 2nd Edition. New York: Guilford Publications
Thane S. Pittman and Kate R. Zeigler Department of Psychology 5550 Mayflower Hill Colby College Waterville, ME 04901 207-859-5557 tpittman@colby.edu
Basic Human Needs Basic Human Needs "It is vain to do with more what can be done with less."
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attributed to William of Occam (c. 1285–1349) "There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausible, and wrong." H. L. Mencken (1949), p. 443 It has been a long time since a chapter devoted to the subject of basic human needs appeared in a major handbook in social psychology; indeed, there has never been one (Gilbert, Fiske, & Lindzey, 1998; Higgins & Kruglanski, 1996; Lindzey, 1954; Lindzey & Aronson, 1968; 1985; Murchison, 1935). A search of chapter titles in the Annual Review of Psychology also came up empty. The discovery of these facts gave us considerable reason to pause. But as interest in using a motivational perspective for the generation of hypotheses and the interpretation of findings has increased (cf. Higgins & Kruglanski, 2000; Pittman, 1998; Pittman & Heller, 1987), theorists have begun to return to the question "What are the basic human needs?" It thus does seem to be an appropriate time to assess the ways in which ideas about basic human needs have been and are being used in social-psychological theories and research. Rather than providing a thorough literature review of all research using constructs proposed to represent the operation of basic human needs, we instead review much more selectively the current state of theories about basic human needs, with a little historical context. We have chosen six theories for comparison. All of these theories have been given extensive
1
Running head: BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
Basic Human Needs Thane S. Pittman and Kate R. Zeigler Colby College
DRAFT
Chapter to appear in Kruglanski, A., & Higgins, E. (2006), Social Psychology: A handbook of basic principles, 2nd Edition. New York: Guilford Publications
Thane S. Pittman and Kate R. Zeigler Department of Psychology 5550 Mayflower Hill Colby College Waterville, ME 04901 207-859-5557 tpittman@colby.edu
Basic Human Needs Basic Human Needs "It is vain to do with more what can be done with less."
2
attributed to William of Occam (c. 1285–1349) "There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausible, and wrong." H. L. Mencken (1949), p. 443 It has been a long time since a chapter devoted to the subject of basic human needs appeared in a major handbook in social psychology; indeed, there has never been one (Gilbert, Fiske, & Lindzey, 1998; Higgins & Kruglanski, 1996; Lindzey, 1954; Lindzey & Aronson, 1968; 1985; Murchison, 1935). A search of chapter titles in the Annual Review of Psychology also came up empty. The discovery of these facts gave us considerable reason to pause. But as interest in using a motivational perspective for the generation of hypotheses and the interpretation of findings has increased (cf. Higgins & Kruglanski, 2000; Pittman, 1998; Pittman & Heller, 1987), theorists have begun to return to the question "What are the basic human needs?" It thus does seem to be an appropriate time to assess the ways in which ideas about basic human needs have been and are being used in social-psychological theories and research. Rather than providing a thorough literature review of all research using constructs proposed to represent the operation of basic human needs, we instead review much more selectively the current state of theories about basic human needs, with a little historical context. We have chosen six theories for comparison. All of these theories have been given extensive
References: Basic Human Needs 50 Pittman, T. S., & D 'Agostino, P. R. (1989). Motivation and cognition: Control deprivation and the nature of subsequent information processing