The Hierarchy of Needs Theory by Abraham Maslow
The Hierarchy of Needs Theory by Abraham Maslow
(1943, 1954) In the demanding world of business, motivation of the employers as well as of employees play a tremendous role (McKay, “Importance of Motivation and Goal Setting for Businesses”). Unfortunately, theories about human motivation and what drives the employers and their employees to be motivated have not been studied until only recently. This paper will cover the Hierarchy of Needs Theory which analyzes the driving factors of human motivation at work place, in a family setting, in hospital organizations as well as in any other organization. The Hierarchy of Needs Theory was first introduced in 1943 by an American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his work called A Theory of Human Motivation. Analyzing the history of the theory, its historical context and landmark studies of the key researchers, this paper will discuss about the theory 's key concepts and examine its importance by comparing and contrasting to the previous theories.
1. Theory History Abraham Maslow majored in Psychology while studying at University of Wisconsin. His primary goal was social usefulness and practicality, thus he decided to approach the psychological research in a much different way (Emrich, “Abraham Maslow”). As a psychology professor at Brooklyn College, Maslow tried to understand and explain all human motivation by combining existing approaches to motivations, such as Freudian, Adlerian, behaviorist, and cognitive-gestalt into one unique theory. In 1932 a biologist named Walter Cannon in his work called Self-regulation in Animals came up with the term homeostasis which was the modern word for biological self-regulation (Hagen 96). According to a french psychologist Claude Bernard, by whom Cannon was influenced, an organism was made up of two environments, being external and internal, and described difference between them ( Hagen 96). He concluded that internal environment was “ a buffer between living cells and
(1943, 1954) In the demanding world of business, motivation of the employers as well as of employees play a tremendous role (McKay, “Importance of Motivation and Goal Setting for Businesses”). Unfortunately, theories about human motivation and what drives the employers and their employees to be motivated have not been studied until only recently. This paper will cover the Hierarchy of Needs Theory which analyzes the driving factors of human motivation at work place, in a family setting, in hospital organizations as well as in any other organization. The Hierarchy of Needs Theory was first introduced in 1943 by an American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his work called A Theory of Human Motivation. Analyzing the history of the theory, its historical context and landmark studies of the key researchers, this paper will discuss about the theory 's key concepts and examine its importance by comparing and contrasting to the previous theories.
1. Theory History Abraham Maslow majored in Psychology while studying at University of Wisconsin. His primary goal was social usefulness and practicality, thus he decided to approach the psychological research in a much different way (Emrich, “Abraham Maslow”). As a psychology professor at Brooklyn College, Maslow tried to understand and explain all human motivation by combining existing approaches to motivations, such as Freudian, Adlerian, behaviorist, and cognitive-gestalt into one unique theory. In 1932 a biologist named Walter Cannon in his work called Self-regulation in Animals came up with the term homeostasis which was the modern word for biological self-regulation (Hagen 96). According to a french psychologist Claude Bernard, by whom Cannon was influenced, an organism was made up of two environments, being external and internal, and described difference between them ( Hagen 96). He concluded that internal environment was “ a buffer between living cells and
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